SATS profit down 7.6% $60.7m in Q2

Operating profit slid 1.5% no thanks to lower contributions from its food solutions business..

SATS saw its profit dip 7.6% YoY to $60.7m in Q2 from $65.7m in 2018, an announcement revealed. This is despite its revenue growth of 9.8% YoY to $497.4m from $453.1m over the same period.

Operating profit slid 1.5% YoY to $65m in Q2, whilst the share of post-tax profits from associates/joint ventures was also down 2.1% to $13.7m in the same period. This was blamed on lower contributions from Food Solutions’ associates/joint ventures but partly mitigated by improved performance from Gateway Services’ associates/joint ventures.

In contrast, SATS’ revenue boost was attributed to Food Solutions and Gateway Services posting increased revenue. Food Solutions revenue rose 8% YoY to $271m in Q2, with growth registered in core aviation entities and the consolidation of Country Foods.

Gateway Services’ revenue rose 12.1% to $225.9m over the same period, of which $23m of it was driven by the consolidation of Ground Team Red Holdingsand Ground Team Red.

Group expenditure went up $45.3m or 11.7% YoY to $432.4m. Earnings per share slipped 8.5% to 5.4 cents in Q2.

As for SATS’ H1 period results, profit declined 11% YoY to $115.4m, whilst revenue inched up 7.8% YoY to $962.5m.