Telesat Corp (TSAT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the conference call to report the fourth quarter 2022 financial results for Telesat.

早上好，女士們，先生們。歡迎參加電話會議，報告 Telesat 2022 年第四季度財務業績。

Our speakers today will be Dan Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Telesat; and Andrew Browne, Chief Financial Officer of Telesat.

我們今天的發言人是 Telesat 總裁兼首席執行官 Dan Goldberg；以及 Telesat 的首席財務官 Andrew Browne。

I'd like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Michael Bolitho, Director of Treasury and Risk Management. Please go ahead, Mr. Bolitho.

我想將會議轉交給財務和風險管理總監 Michael Bolitho 先生。請繼續，Bolitho 先生。

Thank you, and good morning. This morning, we filed our annual report for the year ended December 31, 2022, on Form 20-F with the SEC and on SEDAR.

謝謝，早上好。今天上午，我們向 SEC 和 SEDAR 提交了截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止年度的年度報告，表格為 20-F。

Our remarks today may contain forward-looking statements. There are risks that Telesat's actual results may differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties.

我們今天的評論可能包含前瞻性陳述。由於已知和未知的風險和不確定性，Telesat 的實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述預期的結果存在重大差異。

For a discussion of known risks, see Telesat's annual report filed earlier today with the SEC. Telesat assumes no responsibility to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

有關已知風險的討論，請參閱 Telesat 今天早些時候向美國證券交易委員會提交的年度報告。 Telesat 不承擔更新或修改這些前瞻性陳述的責任。

I will now turn the call over to Dan Goldberg, Telesat's President and Chief Executive Officer.

我現在將把電話轉給 Telesat 的總裁兼首席執行官 Dan Goldberg。

Okay. Thanks, Michael. This morning, I'll share some thoughts on our financial results and give an update on the business. I'll then hand over to Andrew, who will speak to the numbers in detail and then we'll open the call up to questions.

好的。謝謝，邁克爾。今天早上，我將分享一些關於我們財務業績的想法，並提供最新的業務信息。然後我會交給安德魯，他會詳細說明這些數字，然後我們會打開電話提問。

Looking at our financial performance for the quarter and the full year, I'm pleased with where we landed. We beat the guidance we gave at the outset of the year as well as the updated guidance we shared when we released our Q2 numbers. We also continue to run the business in a highly disciplined and focused manner closing the year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of roughly 75% and with $1.7 billion of cash on the balance sheet.

縱觀我們本季度和全年的財務業績，我對我們取得的成績感到滿意。我們超越了年初給出的指導以及我們在發布第二季度數據時分享的更新指導。我們還繼續以高度紀律和專注的方式經營業務，在年底調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 75%，資產負債表上有 17 億美元現金。

As we mentioned on our last call, the overall operating environment was pretty stable from a demand and pricing perspective. And I was pleased to see our capacity utilization pick up throughout the year.

正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的，從需求和定價的角度來看，整體運營環境相當穩定。我很高興看到我們的產能利用率全年都在回升。

Our big headwind for 2022 and it will be a headwind for the first 4 months of this year, too, was the DISH renewal on our Anik F3 satellite. As we've discussed previously, it was at a lower rate and for less capacity than the previous deal and even though we promptly resold the balance of the capacity that DISH didn't renew, it was still the biggest contributor to the decline in revenue and adjusted EBITDA we experienced last year.

我們 2022 年的大逆風以及今年前 4 個月的逆風是我們 Anik F3 衛星上的 DISH 更新。正如我們之前所討論的那樣，與之前的交易相比，它的利率更低，容量也更少，儘管我們立即轉售了 DISH 未續訂的容量餘額，但它仍然是收入下降的最大貢獻者並調整了我們去年經歷的 EBITDA。

Also worth noting was the revenue we recognized in Q4 from the contract we have with DARPA, the U.S. DoD's research arm. As we said before, the contract generated approximately $20 million in revenue and about an equal amount in expense, meaning it was essentially neutral at the EBITDA line and overall dilutive to margins. But because that work is all about demonstrating to the U.S. government and to the market more broadly, the efficacy and capabilities of optical inter-satellite links which are a key feature of our Lightspeed satellites. It made good strategic sense for us to do that contract even though it was EBITDA neutral.

