Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the SES Half Year 2026 conference call. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode. During the question and answer session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key five on their telephone keypads. I will now hand over the conference to Christian Kern, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Gaia . Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. It is my pleasure to welcome you to SES first half 2026 results call on behalf of our management team. Before proceeding with the management presentation, we would like to inform that the financial information contained in this document has been prepared under international financial reporting standards. As usual, this presentation may contain announcements that constitute forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees for future business performance and involve risk as well as uncertainties. Also, certain results may materially differ from those in these forward-looking statements due to several factors. We invite you to read the detailed disclaimer on slide two of this presentation. The presentation is also available on our company webpage.
Today, I'm joined by our CEO, Adel Al-Saleh, and our CFO, Lisa Pataki, who will take you through the presentation, followed by a Q&A session. Adel, without further ado, over to you now.
Very good. Thank you, Christian. Good morning, everyone. First half of the year performance is in line with our expectations. Although Q2 performance was softer than expected, mainly due to the timing of a couple of contract awards, the fundamentals of the business remain strong, supporting our confidence in the year ahead and our reiterated 2026 financial outlook. We also showed continued progress on integration and synergy capture while maintaining disciplined execution against our long-term priorities. Let's start with slide number three. Our vision remains clear, and we continue to deliver it. We're building a leading space solutions company, evolving beyond traditional satellite connectivity into an integrated provider of mission-critical solutions. We're delivering on our strategy and creating long-term value for our customers and shareholders by combining our multi-orbit network, extensive ground infrastructure, our software services, and a broad ecosystem of partners.
At the same time, we continue to invest in innovation and smart diversification. A clear example of this strategic execution is our role in the IRIS² program. IRIS² is Europe's secure sovereign constellation, which reflects both our commitment to innovation and smart diversification into high-value sovereign connectivity solutions. IRIS² Rendez-vous 1 negotiations are in final stages. As part of our sustained financial strength and vision is our focus on synergy delivery, where we're making excellent progress, and our disciplined financial management and execution. Upper C-band clearance incentives give us a clear path to deliver, strengthening our balance sheet. Now, I will share with you more details of IRIS² and C-band clearance in the following slides. Moving to slide number four. I'm giving you an update on IRIS² program, Europe's secure sovereign constellation.
IRIS² is a strategically important program for SES and a cornerstone of Europe's future secure and sovereign space infrastructure. As the largest European government space and defense initiative to date, the program aligns strongly with our long-term strategy and through its balanced public-private partnership structure. Rendez-vous 1 negotiations are now in their final stages. SES is working very closely with the members of the SpaceRISE Consortium and the European Commission to validate key terms and conditions, including project costs, supply chain arrangements, and technical requirements for the design, delivery, and operation of the highly secure, resilient multi-orbit network. SES, along with its consortium partners, will build and operate Europe's secure space network through a constellation of LEO satellites and 18 MEO satellites delivering secure pole-to-pole coverage. The program is well underway, and targeted operations will start in 2030.
The IRIS² program is complementary to our next-generation MEO roadmap, strengthening our position at the center of Europe's secure connectivity ecosystem for decades to come. Now let's move to slide number five to discuss the Upper C-band clearance in more detail. The FCC published its report and order for the Upper C-band clearance on July 24th. It establishes transition deadlines of December 2030 and June 2031 for repurposing 160 MHz of the Upper C-band spectrum for wireless services in the contiguous United States. The report and order adopts a framework for the Upper C-band clearing that is similar to the one we adopted for the Lower C-band transition. Specifically, satellite operators will receive reimbursement for all reasonable costs to clear the 160 MHz and to maintain sustainably the same service for its C-band customers.
Total incentive payment of $6.3 billion US, of which approximately $5.6 billion US are allocated to SES Contingent on successful on-time spectrum clearing. Specifically, we'd have to clear the top 75 partial economic areas in CONUS by December 30th, 2030, and the remainder by June 30th, 2031. We have developed a compelling solution that enables us to protect our C-band customers by transitioning them to a new hybrid Ku and C-band solution, augmented by terrestrial recovery network that will provide them with sustainably the same service as they enjoy today. Similar to the Lower C-band clearing program, reasonable and necessary Upper C-band transition costs will be reimbursable through the clearing house, meaning these costs are not expected to impact our long-term capital allocation and leaving the full amount of incentive payment as the potential economic benefit upon successful execution.
In 2026, C-band related CapEx are expected to be between EUR 100 million-150 million, fully reimbursable over time. We remain fully committed to working cooperatively with the FCC and all stakeholders as the process progresses to clear the spectrum and transition our customers to equivalent services in the Ku-band with a timeline set by the FCC. The proposed framework significantly de-risks the upper C-band program and provides SES with a clear de-leveraging path by providing greater clarity on the implementation timeline of 2030, 2031. The reimbursement mechanisms, the technical approaches that may be considered reasonable, and the incentive payments for time to clearing. We have already began taking steps to meet the FCC's deadlines by engaging with the satellite manufacturers to order long-term lead items.
Consistent with our financial policy, C-band proceeds would first be prioritized towards deleveraging to our net leverage of target of 3.0 EBITDA or below, further strengthening our balance sheet. Beyond that, at least the majority of future exceptional cash flows will be prioritized for the shareholder returns. In line with the capital allocation framework we have consistently communicated. Moving to slide number six, which gives us a brief update on the execution of the meoSphere program. meoSphere is another pillar of our long-term strategy, with software-defined payloads at the heart of its differentiated architecture. Today, I'd like to give you a glimpse of into our new Luxembourg Space Campus facility, where we will develop and manufacture the payloads and to the assembly integration and test of the spacecrafts.
Operations are progressing very well, with the first production hall dedicated to electronics assembly on track to be fully equipped and operational by mid-August. That's in a couple of weeks. On July 13, we successfully began production of the first printed circuit boards and box assemblies for our onboard processor unit, making an important milestone in the industrialization of these advanced technologies. We expect to begin installing critical test equipment and chambers in the second hall during August as well. This hall will house our testing and qualification capabilities, enabling us to validate and certify payloads, antennas, and bus performance to the highest standards. These halls are part of our pilot line, which will be foundational to the development of the mother fab, i.e., the brand-new manufacturing facility, which is 15,000 square meters that we're building in Kockelscheuer in the south of Luxembourg.
