CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), an innovator in satellite and other wireless networking systems and services, announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012. The fiscal first quarter results include new contract awards of $253.6 million, revenues of $195.1 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $36.1 million and net income attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $0.17 per share on a diluted non-GAAP basis or $0.04 per share on a diluted GAAP basis.

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"New orders in the first quarter continued the strength we saw in the fourth quarter of last year, while, as anticipated, revenues and earnings reflected new contract delays in prior periods and costs associated with the ViaSat-1 launch schedule," said Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of ViaSat. "While defense budget constraints are a reality in our industry, our ability to meet urgent airborne broadband needs, along with our Blue Force Tracking backlog, create growth prospects for us in that segment. On the commercial side, ViaSat-1 is now set for launch on September 30, and we are seeing opportunities coming from new commercial contracts, exciting growth in mobile broadband networks, and a good start to the Eutelsat Tooway™ network."

Government Systems Segment

The Government Systems segment recorded quarterly revenues of $86.2 million, a 3% decrease over the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. The decrease was primarily related to lower sales of tactical data link products and services, offset by higher sales of government satellite communication systems and services. Adjusted EBITDA for the Government Systems segment was $13.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, compared to $7.8 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. New contract awards in our Government Systems segment for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 were $85.0 million.

Commercial Networks Segment

For the Commercial Networks segment, revenues were $52.1 million for the first quarter, which was a 14.1% increase from the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. The revenue increase was primarily due to an increase in sales of mobile broadband satellite communication systems, consumer broadband products and services, and antenna systems. Adjusted EBITDA for the Commercial Networks segment was $1.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, compared to $2.1 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. New contract awards in our Commercial Networks segment for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 were $112.2 million.

Satellite Services Segment

Our Satellite Services segment contributed revenues of $56.9 million for the first quarter, which was a 1.2% decrease compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. The revenue decrease was primarily related to lower sales of our managed broadband services. Adjusted EBITDA for the Satellite Services segment was $20.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, compared to $27.8 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. New contract awards in our Satellite Services segment for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 were $56.4 million.

Selected First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012 Business Highlights

• Eutelsat Communications announced the start of commercial service of KA-SAT, the first satellite to use the transformational ViaSat high-capacity satellite system architecture, initiating increased terminal orders during the quarter for our new SurfBeam® 2 broadband networking system.
• Received a $40 million award to provide Ka-band transmit-receive modules to Thales Alenia Space for the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation.
• Received $25.7 million in additional contract awards from Boeing for the ground based beam forming network for MexSat for the Mexican government. This brings the total value for that project to approximately $39 million.
• Began offering low-priced WildBlue® service to unserved rural households in the West and Midwest through funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, helping create jobs in the U.S. by using local WildBlue dealers, installers, and U.S.-based customer care, and stimulating economic activity among rural households that can now efficiently connect to online commerce and other resources.
• Won the Telecommunications category for the American Technology Awards, which bestows the only "Best Of" awards recognizing all technology products and services for the technology industry, for the innovative design of the ViaSat-1 high-capacity satellite system.

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 the ViaSat-1 launch, growth prospects, new commercial contracts, and growth in mobile broadband networks. 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 launch ViaSat-1 or implement the related broadband satellite services on our anticipated timeline or at all, including potential launch delays, launch failure and/or improper orbital placement; our ability to obtain or maintain required authorizations or contractual arrangements, including with respect to the launch and operation of ViaSat-1; negative audits by the U.S. government; continued turmoil in global financial markets and economies; delays in approving U.S. government budgets; 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 enhancements; 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; reliance on a limited number of third parties to manufacture and supply our products; increased competition and other factors affecting the satellite and wireless communications and secure networking industries generally; the effect of adverse regulatory changes on our ability to sell products; our level of indebtedness and ability to comply with applicable debt covenants; 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 Inc. will host a conference call to discuss the fiscal year 2012 first quarter and results at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 5, 2011. The dial-in number is 877-640-9808 in the U.S. and 914-495-8528 internationally. The conference call webcast and other material financial information discussed on our conference call can also be accessed on the Investor Relations section of the ViaSat website at investors.viasat.com. The call will be archived and available on that site for approximately one month immediately following the conference call. A replay of the conference call will be available from 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 5 until midnight Saturday, August 6 by dialing (855) 859-2056 for U.S. callers and (404) 537-3406 for international callers, and entering the conference ID 89431099.

About ViaSat (www.viasat.com)

ViaSat delivers fast, secure communications, Internet, and remote network access to fixed sites or on-the-move. The company provides networking products and managed network services for enterprise IP applications; is a key supplier of network-centric military communications and encryption technologies and products to the U.S. and allied governments; is the primary technology partner for gateway and customer-premises equipment for consumer and mobile satellite broadband services; and offers high-speed Ka-band satellite broadband services under the WildBlue brand. ViaSat also offers design capabilities and a number of complementary products including monolithic microwave integrated circuits and modules, DVB-S2 satellite communication components, video data link systems, data acceleration and compression, and mobile satellite antenna systems. Based in Carlsbad, California, ViaSat has established a number of worldwide locations for customer service, network operations, and technology development.

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 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. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ViaSat Inc. excludes the effects of amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition related expenses, and non-cash stock-based compensation expenses, net of tax. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income (loss) attributable to ViaSat Inc. before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted to exclude the effects of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses and acquisition related expenses. We also use Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate operating performance of our segments, to allocate resources and capital to such segments, to measure performance for incentive compensation programs and to evaluate future growth opportunities. 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 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 titled "An Itemized Reconciliation Between Net Income Attributable to ViaSat Inc. on a GAAP Basis and Non-GAAP Basis," "An Itemized Reconciliation Between Net Income Attributable to ViaSat Inc. and Adjusted EBITDA" and "An Itemized Reconciliation Between Segment Operating Profit (Loss) Before Corporate and Amortization of Acquired Intangible Assets and Adjusted EBITDA" contained in this release.

SurfBeam is a registered trademark of ViaSat, Inc.
WildBlue is a registered service mark of WildBlue Communications, Inc.
Tooway is a trademark of Eutelsat SA.

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Mark D. Dankberg
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SOURCE ViaSat Inc.