同樣值得注意的是我們在第四季度從我們與美國國防部研究機構 DARPA 簽訂的合同中確認的收入。正如我們之前所說，該合同產生了大約 2000 萬美元的收入和大約同等數量的費用，這意味著它在 EBITDA 線上基本上是中性的，並且總體上會稀釋利潤率。但因為這項工作都是為了向美國政府和更廣泛的市場展示光學星間鏈路的功效和能力，這是我們光速衛星的一個關鍵特徵。儘管它是 EBITDA 中性的，但對我們來說，簽訂該合同具有良好的戰略意義。

The last thing I'd note on our performance last year is something else we've discussed before, which was the anomaly we had on our Anik F2 satellite that shortened its station kept life. As we covered on our last call, I think we've done a really good job with our customers, and upgrading ground infrastructure to extend Anik F2 services and where that wasn't enough, transitioning users who needed station kept capacity to other satellites, including in orbit satellite we bought from another operator, other Telesat satellites and third-party satellites as well.

關於我們去年的表現，我要注意的最後一件事是我們之前討論過的其他事情，那就是我們的 Anik F2 衛星出現的異常現象縮短了它的站保持壽命。正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的那樣，我認為我們在客戶方面做得非常好，升級了地面基礎設施以擴展 Anik F2 服務，而這還不夠，將需要站保持容量的用戶轉移到其他衛星，包括我們從另一家運營商處購買的在軌衛星、其他 Telesat 衛星和第三方衛星。

As a result of all that excellent work, we expect to retain over 90% of the revenue we originally expected from Anik F2 this year, recognizing there's some additional CapEx and OpEx we've incurred with the OpEx getting captured in our guidance for this year.

由於所有這些出色的工作，我們預計今年將保留我們最初預期來自 Anik F2 的收入的 90% 以上，並認識到我們已經產生了一些額外的資本支出和運營支出，而運營支出在我們今年的指導中得到體現.

Press release we issued this morning sets out our 2023 guidance, and I know Andrew plans to speak to that in his remarks. We're forecasting decreases in revenue and adjusted EBITDA and I just wanted to flag here the 2 biggest contributors: The first, as I mentioned a few moments ago, is the residual headwinds from the Anik F3 DISH renewal which will show up in the first 4 months of this year; the second is an expected renewal with Bell for Nimiq 4, which comes up for renewal in early October this year.

我們今天早上發布的新聞稿列出了我們的 2023 年指南，我知道安德魯計劃在他的發言中談到這一點。我們預測收入和調整後的 EBITDA 會下降，我只想在這裡指出兩個最大的貢獻者：第一個，正如我剛才提到的，是 Anik F3 DISH 更新的殘餘逆風，這將出現在第一個今年4個月；第二個是預期與貝爾續約 Nimiq 4，將於今年 10 月初續約。

At this time, we expect Bell to renew all the DTH capacity on Nimiq 4, but at a materially lower rate than the current one. Those 2 renewals, DISH and Bell account for approximately half of our anticipated revenue and adjusted EBITDA decline for this year.

此時，我們預計 Bell 將更新 Nimiq 4 上的所有 DTH 容量，但更新速度將大大低於當前的更新速度。這 2 次續約、DISH 和 Bell 約占我們今年預期收入和調整後 EBITDA 下降的一半。

So now on the status of Telesat Lightspeed. On our Q3 earnings call, we reiterated, we were in discussions with certain additional financing sources to cover the increased cost of the program and that we expected to have a better sense of where we stood on the financing around the end of the year. Unfortunately, we're not there yet.

所以現在關於 Telesat Lightspeed 的狀態。在我們的第三季度財報電話會議上，我們重申，我們正在與某些額外的融資來源進行討論，以支付該計劃增加的成本，並且我們預計將在年底左右更好地了解我們在融資方面的立場。不幸的是，我們還沒有。

That said, we continue to make progress with the various parties we're engaged with, and we remain optimistic that we're going to secure the financing we need to move forward with the program, recognizing, of course, that there's no assurance that we'll ultimately get there. We know well that investors and others want clarity as to where we stand on Lightspeed financing and we hope to be in a position to provide that clarity soon.

也就是說，我們繼續與我們接觸的各方取得進展，我們仍然樂觀地認為我們將獲得推進該計劃所需的資金，當然，我們承認不能保證我們最終會到達那裡。我們很清楚，投資者和其他人希望清楚地了解我們在 Lightspeed 融資方面的立場，我們希望能夠盡快提供這種清晰度。

Finally, we wanted to share that Telesat's Board has authorized up to USD 200 million in cash for repurchases of our debt, if management determines that such repurchases are in the best interest of the company.

