SATS recovery continues with 27.2% YoY revenue growth

This brings the group's revenue to $293m in H1 for the current FY.

SATS Ltd. reported its business update for the second quarter and unaudited results for the first half ended 30 September.

SATS continued to benefit from the stable increase in cargo volumes and its successful expansion into non-travel food segments to achieve a 27.2% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue this second quarter, bringing the group's revenue to $293.9m.

SATS Food Solutions mitigated the lower aviation volume with growth in non-travel food to boost its revenue by 16.8%, or $23.4m, to $163m. SATS Gateway Services' revenue soared 48.4% to $130.3m over the same period last year due to increased cargo tonnage, the resumption of cruise ship calls, and the growth in security services.

For the six months ended 30 September, the group revenue increased $129m, or 29.3% YoY, to $569.5m, primarily driven by the sequential growth in cargo volume, non-travel revenue, and the resumption of ship calls. The increase in non-travel food mitigated the lower aviation volumes for SATS Food Solutions resulting in a revenue increase of 12.6% or $34.8m to $310.3m. Gateway Services' revenue grew 61.4%, or $97.9m, to $257.3m in the first half of this year over the same period last year, driven by stable cargo growth, increased flights, resumption of ship calls and the expansion of security services.

Air travel declined further this quarter due to the spread of the Delta variant. According to the International Air Transport Association, industry-wide revenue passenger kilometres in September were 53% lower than last year. On the other hand, global cargo tonne-kilometres in September already rose 9.1% in contrast to pre-COVID levels in September.