With the development progressing smoothly, production and testing of our Pathfinder 2 payload is expected to commence in mid-September. A reminder to everybody that Pathfinder 1 is already flying in space, undergoing planned in-space testing. This pilot line facility will play a central role in the development and manufacture of our innovative high-capacity payloads for meoSphere and IRIS², while also supporting the assembly, integration, and test of our next generation satellites. By bringing these critical capabilities in-house, we are strengthening our technological leadership, building on our vertical integration strategy, accelerating innovation cycles, reducing costs, and building the foundations for future growth in secure and high-performance connectivity solutions. meoSphere is targeted for operation by 2030 and designed to significantly boost our MEO network capacity. meoSphere is complementary to the IRIS² constellation. Let's move to slide number eight and our first half 2026 business highlights.
These results are shown on a reported basis with H1 2026 being fully consolidated with Intelsat. The figures are compared year-on-year to H1 2025 SES standalone reported numbers on a constant FX basis. In a few minutes, Lisa will also share like-for-like comparisons. H1 2026 performance is in line with our expectation, despite a softer-than-anticipated Q2 following a strong start in Q1. H1 2026 revenue was EUR 1.602 billion, up 72% year-on-year, driven by networks growth of 89% year-on-year. Again, on a reported basis. H1 2026 adjusted EBITDA of EUR 725 million was up 47% year-on-year, with a margin of 45.2% on a reported basis. Capital expenditures for first half 2026 were EUR 444 million, with full year 2026 still expected to be front-loaded, while we continue executing on planned CapEx synergies.
H1 2026 adjusted free cash flow of negative EUR 130 million, reflecting the timing of the investments and supporting future growth. In H1 2026, we secured EUR 1.2 billion of renewals and new customer contracts, with the majority coming from our growth segments. This has supported our gross backlog of EUR 6.4 billion. Q2 softer-than-expected performance was driven by timing of a couple of awards. One of these awards was received very late in the quarter from our government and defense customers, and others in government and defense and aviation we are working to secure in second half of the year. Aviation continued to see some timing differences between the onboarding and decommissioning of airline customers, as well as lower ESA kit shipments in Q2. These were mainly driven by seasonality and are expected to ramp up in subsequent quarters.
In addition, continued pressures in fixed data and ongoing structural declines in media also contributed to softness in Q2. With solid performance in Q1 and softer Q2, our overall H1 performance remained in line with our expectations. During the first half, we are focused on securing commercial wins and strategic contracts that are expected to contribute to growth in the second half of the year, providing greater visibility for our performance for the remainder of 2026. Let me walk you through our second half drivers on slide nine. We will enable our second half priorities through focused and disciplined execution across all functions. Let me start with government and defense. As a reminder, U.S. government DOGE cuts have impacted our year-on-year business first half performance and are now largely behind us.
We have secured the U.S. Space Force Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global contract award, called PTSG, as a prime, which will provide incremental revenue in H2 versus H1. The award of the U.S. Space Force blanket purchase agreement further enhances the revenue opportunity pipeline. In addition to these two large contracts, we secured several additional contracts in Europe and the U.S. that will contribute in second half of the year. Finally, IRIS² Rendez-vous 1 is in its final stages. Overall, we expect solid revenue in second half of the year for our government and defense business. In mobility, in aviation, the solid commercial momentum continues. Having secured around 200 new tails in first half of the year, which will support second half ramp. There is also one particular larger contract delay from Q2 that we now expect to materialize in second half of the year.
We will also continue installing our growing ESA backlog. In media, prior year Brazilian customer bankruptcy-related headwinds are now largely behind us. Several multi-year contract wins and renewals secured during H1 will support H2 performance, including contract renewals well beyond the next decade. Business remains on track for the previously expected mid-single-digit annual decline for the full year, implying a stronger second half performance. In fixed data, market conditions remain challenging despite the structuring actions we have taken. We are successfully retaining key customers, maintaining a disciplined focus on customers and segments, thus building a bridge towards future capabilities. In the near term, we do not currently anticipate a significant change in the trends.
I'm pleased to confirm that we continue delivering on our synergies plans in the first half of the year, achieving a reduction of 16% year-on-year in staff costs. Overall OpEx was down 9% year-on-year, with synergy delivery expected to produce further results through second half of the year. With this backdrop, we reiterate our full year 2026 outlook supported by stronger second half revenue profile and continued cost discipline. Let us now turn to slide number 10 and our key customer renewals and strategic wins throughout the first half of the year. I mentioned a few of them already, but let's start with media. Satellite remains the most efficient and reliable platform for large-scale content distribution.
During the first half of 2026, we secured several important contract renewals, including the extension of our long-standing relationship with ARD beyond the next decade, and a new multi-year agreement with ABP Network covering India and South Asia. We also renewed an important direct-to-home agreement in India with Dish TV, extending direct-to-home contracts with Sky México, and concluded important extensions in the U.S. for domestic and global distribution with some of the largest U.S. broadcasters. Overall, these key contract renewals are not only supporting second half performance. Long-term visibility of our media business, but also reinforcing the continued value of satellite for premium content distribution. I'm also proud to announce that SES enabled live coverage of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, distributing IMG's Golf World feed to more than 50 broadcasters across Europe, Americas, and Asia.
In government and defense, demand for secure, resilient, and mission-critical communications continued to underpin performance. This was demonstrated by a selection of SES Space & Defense to prime mission execution for the U.S. Space Force PTSG program, as I described earlier, and secured an award under the U.S. Space SSC five-year BPA for managed Ku-band satellites, which encompass a FlexMove, FlexGovSecure, and FlexAir solutions. This is overall encompassing with all of our capabilities. These wins demonstrate the increasing relevance of our solution and our trusted position with sovereign governments and defense customers. In aviation, commercial momentum remained strong as we expanded our footprint with both existing and new airline customer, having added around 200 new aircraft to our pipeline.
During the first year, we added Viva, Avianca, and LATAM Airlines to our SURF aircraft portfolio, further validating the attractiveness of our multi-orbit electronically steered antenna solution and are reinforcing our position as a leading in-flight connectivity provider, serving millions of passengers around the world. In maritime, performance was in line with expectation as we continued to execute the restructuring of our wholesale business while navigating the anticipated competitive headwinds. We remain a leading provider of maritime connectivity, and during the first half of the year, secured important renewals, including to Teledyne Global, demonstrating the continued value of our services and the strength of our long-standing customer relationships. In Fixed Data, we continued to execute our transformation program we described in the beginning of the year while navigating the anticipated market headwinds.
