CARLSBAD, Calif., May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), an innovator in satellite and other wireless networking systems and services, announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013. The fiscal fourth quarter results include new contract awards of $227.1 million, and a 28% growth in revenues to $308.7 million compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA also grew over 10% to $40.8 million, driving non-GAAP diluted net income attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $0.19 per share, or $0.04 per share on a diluted GAAP basis, and cash flows from operations of $42.7 million. For the fiscal year, ViaSat reported new contract awards of $1.4 billion and revenues of $1.1 billion, increases of 36% and 30%, respectively, from the prior year. ViaSat's fiscal year 2013 Adjusted EBITDA also grew by 10% to $163.3 million, resulting in non-GAAP diluted net income attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $0.02 per share, or a net loss attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $0.94 per share on a diluted GAAP basis, and cash flows from operations of $91.8 million.

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"We ended our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 with strong top line growth across all our business segments, including Government Systems despite severe budget pressures. Steady gains in Exede satellite broadband subscribers coupled with 36% growth in contract awards pushed our revenues up 30% to over the $1 billion mark in fiscal year 2013," said Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of ViaSat. "We've passed the 500,000 subscriber milestone and are reaching important earnings inflection points. We are pleased with our progress and believe we are seeing strong confirmation of our technology strategy across each of our markets."

 

Satellite Services

Our Satellite Services segment revenues increased $23.9 million, or 44%, for the quarter, and $54.3 million, or 24%, for the year, both new records, as our total subscriber base expanded to 512,000. We completed approximately 98,000 installations during the quarter, which delivered 88,000 gross adds and 46,000 net adds to the network. New subscribers were primarily through retail channels, leading to growth in blended ARPU to $49.54. The increased subscriber base resulted in $1.9 million, or 23%, higher Adjusted EBITDA during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 compared to the same period last year. Fiscal year 2013 Adjusted EBITDA declined $28.8 million, or 46%, compared to last year primarily due to the fixed costs of our network expansion and higher subscriber acquisition costs due to higher gross adds, relative to the incremental subscriber margins obtained in the initial year of our Exede service launch.

Commercial Networks

Our Commercial Networks segment fourth quarter revenues of $83.6 million grew $2.7 million, or 3%, compared to the same period last year. Fiscal year 2013 revenues and Adjusted EBITDA also grew $63.3 million, or 25%, and $5.4 million, or 64%, respectively, compared to last year, reflecting record revenues and continued success in the global Ka-band satellite networking market in both large scale infrastructure projects as well as follow on terminal production contracts. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter declined $2.3 million, or 44%, compared to the same period last year.  In the fourth quarter, we received another $12.3 million in awards for SurfBeam® 2 Ka-band terminals in addition to over $19 million in new orders for satellite antenna systems.

Government Systems

Our Government Systems segment reported another quarter of record revenues, increasing $41.6 million, or 40%, compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter also increased by $4.6 million, or 20%, compared to the same period last year. For fiscal year 2013, our Government Systems segment revenues increased $138.5 million, or 36%, driving Adjusted EBITDA up $38.3 million, or 49%, compared to last year, both of which were new records. These results have been driven by growth in command and control, broadband networking services for military customers, our government mobile broadband products and services, and tactical satellite networks products and services. Contract awards included over $20 million in orders for tactical data link terminals and related support equipment and services.