最後，我們想分享的是，Telesat 的董事會已授權高達 2 億美元的現金用於回購我們的債務，前提是管理層確定此類回購符合公司的最佳利益。

With that, I'll hand over to Andrew, and then look forward to addressing any questions you have.

有了這個，我將交給安德魯，然後期待解決您的任何問題。

Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone. I would now like to focus on highlights from this morning's press release and filings. Telesat ended the year 2022 with report revenues of $759 million, adjusted EBITDA of $568 million and generated cash.

謝謝你，丹。大家，早安。我現在想重點介紹今天上午的新聞稿和文件中的要點。 Telesat 截至 2022 年的報告收入為 7.59 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 5.68 億美元，並產生了現金。

Give us a second. Okay. Go ahead, Andrew, I think we're back..

等一下。好的。繼續，安德魯，我想我們回來了……

Sorry about that. Obviously, someone was very excited to join. Anyway, I'll just go back a little bit at the beginning. Telesat ended the year 2022 with reported revenues of $759 million, adjusted EBITDA of $568 million and generated cash from operations of $229 million, with $1.7 billion of cash on the balance sheet at year-end.

對於那個很抱歉。顯然，有人很高興加入。無論如何，我會回到開頭一點。 Telesat 截至 2022 年的報告收入為 7.59 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 5.68 億美元，運營產生的現金為 2.29 億美元，年末資產負債表上的現金為 17 億美元。

As Dan has mentioned, we outperformed our 2022 financial guidance which we increased and actually updated when we issued our second quarter results in August of last year.

正如 Dan 所提到的，我們的表現優於我們在去年 8 月發布第二季度業績時增加並實際更新的 2022 年財務指導。

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Telesat reported revenues of $207 million, adjusted EBITDA of $139 million and has generated cash from operations of $69 million.

2022 年第四季度，Telesat 報告收入為 2.07 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.39 億美元，運營現金為 6900 萬美元。

For the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, revenues increased by $19 million to $207 million. Operating expenses increased $8 million to $80 million and adjusted EBITDA decreased by $6 million to $139 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 67.2% compared to 77.1% in the same period last year.

與 2021 年同期相比，2022 年第四季度的收入增加了 1900 萬美元，達到 2.07 億美元。營業費用增加 800 萬美元至 8000 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 減少 600 萬美元至 1.39 億美元。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 67.2%，而去年同期為 77.1%。

Between 2021 and 2022 changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rate had a positive impact of $8 million in revenues, a negative impact of $1 million in operating expenses and a positive impact of $7 million on adjusted EBITDA.

2021 年至 2022 年間，美元匯率的變化對收入產生了 800 萬美元的積極影響，對運營費用產生了 100 萬美元的負面影響，對調整後的 EBITDA 產生了 700 萬美元的積極影響。

And adjusted for changes in foreign exchange rates, revenues increased by $11 million. Operating expenses increased by $7 million and the noncash expense related to share-based compensation decreased by $16 million. Overall result was a decrease in adjusted EBITDA of $12 million.

經匯率變動調整後，收入增加了 1100 萬美元。運營費用增加了 700 萬美元，與股權激勵相關的非現金費用減少了 1600 萬美元。總體結果是調整後的 EBITDA 減少了 1200 萬美元。

Looking at revenues. The revenue increase was primarily due to the completion of an equipment sale to DARPA as Dan has mentioned, as well as higher revenues from aero and maritime customers. This was partially offset by a reduction in revenues upon renewal of a long-term agreement with a North American DTH customer.

看收入。正如 Dan 提到的那樣，收入增長主要是由於完成了向 DARPA 的設備銷售，以及來自航空和海事客戶的收入增加。這部分被與北美 DTH 客戶續簽長期協議後收入減少所抵消。

OpEx, the increase in operating expenses were primarily due to higher equipment sales related to the DARPA program. As previously mentioned, partly offset by lower noncash share-based compensation, a lower bonus expenses relating to 2021.