We remain focused on serving high-value enterprise, network, and global energy customers by leveraging our global infrastructure and differentiating multi-orbit capability, bridging towards future network capabilities. Throughout H1, we signed important strategic partnership that will drive future revenue streams, for example, with Sharp in Japan and TIM in Brazil. With this, I'm going to hand over to Lisa to discuss further details of our H1 2026 financial performance.
Thank you, Adel. Good morning, everyone. Before I turn to our first half 2026 financial performance, I'd like to remind you that the press release available on our company website includes supplementary financial information with like-for-like revenue per vertical and adjusted EBITDA at the group level, as if the Intelsat transaction had consolidated from the 1st of January 2024. As always, our IR team remains available to address any questions you might have. Let us now turn to slide 12 for our financial highlights. In the first half of 2026, the company reported revenue of EUR 1.602 billion, resulting in a growth rate of 72.4% on a reported basis compared to the same period last year. On a like-for-like basis with constant foreign exchange rates, first half 2026 revenue was down 5% compared to the first half of 2025.
This outcome was largely as expected, with some softness in Q2, as Adel mentioned, driven by the timing of awards, one in our government and defense business, which was received late in the quarter, and a couple of others in government, aviation, and media that we still expect and will contribute to growth in the second half. Mobility remained a key source of strength in the first half. Aviation performance benefited from the favorable contract restructuring in Q1, which will improve network utilization and support future commercial momentum as previously reported. This is partially offset, as we expected, by timing differences between the onboarding and decommissioning of airline customers, as well as lower ESA shipments. As we look to the second half, we expect ESA shipments to increase each quarter, and importantly, we continue to secure new wins, adding about 200 tails in the first half.
In government and defense, as previously discussed, the first half comparison to prior year was impacted by the effects of DOGE-related reductions on the U.S. government business, which were implemented in the first half of 2025. Global government and defense delivered a solid first half. We continue to see demand for our secure space-based solutions supported by several strategic awards, driven by increasing defense budgets in both the U.S. and in Europe. Within Fixed Data and Media, performance was broadly in line with our expectations. Both businesses continued to experience volume declines during the first half. Media was still impacted by the Brazilian customer bankruptcy in the first half when compared to the prior year, while broader industry dynamics remained consistent with our expectations. Trends are expected to improve in the second half on the back of major contract renewals.
Adjusted EBITDA in the first half of 2026 was EUR 725 million. Showing growth of 47% year-over-year on a reported basis with a margin of 45.2%. On a like-for-like basis, first half 2026 Adjusted EBITDA was down 6.2% compared to the same period in 2025. This included the favorable contract restructuring in aviation in Q1 2026 and lower operating expenses resulting from our integration activities. These partially offset the following underlying headwinds. In aviation, the prior year included a contract modification from Intelsat Legacy in Q2 2025, making it a difficult comparison in Q2. Additionally, as previously discussed, there continues to be some timing differences between the onboarding and decommissioning of airline customers. In government and defense, margin compared to prior year was impacted by timing impacts due to contract rationalization in the U.S. government business, primarily driven by DOGE reductions, as previously discussed.
We expect solid growth in the back half of the year, supported by several recent awards, as well as a strategically important award for Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global, or PTSG. As mentioned, IRIS² Rendez-vous 1 is making progress. We have discussed before, mix continues to impact the overall company margin, driven by declines in the Media and Fixed Data verticals. With both businesses having been subject to market-specific headwinds, we are seeing early signs of stabilization in Media and expect a more favorable trajectory in the second half. Importantly, our synergy realization remained solid in the first half and helped mitigate the impact of business mix. We delivered a 9% reduction in total operating expenses with a 16% reduction in staff costs.
Looking ahead to the second half, we expect growth in both revenue and earnings, driven in large part by our government and defense business, both from recent U.S. and European awards. Our Media business is expected to improve year-over-year in the second half, with recent awards after quarter close contributing to the improvement. In aviation, we expect stronger ESA shipments in the second half and additional awards to drive both revenue and earnings. With clear visibility into the second half growth pipeline, we are reaffirming our full year 2026 financial outlook. Moving now to slide 13 to give a more detailed view on the financial performance of our vertical segments. Media's first half 2026 revenue of EUR 571 million, accounting for 36% of total revenues, increased by 46.5% versus prior year on a reported basis, offsetting structural declines.
On a like-for-like basis, media was down 10% year-over-year, reflecting ongoing structural declines due to capacity optimization in mature markets and the Q1 impact of the Brazilian customer bankruptcy. Despite these pressures, media remains a highly profitable and cash-generative business. Commercial momentum remains solid, with approximately EUR 402 million of renewals and new business secured during the first half, contributing to a backlog of EUR 2.9 billion and providing strong long-term revenue visibility. We continue to see resilience in key segments such as free-to-air, free-to-view, and sports and events, while recent long-term renewals, including the extension with ARD through 2039, an expanded long-standing partnership with Caracol Televisión, and a multi-year agreement with ABP Network reinforced the strength of our customer relationships and the enduring value of satellite distribution.
Looking ahead, we expect a more favorable trend in the second half as the impact of the Brazilian customer bankruptcy eases and recent commercial awards drive improved performance. With a book to bill above 1.0 in Q2, we are off to a good start for the second half. Moving to slide 14 and the networks business. Networks first half 2026 revenue of EUR 1.018 billion, representing 64% of total revenues, were up 89% on a reported basis compared to the prior year. On a like-for-like basis, networks revenue decreased by 1.5% versus the prior year, with growth momentum in mobility and government and defense partially offsetting fixed data declines. In mobility, we saw first half revenues of EUR 421 million, 169.9% higher on a reported basis and up 5.1% on a like-for-like basis year-over-year. This growth was driven by aviation, including the favorable contract restructuring in Q1.
As I mentioned, we continue to secure new customers and expect a strong second half with significant ramp in ESA deliveries. Government and Defense first half 2026 revenues of EUR 381 million were up 41.9% year-over-year on a reported basis. On a like-for-like basis, Government and Defense grew 1.9% year-over-year, driven by strong demand in global government, particularly in Europe, partially offset by year-over-year impacts to the U.S. government business resulting from DOGE reductions which materialized after the first half of 2025 and the timing of U.S. government contract awards. We expect recent awards to contribute to growth in the second half of the year, including PTSG, and additionally, we expect several new awards like IRIS². As we discussed, the IRIS² Rendez-vous 1 is progressing well and nearing completion.
