SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
MDA Space, the newly rebranded MDA, reported strong Q1 2024 results on the back of the Telesat Lightspeed constellation announced in late 2023, along with new contracts.
The company reported a record backlog of $3.3 billion, roughly 169 percent more than at this period last year. It also reported revenues of $209.1 million (up 4 percent from this period last year) and an EBITDA of $42 million. Adjusted diluted earnings per share stood at $0.15, with adjusted net income of $18.1 million.
Aside from Telesat Lightspeed, the company named a Canadian Armed Forces contract to deliver MQ-9B SkyGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, as well as a $250 million contract extension from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for ISS operations through 2030, as key to driving this quarter’s results.
“2023 was an extraordinary year for MDA Space,” CEO Mike Greenley said in a statement issued on Friday. “We completed our first double – growing revenue from $400 million to $800 million over the last few years. We profitably grew our business and delivered meaningful value creation for our shareholders, we enabled and participated in some of the most ambitious and important space missions ever undertaken, and we executed on our backlog of work by delivering for our customers.”
Greenley further pointed to a rosy outlook for the industry, saying the global space economy is up 10% to US $509 billion in 2023 – and will increase to $1.5 trillion by 2040. ” Worldwide investments in space are growing from both commercial and government sources. We have also seen an increase in global spacecraft launches, correlating with more competitive launch costs,” he said.
MDA recently rebranded itself as MDA Space to highlight its work in space innovation, and also has created two product brands: MDA Aurora (a software-defined digital satellite product line) and MDA Skymaker (which produces “scalable and modular” space robotics and services.)
Skymaker, Greenley added in the statement, is “building on world-leading technology derived from Canadarm … (and) offers cost-effective, flexible space robotics that can serve a variety of missions in significantly reduced timeframes. This product line will provide customers with direct access to the world’s most flight tested and proven space robotics solutions for any mission or application, including lunar surface rovers and landers, space stations, satellite servicing in all orbits, and in-space assembly and manufacturing.”
The company’s outlook for fiscal 2024 remains at $950 million to $1.05 billion, with second quarter results expected to be between $215 million to $225 million. One of the big spends for this fiscal year will be on CHORUS, MDA’s next-generation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation, while other capital expenditures will be spread across all of the company’s three business segments: satellite systems, geointelligence and robotics and space operations. Additionally to its quarterly results, on Friday (May 10) the annual and special meeting of shareholders produced the appointment of Brendan Paddick as the new chair of the board of directors. Previous chair John Risley will remain as a director.