OpEx，運營費用的增加主要是由於與 DARPA 計劃相關的設備銷售增加。如前所述，與 2021 年相關的較低獎金支出部分被較低的非現金股份補償所抵消。

Interest expenses increased by [$18] million in the fourth quarter when compared to the same period in 2021. The increase was due to an increase in interest rates in the U.S. term loan B facility combined with the foreign exchange impact on the conversion of U.S. dollar-denominated debt. This was partially offset by the impact of the repurchase retirement of senior unsecured notes in 2022.

與 2021 年同期相比，第四季度利息支出增加了 [18] 百萬美元。增加的原因是美國定期貸款 B 的利率上升以及外匯對美元兌換的影響- 計價的債務。這部分被 2022 年高級無抵押票據回購報廢的影響所抵消。

As a reminder and as discussed previously, we repurchased notes with a principal amount of USD 160 million in 2022. These repurchases resulted in a gain of CAD 107 million. This also represents an annual interest savings of approximately $10.4 million.

提醒一下，如前所述，我們在 2022 年回購了本金為 1.6 億美元的票據。這些回購產生了 1.07 億加元的收益。這也意味著每年可節省約 1040 萬美元的利息。

ForEx in the fourth quarter, we recorded a gain on foreign exchange of $72 million as compared to a gain of $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The gain for the 3 months ended 31st December '22 was mainly the result of the stronger U.S. dollar to Canadian dollar compared to the spot rate as of September 30, '22, with the resulting unfavorable impact on the translation of our U.S. dollar denominated debt.

ForEx 在第四季度錄得 7200 萬美元的外匯收益，而 2021 年第四季度為 2000 萬美元。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止的三個月的收益主要是由於美國走強。美元兌加元與截至 22 年 9 月 30 日的即期匯率相比，這對我們以美元計價的債務的換算產生不利影響。

Our net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $92 million compared to net income of $113 million in the prior year. The variation of $21 million was principally due to the recognition of U.S. C-band clearing payment. In the fourth quarter of last year, partly offset by higher noncash foreign exchange gains compared to the same period last year, along with a lower tax expense.

我們 2022 年第四季度的淨收入為 9200 萬美元，而去年同期為 1.13 億美元。 2100 萬美元的變化主要是由於美國 C 波段清算付款的確認。去年第四季度，部分被與去年同期相比較高的非現金外匯收益以及較低的稅收支出所抵消。

Cash flows for the year ended 2022, the cash inflows from operating activities were $229 million, included with $65 million by way of receipt of the remaining Phase 1 U.S. C-band clearing proceeds. In terms of overall C-band proceeds, we've received approximately $85 million to date and expect for proceeds of approximately [$260 million]. In terms of capital expenditures during 2022, virtually all are related to lower Orbit Constellation, Telesat Lightspeed.

截至 2022 年的現金流，經營活動產生的現金流入為 2.29 億美元，其中 6500 萬美元通過收到剩餘的第一階段美國 C 波段清算收益獲得。就 C 波段的整體收益而言，我們迄今已收到約 8500 萬美元，預計收益約為 [2.6 億美元]。就 2022 年的資本支出而言，幾乎所有支出都與較低軌道星座 Telesat Lightspeed 有關。

Guidance, as Dan has mentioned, and you've noticed in our earnings release, we have provided preliminary 2023 guidance. The guidance assumes the Canadian dollar to U.S. dollar exchange rate of CAD 1.35.

正如 Dan 提到的那樣，您在我們的收益發布中已經註意到，我們已經提供了 2023 年的初步指導。該指南假設加元兌美元的匯率為 1.35 加元。

Revenues for 2023. Telesat expects the full year revenues to be between $690 million and $710 million. Adjusted EBITDA. In terms of adjusted EBITDA, Telesat expects to be between $500 million to $550 million. CapEx, we expect our 2023 cash flows used in investing activities to be in the range of $40 million to $70 million.

2023 年的收入。Telesat 預計全年收入將在 6.9 億美元至 7.1 億美元之間。調整後的 EBITDA。就調整後的 EBITDA 而言，Telesat 預計在 5 億至 5.5 億美元之間。資本支出，我們預計 2023 年用於投資活動的現金流量將在 4000 萬至 7000 萬美元之間。

Once we have greater visibility around the construction and financing of our Telesat Lightspeed program, we will provide a further update on our anticipated capital expenditures for the year.