As I mentioned, demand for secure and sovereign connectivity across Europe remains strong, driven by increasing geopolitical priorities and government investment in resilient communications infrastructure. Lastly, in our fixed data business, revenues in the first half 2026 totaled EUR 216 million. This represented a growth of 89.3% year-over-year on a reported basis. On a like-for-like basis, revenues declined 16.6% given the competitive headwinds in this business. In the first half, we continued to see commercial momentum from our network segments driven by continued demand for space-based solutions with a gross backlog of EUR 3.5 billion underpinned by EUR 825 million of new business and renewals in our networks segment. Importantly, backlog has grown by EUR 200 million since the end of the first quarter from EUR 3.3 billion to EUR 3.5 billion, which provides confidence in the ramp we expect in the back half of the year.
Turning now to slide 15 for a detailed view of our capital allocation priorities and our debt maturity profile as of June 30th, 2026. Our combined like-for-like adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio stands at 4.4 times versus 4.1 times in the previous quarter, reflecting mainly timing effects of cash flows and lower 12-month trailing adjusted EBITDA. The net leverage ratio includes cash and cash equivalents of EUR 703 million, excluding EUR 215 million of restricted cash, which is related to the SES-led consortium's involvement in the IRIS² program. We continue to benefit from a debt profile with a weighted average cost of around 4.2%, approximately 72% of debt at fixed interest rates, and an average maturity of roughly five years. This structure provides strong protection against market volatility, supports financial flexibility, and enhances visibility over our funding requirements. Our capital allocation framework remains disciplined and unchanged.
We are focused on reducing leverage and strengthening credit metrics over time while preserving ample liquidity and maintaining flexibility to address future financing needs as they arise. During the period, we continued to proactively manage our debt maturity profile. In the first half of 2026, we repaid approximately EUR 1.2 billion of debt principal, including our EUR 650 million senior bond and EUR 525 million of deeply subordinated securities. This included approximately EUR 208 million repaid in the second quarter, largely related to the call of our perpetual NC26 hybrid bond, which took place on May 27th, 2026. These actions, together with our continued access to diversified funding sources, position us to address upcoming maturities, pursue refinancing opportunities when attractive, and support the execution of our strategic objectives.
Consistent with what we have previously communicated and our disciplined capital allocation framework, the usage of the net proceeds post-CBR payments related to the C-band report and order will first be directed toward further deleveraging with the objective of reducing net leverage to 3.0 times or below. As previously stated, once the company meets its net leverage target, at least a majority of future exceptional cash flows will be prioritized for shareholder returns. Now turning to our cash flow performance in the first half. SES generated positive adjusted net operating cash flows of EUR 522 million, excluding EUR 186 million of payments in connection with the IRIS² restricted cash and EUR 30 million related to restructuring and outflows associated with the implementation of mergers and acquisitions. This represents an increase of EUR 42 million compared to the same period last year.
Adjusted free cash for the first half was negative EUR 130 million, reflecting the timing of capital expenditures primarily related to our O3b mPOWER satellites expected to launch in Q3, as well as the timing of collections. It is worth specifically noting that shortly after the close of Q2, the company received EUR 205 million as an upfront payment from a global government customer. In the first half, capital expenditures totaled EUR 444 million, and as a reminder, our CapEx profile for the year is front-end loaded due to the timing of cash flows for our O3b mPOWER satellites, as previously mentioned. We continue to execute our CapEx plans with discipline. As you will recall, in Q1, we canceled two GEO satellites that did not meet our IRR thresholds.
We remain aligned with our CapEx outlook of around EUR 700 million for the year, excluding C-band related CapEx. CapEx for 2026 is expected to be around EUR 100 million-EUR 150 million. As mentioned previously, it is important to note that C-band CapEx is reimbursable over time. We are disciplined with regards to our investment to drive strategic growth in the business, while continuing to deliver on planned CapEx synergies and fleet and ground infrastructure optimization. In addition, we continue to make progress in our O3b mPOWER insurance claim, having collected $15 million, equal to roughly EUR 13 million this quarter, bringing the total proceeds to $218 million to date. As SES evolves from a traditional satellite operator to a space solutions company, we are increasingly delivering integrated networks, services, and end-to-end solutions that expand our addressable market and create long-term revenue opportunities.
This transition is driving a change in our revenue mix, with a greater proportion of development, integration, and equipment-related revenues in the initial phases of customer programs. While these activities typically carry lower margins up front, they establish the foundation for recurring, higher quality service revenues over the life of the contracts. We remain focused on executing our verticalization strategy, capturing integration synergies, and allocating capital in a disciplined manner to support sustainable long-term growth, profitability, and cash generation. I'd like to thank our employees and partners for all of their hard work in the first half and continued dedication to meet our financial goals for the year. With that, I'll hand it back over to Adel for his closing remarks.
Great. Thank you, Lisa. Let's go to slide number 17. We're confidently reiterating our full-year financial outlook for 2026. Performance in the first half reflects a strong Q1 and a softer-than-expected Q2. As mentioned in previous results call, we had expected to see some quarterly variation driven by well-understood dynamics. Importantly, the key drivers underpinning our outlook remain firmly in place, and we expect a stronger second half of the year supported by continued commercial momentum across mobility and government and defense, with important contracts secured in H1. The contribution from new customer deployments ramping through the remainder of the year. Media declines are expected to improve, and we will no longer have the Brazilian customer bankruptcy headwinds and are anticipating meaningful long-term contract renewals. We continue to execute with discipline across the business. Integration and efficiency initiatives remain on track.
We continue to deliver our synergy objectives while maintaining a strong focus on operational execution and customer service. As such, we reiterate our full-year 2026 outlook of stable revenue and stable adjusted EBITDA year-on-year. At the same time, capital expenditure remains well controlled and aligned with our strategic priorities, supporting the future growth while preserving financial discipline. Hence, we reiterate our 2026 capital expenditure forecast of around EUR 700 million, including IRIS² and the first phase of meoSphere at EUR-U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.20. We continue building our capacity and expect O3b mPOWER satellites 11, 12, and 13 to launch in Q3 2026. I'd like to conclude today's presentation with slide 18. Our priorities remain clear: disciplined execution, operational excellence, and long-term value creation. Looking ahead, we'll remain confident in a strong operational delivery in the second half of the year, supported by continued commercial momentum.
Our focus remains firmly on execution, delivering our synergy targets, maintaining capital expenditure discipline, and positioning the company for sustainable growth. As I mentioned earlier, FCC's report and order for 160 MHz C-band clearing in the U.S. provides us with a clear path to deleveraging and sustained financial strength. IRIS² is a landmark European secure connectivity program and is highly complementary with our meoSphere initiative. Together, with the launch of the last O3b mPOWER satellites expected in 3Q 2026, these investments represent a step change in capability and reinforce our innovation and verticalization strategy. Finally, we are pleased to announce that SES will host a Capital Markets Day in Luxembourg on December 9th, 2026.
