British satellite communications group Inmarsat has warned its customers are set to feel the pinch from “economic and budgetary” pressures as it reported a climb in its third quarter revenues.
Inmarsat reported a 5.8 per cent rise revenues of $341.9bn in the three months to the end of September, growth of $18.8m from the same period last year.
The company’s significant maritime and enterprise businesses have suffered a 5 per cent decline in sales on the back of a recession in the commercial shipping industry and weakness in international trade.
Sales to global governments rose 9.8 per cent to $84.8m in the quarter, driven by the US market where Inmarsat provides high capacity satellites called Global Xpress (GX). It kept its revenue guidance unchanged at $1.175bn-$1.25bn.
Rupert Pearce, chief executive said:
Trading continues to be challenging, with economic and budgetary pressures affecting our customers generally. We are nevertheless competing aggressively and successfully in each of our core markets and making steady progress with both the commercialisation of GX and in Aviation cabin connectivity.
Last month, Inmarsat announced a landmark deal with telecoms giant Vodafone to provide internet connectivity to far flung parts of the world only accessible to satellite communications for the so-called “internet of things” sector.
The deal has been hailed as the first time the satellite and traditional wireless networks have worked together to provide connectivity for machines and autonomous software applications.