一旦我們對 Telesat Lightspeed 計劃的建設和融資有了更大的了解，我們將進一步更新我們今年的預期資本支出。

To meet our expected cash requirements for the next 12 months, including interest payments and capital expenditures, we have approximately $1.7 billion of cash and short-term investments at the end of December as well as approximately USD 200 million of borrowings available under our revolver.

為了滿足未來 12 個月的預期現金需求（包括利息支付和資本支出），截至 12 月底，我們擁有約 17 億美元的現金和短期投資，以及約 2 億美元的循環借款。

Approximately $1 billion in cash was held in our unrestricted subsidiaries. In addition, we continue to generate a significant amount of cash from our ongoing operating activities.

我們不受限制的子公司持有大約 10 億美元的現金。此外，我們繼續從持續經營活動中產生大量現金。

As Dan has indicated also this morning, the Board has authorized of the USD 200 million and cash repurchases of our debt if management determines repurchases to be in the best interest of the company.

正如丹今天上午也表示的那樣，如果管理層認為回購符合公司的最佳利益，董事會已授權 2 億美元和現金回購我們的債務。

At the end of fourth quarter, leverage was calculated under the terms of our amended senior secured credit facilities was [6.17x to 1]. Telesat has complied with all the covenants in our credit agreement and indenture. A reconciliation between our financial statements and financial covenant calculations is provided in the report we filed this morning. A 20-F provided the unaudited interim condensed consolidating financial information in the NDA. The non-Garanter subsidiary shown are essentially the unrestricted subsidiaries of minor differences.

第四季度末，根據我們修改後的高級擔保信貸額度條款計算的槓桿率為 [6.17 倍比 1]。 Telesat 遵守了我們信貸協議和契約中的所有約定。我們今天早上提交的報告中提供了我們的財務報表和財務契約計算之間的對賬。 20-F 提供了 NDA 中未經審計的中期簡明合併財務信息。所示的非擔保子公司本質上是細微差異的非限制性子公司。

So I think that concludes our prepared remarks for the call. And now we'll be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.

因此，我認為我們為電話會議準備的發言到此結束。現在我們非常樂意回答您的任何問題。

And with that, we'll turn back to the operator.

有了這個，我們將回到運營商。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And the first question is from Walter Piecyk from Lightspeed?

第一個問題來自 Lightspeed 的 Walter Piecyk？

What about now, can you hear me now?

現在怎麼樣，你現在能聽到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

So SG&A is something that obviously would start to escalate if you kind of proceeded with Lightspeed, same thing with CapEx. So given these kind of ongoing delays in terms of getting the financing, should we just basically freeze expectations for valuation purposes on SG&A until we get to go ahead that you can actually get the financing? Or do you guys have some confidence level that you start to engage in increased OpEx and CapEx because you're optimistic that you're going to get this financing queued up for Lightspeed?

因此，如果您繼續使用 Lightspeed，SG&A 顯然會開始升級，資本支出也是如此。因此，鑑於在獲得融資方面存在這些持續的延誤，我們是否應該基本上凍結對 SG&A 估值目的的預期，直到我們繼續前進，你才能真正獲得融資？或者你們是否有信心開始增加運營支出和資本支出，因為你們樂觀地認為你們將為 Lightspeed 獲得這筆融資？

Walter, it's Dan. Maybe I'll take a shot, and then Andrew can chime in as well. So in putting our budget together for the year, and then giving the guidance, so we're spending right now on the OpEx side moving forward with Lightspeed, right? So we've been doing a lot of work on it. We've got a lot of people in the company that are dedicated to it and our guidance.

沃爾特，是丹。也許我會試一試，然後安德魯也可以插話。因此，在將我們今年的預算放在一起，然後給出指導時，我們現在正在 OpEx 方面支出，以推進 Lightspeed，對嗎？所以我們一直在做很多工作。我們公司有很多人致力於它和我們的指導。

So the part CapEx, for a second, but just our guidance on the EBITDA side takes into account that, yes, we're making investments. We're spending on the development of the Lightspeed program. We're confident that it's going to go forward, and we're doing real work on it.

所以資本支出部分，暫時，但只是我們在 EBITDA 方面的指導考慮到，是的，我們正在進行投資。我們正在開發 Lightspeed 程序。我們相信它會向前發展，並且我們正在為此做真正的工作。

On the CapEx side, I think Andrew was careful to say that we've guided to $40 million to $70 million a year, but said that more or less, we'll update our guidance once we've got Lightspeed fully underway because once it's fully underway, certainly, our CapEx spending will look a lot different than the $40 million to $70 million. The $40 million to $70 million is just kind of spending outside of the full program moving forward. So Andrew, I don't know if you want to add anything to that?