This will be a unique opportunity to take you on our transformational journey to a space-based solutions company, showcase the increasing innovation and verticalization of our technology value chain, and share our roadmap for sustainable growth and shareholder returns. We remain confident in our future, focused on execution, and highly committed to delivering value to our customers and our shareholders. With this, we are ready for your questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six. Please limit your questions to two. The first question is coming from Akhil Dattani from JPMorgan. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. My first question is just to better understand the phasing of the H2 growth that you are alluding to. Adel, as you mentioned, Q1 was better than expected, Q2 was softer. I guess that volatility maybe makes it a bit difficult for us to understand how to think about the shape of H2. So could you maybe help us understand, when we think about the mid-single-digit revenue EBITDA growth you need to achieve in H2, how should we think about the phasing of that Q3 to Q4? Is it more back-end loaded, front-end loaded? What are the key puts and takes just to help us more concretely understand, on numbers, where we should come out? So that is the first question. The second question was on the C-band process.
Your comments were very helpful in terms of helping us understand prioritization of deleveraging and then capital return. I guess the challenge is the capital from this is not likely to come to SES for another five years. There's quite some time before we have visibility on that actual money coming in. Then obviously, you utilizing that capital in the ways that you've committed to. I guess at the same time, the industry's maybe had a bit of a checkered history around utilization of capital and pivots into M&A. I wondered if you could maybe help us understand what you can do to give us more concrete visibility around that capital.
Is there anything you can do to commit earlier, do something that would give us, let's say, more visibility rather than having to wait the full five years before we know exactly what ends up happening? Thanks a lot.
Very good, Akhil. Thank you for the two questions. Let me tackle the first one, then we'll go to the C-band conversation. Akhil, you've been following us for a long time, right? We do have this seasonality in our quarters, right? They are driven by contracts that we sign, renewals that we do. The contracts, we have variation of contracts, right? There are contracts that yield revenue almost immediately when we sign them because customers pay us upfront and we have milestones up front. There are contracts that take time, right? I mean, we sign up to a contract, we deliver certain milestones, it takes a little bit of time. Then we have a milestone where we get paid, and we can recognize the revenue and the profit associated with it. This is what makes our quarters a little bit seasonal, right?
When you think about it. The way you should think about second half is, the big ramp, driven by a couple of defense contracts, will happen in fourth quarter. Right? Fourth quarter will be a bigger quarter than Q3. We know that. We already know that. We mentioned the contracts. PTSG, we keep talking about it. PTSG was zero first half of the year. It's going to be a significant number for us in the second half of the year. It will ramp gradually in Q3 and then really go through a big boost in the fourth quarter because of the milestones that we have, which we're very confident in. The same thing with IRIS², right? As we conclude Rendez-vous 1, which we anticipate to happen quite quickly. We're very happy, by the way, with the progress with the European Commission and the European Space Agency.
It's been a while, right, as we've been working on it. The reason it took a while is we took our time. We were very diligent, us and our partners, the European Commission, the European Space Agency. We're all very committed to do it, but we needed the time to make sure that the terms are right, that the costs are spread correctly, that the contributions from the private sector and the public sector are balanced correctly. Now it's going to ramp. All the revenues that you've seen were more preparations for this point in time, and it's going to start ramping because we're going to start delivering the project milestones that we're staffed to do, and ready to go. Right?
Think about it like that, where Q3 will be a good quarter, the Q4 is going to be where we expect the ramp to happen. I hope that's helpful in how you should think about that. There is a big contract, we mentioned it already, in Aero, that we're not going to rush. Right? One thing about SES, we don't rush our contracts, and I don't want to be disrespectful to the community that's on the phone, just to make a quarter. Right? We let them fall where they need to fall, as long as we get what we need to get in order to be comfortable with the value and the quality of the contract. That contract that I'm talking about could skew either Q3 or it could skew Q4 even further, right? Just a heads-up for that one.
Look, on the C-band. A couple of things. First of all, look, this is a really good outcome. We have worked very closely with the FCC. I mean, I am impressed with the speed at which FCC really worked through this. I mean, everybody was expecting this report in order to be sometime in fourth quarter. The speed, the determination, the focus that FCC put in it, and their very balanced approach. I mean, they understood what they needed to do in terms of creating value in the U.S., but they understood we were a key stakeholder, that we needed to partner with them to make it happen. We are satisfied both with the incentives numbers, with the scheme of reimbursement. It is improved versus last time. We expect the speed to continue to be better than what it was in the first clearing.
Look, it's not five years, it's four years, right? 2030 is four years from now, right? If you count that we're at the end of 2026 already. Our confidence is high, Akhil, in being able to meet the deadlines. I want to be also clear that the targets that FCC set that we worked with them on it, right? It wasn't unilateral or independent assessment. We worked together with FCC and other stakeholders to figure out what's the most logical way to do this. There are opportunities to accelerate, but I think it's too early, Akhil, right now to declare those. Let the project run. We're going to set up the clearing house by the end of the year. The auction with mobile operators needs to happen in the first half of 2027.
Let those milestones progress. Then we'll see whether we're able to do it. One thing we did do very quickly, as soon as the report and order came out, is contract the manufacturing of the satellites. We have to launch seven new satellites in order to be able to do the clearing, and that is the longest lead item in the whole transition. We contracted immediately in order to make sure that we've got the long lead items locked up, that we have the manufacturer. We selected the manufacturer. We're negotiating very aggressively for months before that and waited for the report in order before we go ahead and contractually go for it. We are very happy with that. We've got very strong partners who know how to do these satellites, who have done it before.
We selected technologies that are existing technologies rather than something that needs to be invented. That gives us a lot of confidence. The last item I want to say here on expense reimbursed, the FCC made it very clear in their report in order, they want to minimize interest expense. Minimizing interest expense means you have to accelerate the clearing house approvals for expenses. That's what it means. That's what that language says. The clearing house has a clear instructions from the FCC that the process needs to be a lot more efficient, and that will minimize our need to go ahead and get financing for those expenses and be able to claim them faster, and optimize our balance sheet going forward.
Look, our experience from the last clearing, we've got, I don't remember the exact number, but we got the vast majority of the expenses we needed to claim. There were no expenses that were left stranded for us.
