As part of a customer event with the participation of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ehud Olmert and the Romanian Minister of Communications - the company launched AMOS CLUB - an international customer club
The space communication company (Spacecom), which provides satellite communication services through the "Amos" satellite network, has been operating for 5 years in Romania and sells services with an annual volume of approximately 3 million dollars in this market. The company has long-term agreements for distribution to cable centers with about 15 Romanian TV channels, and its clients include leading TV channels such as: MTV Romania, Telesport, HBO Romania, Bucharest 1, National TV and more.
Last Thursday, Halal-Communication held an event for its customers in Romania, in which it launched an international customer club called AMOS CLUB. The launch of the new customer club in Romania is another step in establishing the position of Communication Space in Central Europe in general and in Romania in particular, and points to the strategic importance that Communication Space attaches to this market. The event was held with the participation of the Minister of Industry and Trade Ehud Olmert and the Romanian Minister of Communications Mr. Zsolt Nagy. The event took place as part of the sixth meeting of the Israel-Romania Hi-Tech Forum of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
David Polak, CEO of Space-Communications, says: "Romania is a strategic market for Space-Communications, both because of the scope of the existing activity and because of the inherent potential in this market. Romania's expected entry into the European Union will open up opportunities for us for additional business activities, such as information services. These services, which so far have not been developed in Romania, are expected to gain momentum in the near future. Chalal-Communications continues to invest in the Romanian market and consistently increases its market share in it.
Communication space: revenues grew 7 times to NIS 37 million; The net profit jumped 8 times to NIS 3.1 million
Chalal Communications published an excellent first quarter report yesterday. The company has been enjoying the operation of the Amos 2 satellite for about a year, which it fully owns, and is almost fully occupied with the transmission capacity of the Amos 1 and Amos 2 satellites.
Compared to the corresponding quarter, the revenues multiplied 7 times and amounted to NIS 37 million, the net profit multiplied 8 times, reaching NIS 3.1 million. In addition, the company moved to a positive cash flow. The corresponding quarter is not representative, as the company only benefited from revenues from the marketing commission of Amos 1, which is owned by IAI.
In April 2004, the company began operating the satellite it owns, Amos 2, and the main income since then is from leasing the space segments. According to CFO Itzik Shniberg, the big money lies in this sector, as shown by the large operating profit in the first quarter - NIS 17 million, while in all of 2004 it amounted to NIS 23 million.
Even compared to the previous quarter, the company showed a 20% increase in revenue, but a sharp drop in net profit - this amounted to NIS 8.8 million in the previous quarter, mainly from financing income caused by the drop in the dollar exchange rate, on which all the company's activity is based.
Space Communications leases segments of space on Amos 2 to telecommunications companies in Israel and Europe and to the countries themselves, including Israel. The YES company is the main customer of Chaval, and accounts for almost a third of its total sales. The fear that Bezeq will, at some point, stop injecting cash and bear the burden of the satellite broadcasting company, appears in the company's reports, but does not make an impression on the management. According to Shniberg, "YES complies with its payment terms, which are no different from what is customary in the economy, and the space company does not see a problem with continuing the contract with YES."
Chalal Communication raised in the first quarter about NIS 160 million in bonds and shares. The company earmarked the proceeds of the issue to finance part of a $170 million investment in the newer Amos 3 satellite, which is supposed to replace Amos 1, which is out of service in 2008. Space Communications is currently controlled in equal parts (20.68%) by the Aerospace Industries, Eurocom, H.Mer and the Satellite Services Company. Halal is traded at a value of approximately NIS 310 million.
A blue and white interstellar journey
