Canada: MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) has reported a 12.1% loss in revenues at $494.3 million in first quarter 2017 as compared to Q1 2016 ($562.4 million) in the first quarter last year.
The decrease in revenues was primarily due to the lower level of order activity in the geostationary communications satellite industry over the last two years, said a statement from the company. This was partially offset by higher revenues from the emerging markets sector in the Surveillance and Intelligence segment, which includes the U.S. government space and defense markets. The company also continued to invest in the required infrastructure to pursue its U.S. government access plan resulting in operating EBITDA of $89.2 million for the first quarter of 2017 compared to $97.2 million for the same period of 2016.
Net earnings under IFRS for the first quarter of 2017 were $5.9 million, down from $40.7 million for the same period of last year. Net earnings were impacted by the inclusion and variability of certain large, non-operational items, particularly restructuring costs and incremental legal and other professional fees related to the acquisition of DigitalGlobe.
The company’s Surveillance and Intelligence segment contributed revenues of $162.4 million, consistent with $159.2 million for the first quarter of 2016.
The operating EBITDA for 2017 has also been reduced by $8 million for the same period this year. Operating earnings were $44.9 million compared to $55.9 million for the first quarter of 2016. The decrease reflected lower operating EBITDA, as well as higher corporate expense, additional non-cash interest expense following the securitization of orbital receivables and a higher effective income tax rate on operating earnings.
The company had total funded order backlog of $2.0 billion as on March 31, 2017. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per common share payable on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2017.
The company continued to make substantive progress on its strategic plans to increase access to the U.S. government market. The company received facility security clearance for the offices of SSL MDA Holdings on February 23, 2017.