Right.
We expect the same thing to happen this year. Akhil, I went a little long here, but I hope that was insightful, and I answered your questions.
No, it was extremely useful. Thank you. Just one very quick clarification. It's maybe a bit early to comment on this, but I guess just to see if there's any thoughts you have around it. Could there ever be value or a rationale for maybe collateralizing the incentive payment that you're due to receive? Obviously, it's a very large number relative to the value of the group. There's obviously a huge amount of value being created here. Could that make sense to pull forward access or use of that capital?
Akhil, only if it makes financial benefit to our company and our shareholders. Again, too early to declare. If we can find a way where we can accelerate it and have a net benefit for the company, we will explore it, for sure. Let us get through the first milestones first, which are very critical for the next six months, the next nine months, which is what we need to focus on.
Great. Thank you.
The next question is coming from Aleksander Peterc from Bernstein. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Everyone, thank you for taking my questions. I just have a few. The first one, again, on C-band. Could you just help us understand if you're actually working actively on an accelerated clearance that would move the proceeds a little bit to the left or in your favor? Is that something that is being worked on actively with everyone, with all protagonists? Could you see also any sweetness from operators? Is that something that you envisage, same thing as you had, I think, with Verizon, in lower C-bands if you do a bespoke fast clearance? That would be my first question. The second one on IRIS². How close are we to Rendez-vous 1? Is this a third quarter event, or could it drag on a bit?
If you could help us understand to what extent that will drive your H2 balance as well, that you are modeling currently. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alex. Look, on the C-band, we absolutely want to clear it as quick as possible. It's to our advantage, right? There's no incentive for us to be later. We're supposed to submit the whole transition plan to FCC by the end of the year, which we will. Part of that is trying to go as fast as we can. As I said, answering Akhil, the longest lead item is always the satellite. We now have them now contracted. We've got the teams running very hard. We've got three partners that are working on the satellite, so we spread it in order to spread the risk and make sure we have a little bit of competition. We have incentive for early delivery of these satellites that we have agreed with our partners.
Like I said, we prudently selected technologies that we have high confidence in and not something that needs to be invented or new to space, if you will. Yes, the answer to the first question, we absolutely want to do it as fast as possible, we will do everything we can to accelerate that. Second part of the first question, will the operators and mobile operators want to accelerate and sweeten some of the incentives, et cetera? Too early to tell. I know that just talking to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and understanding their public plans around 5G and 6G deployment, this is a very valuable spectrum. They all want to accelerate their deployments. There's a lot of important economic growth associated with the spectrum for the U.S., which is why FCC started the whole process. We don't know yet.
We don't have anything specific from them, but we're open. If they listen to these transcripts, we're open to the conversation, but let's see. Alex, like I said to Akhil, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Right? I mean, the objective, and the alignment of interests are very clear. We want to do it faster, as fast as we can. The deadlines that FCC set are reasonable and agreed with us. It's not something that was forced on us. It's something that we worked very closely with FCC to come up with these deadlines. It's in everybody's interest to get it done as quick as we can. Let's leave it at that. No, IRIS², Alex, we're very, very close. You should be able to gauge this with my comments.
When we did the first quarter announcements, we were in the midst of these difficult terms and conditions negotiations, I was very cautious about declaring victory or signaling that it's close. I am very optimistic. Right? The commission did an incredible job in keeping the focus, working. I don't know if you've all seen it, but Poland came into IRIS². That's a big deal, right? Poland, I think it's public, how much money they put in. They decided to put in EUR 430 million towards NEOS in the program. Right? The commission signed that agreement with Poland, we signed our MOU with Poland that goes beyond IRIS² in collaborating together around building space capabilities for Poland. We are very, very close. We are not weeks away. We are days away. Right, Alex?
Let me leave it at that before I upset the commission, because they are the customer and they're the ones who decide when to announce things. We are very optimistic and supportive of this program.
That's great. Thank you very much. Can I just have a very quick follow-up on launches? We hear that SpaceX is retiring Falcon 9 in favor of Starship and will progressively retire it. What does this mean for your launch plans and for the industry at large? Is there any disturbance in the process that you anticipate, or is it going to be smooth? Thanks.
Alex, look, we all got spoiled, to be honest with you, over the last few years, having this reliable vehicle to access space, right? We've all benefited, and you all remember that SES was the first commercial operator to be on a Falcon 9, and we were the first commercial operator to be on a reusable Falcon 9. We have a deep partnership with SpaceX, and so on. We're watching this very carefully. We don't have any specifics yet on what the plans are, but we've secured the required launches that we need, both for the C-band satellites, the C-band clearing. That's secure. We also secured the early stages for IRIS² and for our NEOS-2 launches. The industry needs to evolve quickly. In addition to SpaceX that has helped the entire industry over the last five years, we need others to increase their cadence.
We're working with Arianespace. They are a very good partner. There are others who are coming to market. I think the launch market is going to see an incredible evolution over the next five years. We'll see how Starship goes, and we're all eager also to be customers of Starship. Let's see how that evolves. I'm not worried about the launch capabilities, but it is not as straightforward, if you will, as it was before. You got to work on it. You got to secure it. You got to have the balance sheet to be able to get it locked up, and we're in a fortunate position to have that. That's how we see it.
That's great. Thank you very much.
The next question is coming from Paul Sidney from Berenberg. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. Just two, please. Just coming back to the first question we had on the call, the rebound in H2. I was just wondering, is this revenue already contracted, or does it rely on contracts being signed over the next few weeks and months? I'm guessing the answer to this question is no, but is it possible to break down the elements that you've picked out that will boost H2 in monetary terms? Can you give us a feel for the EUR amounts for the PTSG contract, for example? Just secondly, real big picture question. Post SpaceX IPO, the additional disclosure that we've got on the company. Has anything surprised you in terms of addressable markets or SpaceX's capability? Just anything that's struck you from the additional disclosure we've got from SpaceX would be really helpful. Thank you.
Thank you, Paul. We tried in my section of the presentation to give you, and Lisa as well, reinforced it, what are the drivers of H2. We'll not give you an individual line item. That wouldn't make sense. If you think about how much of it is contracted and how much of it is to be contracted, majority of it is already contracted. Things like PTSG is an example. The reason we keep bringing that up is because it's a significant contract ramp-up in the second half of the year. Other government and defense contracts, these are all done. Like I said, in the Capital Markets Day, we'll go much deeper in explaining the profile of the company going forward.
