Intelsat Plunges 10% Following Preliminary Q4 Results

Shares of Intelsat SA I plunged more than 10 percent early Monday morning after the company reported preliminary fourth quarter results. Intelsat said it expects to earn $0.42 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $571.3 million. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.36 per share on revenue of $575.9 million. Intelsat reported that it expects to incur a non-cash impairment charge resulting in a "substantial reduction" of its $6.8 billion goodwill and other intangible assets. The company added that their impairment charge will be completed within 2 weeks and will be followed by its annual report. Preliminary net income for the quarter rose to $49.1 million, prior to the effect of any impairment charges. For the full fiscal year 2015, Intelsat expects report earnings of $2.06 per share on revenue of $2.353 billion and net income of $242 million. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Intelsat expects its total revenue to be $2.14 billion to $2.2 billion - short of the $2.28 billion Wall Street analysts were already estimating. Intelsat Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Spengler said, "With Intelsat 29e successfully launched and now completing in-orbit testing, a new era for Intelsat has begun. The higher performance, improved economics and simple access of Intelsat EpicNG is unlocking new sources of demand for our global network." "With $2.35 billion in revenue and $1.85 billion in Adjusted EBITDA, prior to the effect of any impairments, in 2015 we delivered on plan for the year," he added.