Avanti raises £31.5m to dispel launch fears

1st Jul 2009 08:22

Satellite operator Avanti Communications is to raise £31.5m through a placing as it revealed revenues and profits this year will be "significantly" ahead of expectations.Avanti will issue 14m shares to institutional shareholders at 225p. The cash will help fund the upgrade of the launch service provider for the launch of its HYLAS broadband satellite to Arianespace.The group has also received a £10.7m grant to help with the upgrade costs from the European Space Agency."The upgrade of the launch service provider greatly enhances the certainty over timing and success of launch and is expected to result in an acceleration in Avanti's success in pre-selling capacity as well as some new strategic developments," Avanti said."The HYLAS project is in advanced stages now with payload traffic testing, construction and ground systems completed and the company is now entering the launch preparation phase which is anticipated to be complete in early 2010," it added Avanti has signed agreements with 47 distributors in 11 countries who have already committed to 13% of HYLAS capacity at launch."The market for Avanti's services is far stronger than even we expected and is further strengthened by the British Government's Digital Britain report. Our success in pre-sales has been pleasing but there are some significant potential government and commercial customers whose commitment can only be secured early by reducing the perception of launch risks," chief executvie David Williams said.