I tried to explain that we have various contract structures that some will recognize revenue very quickly, some require milestones to get there. Some are existing and continuing delivery of the contracts. Majority of the contracts for the second half are contracted, but there are a couple of swingers that sit in there, like the Aero contract that I kept talking about. IRIS². IRIS² is, as soon as the contract's signed, it is going to generate the next milestones and the next work that we need to deliver before the end of the year. Majority are contracted. There are a few that need to close. Media, by the way, done a great job with all the renewals. They're pretty much done in terms of what needs to happen for the second half of the year.
That's why we feel pretty good about media business getting to the profile that we keep talking about, which is mid-single-digit decline kind of a business, which means second half will be stronger than what you've seen in the first half. Look, in terms of SpaceX disclosure, I wouldn't say there were a lot of surprises for us, whether it's in their Starlink V3 constellation or their launch strategy and what they want to do. Clearly, we don't have as much interaction with them on AI and what they're trying to do with AI and so on, so that was learning for all of us in the industry. Starlink is, and SpaceX is quite focused on providing this incredible broadband capability for the customer base that we are all serving already. No, there wasn't new revelations for us.
We wish them success in certain areas because we're huge partners in those areas, and we watch them very carefully in others because they're a very strong competitor. Despite all these disclosures, we are very confident in what we're building, a multi-orbit solutions company, and not pivoting ourselves to go against Starlink in LEO capabilities. That is not an easy battle to win. We were very comfortable that their strategy that was disclosed still reinforces our confidence in our strategy as we go forward. I hope that's helpful, Paul.
That's really helpful. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
The next question is coming from Roshan Ranjit from Deutsche Bank. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Great. Morning, everyone. Thanks for the presentation. I've got two questions, please. It's just, I guess, going back to the operational performance and the terminal, the IESA terminals. Though, you mentioned, then Prusty, you say you're now over 600 tails flying. I think the Q1 number was around 600. Is it fair to say despite the delays, there were some installs during Q2, firstly? Just added onto that, how should we think about the ramp-up of the service revenues that these terminals should be generating? We've been talking about the installation and the revenues associated with that. But I think beginning of the year, we had, I think it was American Airlines, we had the Japan Airlines contract. Should we think about the service revenues only coming in once all the fleet has been kitted out, or is it a more gradual ramp-up?
My second question is around C-band, and is it possible to get some visibility on the tax rate we should think about on the proceeds, given that there was a divergence between Intelsat and SES during auction 1.0? Thank you.
I'll take these. Thanks for the question, Roshan. On the operational performance for aviation, Q2 was a lighter install quarter than Q1 in terms of the IESA antennas, but that was largely as expected. We do expect the ramp to continue to grow in about Q3 and Q4. The good news is that, again, as you install these, they do enter into service. I'd say probably not such good news is that we are kind of in a dynamic where we're managing the off-boarding of certain airlines that we've lost while we're on-boarding some of the airlines that we have won. There is still a bit of a gap there in terms of service revenues, if you start to compare things to prior years. That's a little bit where we're at on the IESA antennas.
From a C-band perspective, on the tax rates, myself, and the tax teams, we are working diligently on how to structure the C-band program so that we can optimize taxes as much as possible. I don't think it's any surprise that the Intelsat tax rate on their C-band 1.0 proceeds was much lower than the SES, but we're working on that. I think Christian and the team have guided about 10% as the tax rate to use. We think that that's a good rate to use, and as we make more progress, we'll inform you appropriately.
Let me just add, Lisa, it's a reflection of consensus of 10%. SES hasn't guided really on this tax rate. The market is using the midpoint of that tax rate, which is the best assumption based on CMIT 1.0.
That's fair.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, Roshan.
The next question is coming from Ben Rickett from New Street Research. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, and thank you for the questions. I had two, please. Again, on the H2 recovery. Firstly, you seem to be suggesting that there will be someone off revenue recognition on the IRIS² contract closing. Are you able to quantify that one-off revenue just to help us with sort of trends? Second question, on sort of OpEx. You're highlighting that OpEx was down 90% in H1, but it wasn't clear for me, are you saying that is all synergy recognition? It's quite a big number. How should we assume that then evolves into H2? Could that sort of 9% be even greater in H2 as you realize more of the synergies? Thank you.
Thank you, Ben. Look, on H2 recovery, I want to highlight, we did not take any one-offs for IRIS², just to be clear. IRIS² contract, existing contract that we signed at the end of 2024 was in effect as we were going through the delivery in 2025 and 2026. The revenue we recognized through those years where services and milestones we were delivering to the IRIS² existing contract. Rendezvous 1 was designed to validate the technical capabilities, the schedules, and close out some of the terms that were open from the original contract. It's a variation contract, variation to the original contract. That's what we're signing in Rendezvous 1, to be clear. There were no one-offs.
What will happen with IRIS² as we pass Rendezvous, there'll be a significant ramp of IRIS² revenues going forward because we no longer work in the pre-Rendezvous 1 scope. We work now on a 10-year plus contract that we need to build the staff and so on. Lisa, if you want.
Yeah, let me just add a little bit just to give some clarity on the revenue recognition for IRIS². The same is going to be true for PTSG. These are going to be % complete contracts where revenue will be recognized on a cost-to-cost basis. As Adel mentioned, when we exit the Rendezvous 1 phase, we will have performance obligations to deliver hardware and software. As we baseline those milestones, we'll start to recognize revenue as we execute on the contract. It's very similar to what you're going to see in traditional aerospace and defense companies where they're prime contractors on long-term construction contracts.
As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, the mix of the business, especially in the second half, as we go forward with programs like IRIS² and PTSG, you're going to see a shift because the mix and the profit rates are somewhat different when we execute on those programs. Again, those are great programs for us to have. They're franchise programs for us to get a foot in. They help supplement some of the CapEx for us, and they're overall very good for us becoming a space solutions company going forward.
Exactly. Ben, you guys have done a lot of work on the model of SES and et cetera. What Lisa just said is really important, and we will measure on it in our Capital Markets Day. We are pivoting. When we say we're going to become an industrial space solutions company, we're doing it. If you think about mPOWER. The way mPOWER worked is we spec'd, designed the satellites, then we paid CapEx to somebody else to build it. That's how it's worked. Then it took us a while to get. We had a lot of cash up front, then it took us a while to get to our revenue when the constellation was running. The model now is shifting to something different, where people pay us to build our own satellites.