在資本支出方面，我認為安德魯謹慎地說我們已經指導了每年 4000 萬到 7000 萬美元，但或多或少地說，我們會在我們全面啟動 Lightspeed 後更新我們的指導，因為一旦它全面展開，當然，我們的資本支出看起來與 4000 萬至 7000 萬美元有很大不同。 4,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元只是整個計劃推進之外的支出。那麼安德魯，我不知道你是否想補充什麼？

Yes. Look, I think as you said, Dan, in terms of CapEx, we're very prudent. And as Dan had said, that as soon as we've got the go ahead for Lightspeed, we will come back indeed and talk about guidance for there.

是的。看，我認為正如你所說，丹，就資本支出而言，我們非常謹慎。正如 Dan 所說，一旦我們獲得了 Lightspeed 的進展，我們就會回來討論那裡的指導。

And on the SG&A perspective, Dan was very prudent. And indeed, as Dan had said, we are adding resources. But if you look at our implied guidance, in fact, that you see the increase in OpEx is pretty small year-on-year. So we continue to be very, very prudent until we're -- until we have the go ahead on Lightspeed.

在 SG&A 方面，Dan 非常謹慎。事實上，正如 Dan 所說，我們正在增加資源。但如果您查看我們的隱含指引，實際上您會發現 OpEx 的同比增長非常小。所以我們繼續非常非常謹慎，直到我們 - 直到我們在 Lightspeed 上取得進展。

So from a sum of the parts valuation standpoint, what would you say the percent mix of SG&A is to Lightspeed? And the reason I asked it like my follow-on question is going to be, at what point do you give up. Meaning like either financing has changed your view of the revenue opportunity, the market has changed because of delays so that you can say, okay, we can at least rely back on a base valuation which is based on a core EBITDA number, which is currently getting diluted by some of these investments on the OpEx side of X.

因此，從零件估值的總和來看，您認為 SG&A 與 Lightspeed 的百分比組合是多少？我問它的原因就像我的後續問題一樣，你會在什麼時候放棄。這意味著任何一種融資都改變了你對收入機會的看法，市場因為延遲而發生了變化，所以你可以說，好吧，我們至少可以重新依賴基於核心 EBITDA 數字的基礎估值，目前是在 X 的運營支出方面被其中一些投資稀釋。

So I guess there's 2 -- or really 3 parts to that question. Percentage of OpEx that is that, if -- I know you're going to say this is not going to happen, but if for whatever reason, you just said, screw it on LEO, your OpEx can drop by x percent.

所以我想這個問題有 2 個或實際上是 3 個部分。 OpEx 的百分比是，如果 - 我知道你會說這不會發生，但如果出於某種原因，你剛才說，把它搞砸在 LEO 上，你的 OpEx 可以下降 x%。

Secondly, has the market revenue opportunity, which you outlined, I think, very well in a document that's, I think, now almost a year old or more. And then third, why do you remain confident that this thing can happen, that Lightspeed can get to a point where we can move forward here?

其次，有市場收入機會，我認為你在一份文件中概述得很好，我認為現在已經有將近一年或更長時間了。第三，為什麼你仍然相信這件事會發生，Lightspeed 可以達到我們可以在這裡前進的地步？

Andrew, do you want to...

安德魯，你想...

Yes, in terms of the OpEx as we go through our program, that what we're spending, we will capitalize and continue to do that up until if determination was ever made about Lightspeed that it wouldn't go ahead. But we're totally confident as Dan said that we will go ahead. And therefore, we see within the confines of our total operating box and even last year, we're off about $22 million in OpEx.

是的，就 OpEx 而言，我們通過我們的計劃，即我們正在花費的東西，我們將利用並繼續這樣做，直到如果對 Lightspeed 做出決定，它不會繼續進行。但我們完全有信心，正如 Dan 所說，我們會繼續前進。因此，我們看到在我們的總運營範圍內，甚至去年，我們的 OpEx 減少了約 2200 萬美元。

And just to give you a sense of that. The big driver of that was indeed the cost of the DARPA program itself. So year-on-year, the incremental costs in relation to LEO is not that significant. And we've got full plans -- full business plan that indeed in terms of attacking the market, customers rolling out the ground infrastructure that once we have the green light to go ahead, then indeed, we will come back and we'll communicate that guidance to you to make it very, very clear.

