Future of Canadian space company Telesat uncertain as concerns rise over ability to pay off debts

  • 📰 globeandmail
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 53 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 25%
  • Publisher: 92%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

Telesat currently expects to begin launching its Lightspeed satellites in 2025 and starting service the following year. But it has yet to raise all the money it needs

. Meanwhile, analysts say its existing business of geostationary satellites, while still profitable, is facing stiff competition.

S&P analyst Madhav Hari said such a rating suggests a 50-per-cent chance of default, adding that the company will need “extremely favourable conditions” with its business plan to make timely payments on its debt. In a statement, Telesat spokesperson Lynette Simmons said the company now has $4-billion in financing arrangements of the US$5-billion it needs for Lightspeed and has made “tangible progress” toward finalizing the remainder of the deals since its last quarterly report, in November.

If Telesat defaults on its debts, bondholders will have little claim to the funds it has injected into Lightspeed, Fitch Ratings analyst John Culver said. For the funds that are available, he said, the Canadian government will take precedence. If it does secure the financing, Telesat will be going ahead with a smaller project than originally planned. The company initially hoped to send 258 new satellites into orbit by early 2023. But last spring it said it was reducing the count to 188, with 10 in-orbit spares, to stay within its budget.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Since the company is located in Ottawa, they need not worry: a government bailout at taxpayer expense is most certainly on its way.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 5. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

The Week Ahead: Earnings from Aritzia, RBC’s Canadian Bank CEO Conference - BNN BloombergA look at what investors will be watching in the upcoming week.
Source: BNNBloomberg - 🏆 83. / 50 Read more »

Three ways to manage disruption in your business – Canadian InvestorThree ways to manage disruption in your business CanadiansInvest
Source: CanadiansInvest - 🏆 53. / 59 Read more »

Majority of big Canadian companies now linking executive pay to ESGStudy finds 68 per cent of companies in the S&P/TSX 60 Index of large corporations offer chief executives and other top brass incentives at least partly based on meeting ESG objectives tetleyuk retarded TaikaWaititi Switzerland ParlCH ESG is a particularly toxic combination of green-washing & virtue signalling. But I learned early in my long career to be wary of three letter business acronyms ... and to stay well clear of the sea of parasitical consultant hucksters who make their living pumping them.
Source: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 Read more »