We do invest in these stuff, there's a big subsidization happening from outside customers that either want to co-own the constellation with us or fund us for these constellations. That has the revenue profile as Lisa just described. We're seeing a much better use of cash. As we go forward, by the way, we're not thinking of becoming an industrial player to start building satellites for somebody else. We're building them for ourselves, for us. For countries that come to us and say, "Build it for us and then manage it for us. Run the network for us going forward." You will see a shift in these. PTSG is an example of that. IRIS² is an example of that.
We'll be announcing other things before the end of the year and beginning of next year, contracts that are very similar in nature, which is a big pivot and an important pivot for the company going forward. On the OpEx. Our OpEx lines have multiple lines. Also keep in mind that, as we take out people, we have reduced significant amount of people in the company, and we took out a lot of costs from non-staff related OpEx. Those two are high double-digit decline year-on-year. Okay? In CMD, we'll show you the data at the end of the year when we do our full year 2026 results. We will share our accomplishment for our synergies execution. However, look, we're also hiring people, just to be clear, to deliver IRIS², to build up our factory, meoSphere, and that all sits in the OpEx number. Right?
That's why you don't see the big takedown that we see underneath the covers, which we will share with you guys as we close the year going forward. In the second half of the year, we expect that trend that we just described in terms of staff and non-staff-related synergies to be in the same realm. High double-digit decline year-on-year. That's what we're expecting. That's what is happening in our P&Ls.
That's really helpful.
Thank you, Ben.
Can I just check, in Q1, you had that sort of EUR 81 million one-off. There's nothing similar to that coming in in H2?
Well, we have this big contract that we keep mentioning, right? There is a potential of that. It's not that size, it's not the level. As we said before, Ben, these one-offs are normal way of work. We had them in 2025. They were not insignificant. We're suffering in 2026 year-on-year compares because of these one-offs, right? We don't typically talk about them because we feel, first of all, we need to disclose them to the market because they're not insignificant in their nature. However, they are part of our business. That's how it's run. Right? You can go back multiple years, and you see that every year there is a few of those things.
Sometimes, in the following year, they're negative because you're trying to compare to them, and they're positive in a sense if you're doing them more than what you did the prior year. One of the big ones to remind you guys is in maritime. Right? In maritime, we had a large contract that we restructured in 2024 that had an impact in 2025 and 2026 on comparison. We don't talk about it because we see it as a normal part of our business. Thank you, Ben.
Thanks.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad. The next question is coming from Terence Tsui from Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Oh, thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. I had a quick clarification on the timing of the C-band proceeds. I think at the last clearing process, back in 2020, 2021, the proceeds for the satellite industry started about a year after the auction. For the upper C-band now, it seems like the timing of the payments will be a bit later than that. Can you just explore a bit, has anything changed to drive the FCC moving towards slightly later timing of the payments compared to last time around? Secondly, around the capital allocation priorities. You mentioned, obviously, the priority to delever and then return at least the majority of C-band proceeds prioritized for shareholder returns. What about the remainder? I assume some will be set aside for some growth initiatives. Does this involve potentially more CapEx, or would you even explore potentially some M&A? Thank you.
Terence, let me start with the C-band. Then Lisa, you can jump in on the capital allocation. Look, on the C-band, you're absolutely right. The prior clearing had two phases that were different than the way they described this, the C-band. Why is that? The commission wants to accelerate the clearing this time. They want to do it faster than what happened last time. They put a lot of emphasis on getting to at least 70% of the U.S. population to be cleared by end of 2030, which means the large areas in, cosmopolitan areas in the United States. It's a little bit different philosophy than where the chair and the FCC staff thought about it, which is what you're seeing and how it is described. On the other hand, they work very hard on improving the efficiency of expense reimbursement. Right?
They kind of try to make it more balanced, right? To make sure that people are not having to finance things, and the U.S. government doesn't have to pay the interest rates, right? Which is beneficial to us. That's why, when Akhil and then after that, Alex, were asking the questions, look, our incentive is to, natural incentive, what the commission wanted to put on us, which is working, is to make it faster as soon as we can. That's what we're working on to make it successful. It is different. You're absolutely right. In terms of capital allocation?
Yeah. In terms of capital allocation, again, there's no change in our financial policy. We are committed to delevering to about 3.0 times or below, and then we will return excess cash to shareholders. Just maybe just to give a little bit of color around that, in our midterm modeling, we have modeled the CapEx that we need for growth. It's already included into that financial policy. We feel very confident that our shareholders will participate in any earnings that come from this event.
Right. Look, the contracts we talked about before, right, and we'll disclose more as we sign them, do have cash injections into the company. Right? Like I said, the profile is changing from us having to front up all the CapEx into a model where customers are participating in the investments and contribution of this cash way before the constellations are ready. Look, I get these questions all the time because I was the one who showed up in 2024 and used the proceeds to acquire another company. I am asked this question all the time, "Do you have other ideas to do that?" We keep reiterating over and over again. We made it very clear, our priority delever. Look, we've done the big move, right? We didn't discuss.
I feel very good about the Intelsat transaction, because of the C-band announcement reinforcing it even further. We are getting EUR billions more than what we would have gotten on a standalone company. That looks good, and it's a good thing for the company in terms of creating scale and being able to drive the growth of the company going forward. We now have the scale. We're now able to shift into a strategic pivot that we keep describing, becoming more of a space solutions company that's verticalized. We have modeled all of these cash requirements to do that. If we're going to do an M&A, if there is one, and there isn't one on our roadmap right now, it will not be large. It will be about can we accelerate our ASIC skills? Can we accelerate our manufacturing capability?
Those are the type of things that we may think about, I want to be clear, again, reiterate, there's nothing on the roadmap right now that we will look at M&A. We will not use the money we're getting from C-band to do that M&A. We're going to use the C-band money to delever, and any excess of that money is going to be going to our shareholders in various means. Dividends. We already signaled to the market that as soon as we get to our 3.0 or below, we will start looking at increasing our dividends to our shareholders. We feel very confident in doing that because we have the funding required to go forward. We just need to delever first, is what we need to do. Right?
Then we need to be able to afford the investments from our cash generation and our customers' contributions as we go forward. That's how the model is built. Right? That's what we're executing. Lisa?
I think you got it.
Okay. Terence, does that answer your question?
Yep, that's perfect. Thank you.
Thank you.
There are no more questions at this time. I hand the conference back to Christian Kern for any closing remarks.
Thank you, Gaia, and thank you for our participants for joining us today. Thank you for an excellent Q&A. If there are any further questions, please contact the IR department. We are here to help, and speak soon. Take care.
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