Other Selected Fiscal Fourth Quarter Business Highlights

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported in its benchmark study titled 2013 Measuring Broadband America: A Report on Consumer Wireline Performance in the U.S. that even during peak usage periods, 90% of Exede service subscribers received 140% or better of the advertised speed of 12 Mbps (download speeds), ranking ViaSat number one for delivering on advertised speeds among all Internet service providers included in the study.
• Received over $17 million in awards for mobile satellite communications services for the U.S. government.
• Signed first service agreements with CBS-owned TV stations for our Exede newsgathering service.
• Commenced implementation on a more than 60% increase in the total Ku-band capacity of ViaSat global mobility network to accommodate government and general aviation business growth and customer requirements for high data rates for mobile satellite communications.
• Completed ground station installation and testing for King Abdul-aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) project in Saudi Arabia.
• Launched our new security system that protects critical infrastructure, such as energy grids or other utility networks, by averting or minimizing security breaches to ensure continued operation of these networks.
• Demonstrated a high-performance Ka-band satellite communication system for rotary wing aircraft, providing sustained data rates of 4 Mbps from the helicopter to a ground station and 8 Mbps to the helicopter despite high shock and vibration and signal blockage from the rotating blades.
• Appointed Bruce Dirks as Chief Financial Officer.
• Appointed Ken Peterman to lead our Government Systems segment. Steve Estes, General Manager of Government Systems prior to this appointment, named to lead the emerging Enterprise Services business.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements that refer to future earnings, performance and confirmation of our technology strategy. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: our ability to successfully implement our business plan for our broadband satellite services on our anticipated timeline or at all; risks associated with the construction, launch and operation of our satellites, including the effect of any anomaly, operational failure or degradation in satellite performance; negative audits by the U.S. government; continued turmoil in the global business environment and economic conditions; delays in approving U.S. government budgets and cuts in government defense expenditures; our reliance on U.S. government contracts, and on a small number of contracts which account for a significant percentage of our revenues; our ability to successfully develop, introduce and sell new technologies, products and services; reduced demand for products as a result of continued constraints on capital spending by customers; changes in relationships with, or the financial condition of, key customers or suppliers; our reliance on a limited number of third parties to manufacture and supply our products; increased competition and other factors affecting the communications and defense industries generally; the effect of adverse regulatory changes on our ability to sell products and services; our level of indebtedness and ability to comply with applicable debt covenants; our involvement in litigation, including intellectual property claims and litigation to protect our proprietary technology; and our dependence on a limited number of key employees. In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in our SEC filings available at www.sec.gov, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Conference Call

ViaSat will host a conference call to discuss the fiscal year 2013 fourth quarter and year-end financial results at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 16, 2013. The dial-in number is (877) 640-9809 in the U.S. and (914) 495-8528 internationally. A replay of the conference call will be available from 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 16 until midnight on Friday, May 17 by dialing (855) 859-2056 for U.S. callers and (404) 537-3406 for international callers, and entering the conference ID 71035156. You can also access our conference call webcast and other material financial information discussed on our conference call on the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.viasat.com. The call will be archived and available on that site for approximately one month immediately following the conference call.

About ViaSat (www.viasat.com)

ViaSat delivers fast, secure communications, Internet, and network access to virtually any location for consumers, governments, enterprise, and the military. The company offers fixed and mobile satellite network services including Exede by ViaSat, which features ViaSat-1, the world's highest capacity satellite; service to more than 2,300 mobile platforms, including Yonder^® Ku-band mobile service; satellite broadband networking systems; and network-centric military communication systems and cybersecurity products for the U.S. and allied governments. ViaSat also offers communication system design and a number of complementary products and technologies. Based in Carlsbad, California, ViaSat employs over 2,700 people in a number of locations worldwide for technology development, customer service, and network operations.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement ViaSat's consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), ViaSat uses non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ViaSat Inc. and Adjusted EBITDA, measures ViaSat believes are appropriate to enhance an overall understanding of ViaSat's past financial performance and prospects for the future. We believe the non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding specific expenses that we believe are not indicative of our core operating results. In addition, since we have historically reported non-GAAP results to the investment community, we believe the inclusion of non-GAAP numbers provides consistency in our financial reporting and facilitates comparisons to the company's historical operating results. Further, these non-GAAP results are among the primary indicators that management uses as a basis for evaluating the operating performance of our segments, allocating resources to such segments, planning and forecasting in future periods. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of specific adjustments to GAAP results is provided in the tables below.

Exede, SurfBeam, and Yonder are registered trademarks and service marks of ViaSat Inc.

SOURCE ViaSat Inc.