只是為了讓你感覺到這一點。這其中的主要驅動因素確實是 DARPA 項目本身的成本。因此，與去年同期相比，與 LEO 相關的增量成本並不那麼顯著。我們有完整的計劃——完整的商業計劃，確實是在攻擊市場方面，客戶推出地面基礎設施，一旦我們開綠燈繼續前進，那麼我們就會回來，我們會溝通給你的指導非常非常清楚。

Yes. And maybe I'll offer some thoughts on kind of where we are with LEO and the optionality that we have around it. But we're not required to move forward with Lightspeed, right? There's no legal compulsion where Telesat has to move forward with Lightspeed.

是的。也許我會就我們與 LEO 的關係以及我們圍繞它的可選性提出一些想法。但是我們不需要繼續使用 Lightspeed，對吧？沒有法律強制要求 Telesat 必須與 Lightspeed 一起前進。

We're focused on Lightspeed because we think it's a great commercial opportunity. We think it's a great way to grow the business and to create a lot of equity value for our shareholders. And yes, it's taken us longer for sure than we had originally anticipated, but I continue to believe that the original investment thesis is totally intact, which is to say, there's a huge market for a well-engineered, well executed, enterprise-grade, enterprise-focused LEO constellation.

我們專注於 Lightspeed，因為我們認為這是一個很好的商業機會。我們認為這是發展業務並為我們的股東創造大量股權價值的好方法。是的，我們確實花了比最初預期更長的時間，但我仍然相信最初的投資理論是完好無損的，也就是說，設計精良、執行良好的企業級產品有著巨大的市場，以企業為中心的LEO星座。

If anything, I'm just more and more convinced of that with the passage of time, the importance of having low latency, a highly distributed network, achieving lower cost per bit, driving down the small user terminals. Just everything that we've seen over the last while has -- I don't know, confirmed for us that we're on the right path there.

如果有的話，我只是越來越相信，隨著時間的推移，擁有低延遲、高度分佈式網絡、實現更低的每比特成本、推動小型用戶終端的重要性。我們過去一段時間所看到的一切——我不知道，向我們證實了我們正走在正確的道路上。

And certainly, all the conversations we're having with commercial customers, with government users, all of that. Certainly, I'd say the experience that we see in the Ukraine in terms of how the Starlink constellation, how crucial that's been to that conflict, all go to reinforce the logic around having a LEO constellation and the strategic importance.

當然，我們與商業客戶、政府用戶進行的所有對話。當然，我想說的是，我們在烏克蘭看到的關於 Starlink 星座的經歷，以及它對那場衝突的重要性，都加強了擁有 LEO 星座的邏輯和戰略重要性。

And so that's that, which is to say, we're not seeing anything different in terms of commercial developments, technology developments, anything that persuades us that this isn't a good path.

就是這樣，也就是說，我們在商業發展、技術發展方面沒有看到任何不同，任何讓我們相信這不是一條好道路的東西。

Why we have confidence that we'll ultimately get there, I think that was another question. We've got a ton of momentum on this. We've lined up already over $4 billion of financing commitments. We've already got something like $750 million worth of backlog. So we've got strong support from our government. We've got strong support from our customers. We've got strong support from our Board.

為什麼我們有信心我們最終會到達那裡，我認為這是另一個問題。我們在這方面有很大的動力。我們已經安排了超過 40 億美元的融資承諾。我們已經有大約 7.5 億美元的積壓訂單。所以我們得到了政府的大力支持。我們得到了客戶的大力支持。我們得到了董事會的大力支持。

So yes, it's taking longer than we wanted, but all of those things, I think, make us feel confident that we're going to get there.

所以是的，它花費的時間比我們想要的要長，但我認為所有這些事情讓我們對我們會到達那裡充滿信心。

And then the last thing I'd say is if we don't for some reason, and I think that we will, but if we don't, look, we're still generating a significant amount of cash. We've got over $1.5 billion of cash on our balance sheet right now. It's not like we will have left ourselves in a horrible place.

