NewSat picks up another Jabiru-1 contract

ASX-listed satellite provider NewSat (ASX:NWT) has signed a new deal with Quicklink Communications worth some $40 million over three years.

The deal, for transmission capacity on NewSat’s Jabiru-1 satellite, will be used to service Quicklink’s customers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

According to NewSat’s chief executive officer, the deal continues to bolster the Jabiru satellite project, which is scheduled to launch in late 2012.

The deal also follows similar big-ticket signings including 3A Technology for $134 million and TrustComm for $US105 million.

“The three cornerstone contracts totalling US$279 million, will underpin the export credit agency backed debt financing, to build and launch the satellite,” he said in an ASX statement.

“NewSat’s vision of becoming a global satellite operator is on the verge of being realised.”

Earlier this month NewSat said it planned to conduct a 50 for 1 share consolidation to help improve its trading price. The company on Friday proposed to shareholders to reduce its 8.8 billion shares on issue to a more tenable number. NewSat has a market capitalisation of around $88 million.

In late August NewSat reported a $300,000 profit for FY11, from 15 per cent higher revenue of $28.8 million. The bottom-line result was an improvement on the slim $26,000 profit in FY10, and the $2.9 million loss in FY09.

Growth was aided by the signing of 175 enterprise contracts during the period, each with an average value of around $70,000 per year, NewSat said.

In mid August NewSat appointed space industry veteran Michael Hewins as its new Chief Operating Officer. Hewins has over 30 years' experience in the sector, including as chairman and CEO of Astrovision International, and then Astrovision Australia.

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