然後我要說的最後一件事是，如果我們出於某種原因不這樣做，我認為我們會的，但如果我們不這樣做，看，我們仍在產生大量現金。我們的資產負債表上現在有超過 15 億美元的現金。這不像我們會把自己留在一個可怕的地方。

Lightspeed is what we're focused on. Lightspeed, I think, is still the right move for Telesat. And I think that we're still, from a timing perspective in a good place. But if for some reason that we can anticipate right now something different happens then we'll revisit it. Anyway, it's a long-winded answer, but they were good questions.

Lightspeed 是我們關注的重點。我認為，Lightspeed 仍然是 Telesat 的正確舉措。而且我認為，從時間的角度來看，我們仍然處在一個好地方。但如果出於某種原因我們現在可以預見會發生不同的事情，那麼我們將重新審視它。無論如何，這是一個冗長的答案，但它們是很好的問題。

The next question is from Marcello from Ares.

下一個問題來自 Ares 的 Marcello。

It's Marcello Chermisqui from Ares. Had a couple of questions. One was there's a new comment in the Form 20-F that you're not actively seeking to raise equity funding for Lightspeed. What kind of equity partner are you looking for? Is it just an investment fund to provide capital? Are you looking to partner with a satellite manufacturer or even another GEO or LEO network operator?

是來自 Ares 的 Marcello Chermisqui。有幾個問題。其中一個是 20-F 表格中有一條新評論，您沒有積極尋求為 Lightspeed 籌集股權資金。您在尋找什麼樣的股權合夥人？難道只是提供資金的投資基金？您是否希望與衛星製造商或其他 GEO 或 LEO 網絡運營商合作？

Marcello, it's Dan. I don't think there's any new news there. And we said, I think on our Q2 call that because of cost increases on Lightspeed, that we were in discussions with some potential equity investors, and we reiterated that on our last call.

馬塞洛，是丹。我認為那裡沒有任何新消息。我們說，我認為在我們的第二季度電話會議上，由於 Lightspeed 的成本增加，我們正在與一些潛在的股權投資者進行討論，我們在上次電話會議上重申了這一點。

And so yes, no, so I don't think there's anything new there. What we said was that those investments should they materialize, would be -- subordinate, they'd be at kind of the LEO level and they'd be subordinate to the other financing sources that we've been engaged with, including BPI, the French Export credit agency, the government of Canada and the government of Quebec, all of which we've been in discussions for financing. So I don't think there's anything new there.

所以是的，不，所以我認為那裡沒有什麼新東西。我們所說的是，如果這些投資實現，它們將是 - 從屬的，它們將處於 LEO 級別，並且它們將從屬於我們一直參與的其他融資來源，包括 BPI，法國出口信貸機構、加拿大政府和魁北克政府，我們都在討論融資事宜。所以我不認為那裡有什麼新東西。

And as it relates to the LEO development milestones, in order to maintain the U.S. spectrum authorizations, what are the key dates that we should keep in mind? I was under the impression the first date is next week in April. So if you don't hit that date and cannot negotiate an extension, what potentially happens?

由於它與 LEO 發展里程碑有關，為了維持美國的頻譜授權，我們應該記住哪些關鍵日期？我的印像是第一次約會是在四月的下週。因此，如果您沒有達到那個日期並且無法協商延期，可能會發生什麼？

So there, I know the -- what is it F-20 -- 20-F, talks a little bit about regulatory considerations and whatnot. The regulatory stuff, I mean there -- we've got a number of applications in, in the first processing round and the second processing round.

所以在那裡，我知道 - 它是什麼 F-20 - 20-F，談論了一些監管方面的考慮等等。監管方面的東西，我的意思是——我們在第一輪處理和第二輪處理中有很多申請。

And then -- so there are regulatory activities at the FCC level. There are regulatory levels at the IT level as well, and we've got lots of different filings there as well. I won't get into kind of the weeds on round 1 versus round 2. But all to say that I'm pretty confident that when we're ready to move forward with Lightspeed, we're going to have the regulatory rights we need around the world to provide the services that we need to provide. I direct you to the 20-F. I know that we do have some disclosure around there. But that's how I'm thinking about it.

然後 - 所以在 FCC 級別有監管活動。 IT 級別也有監管級別，我們也有很多不同的文件。我不會在第 1 輪和第 2 輪中討論雜草。但總而言之，我非常有信心，當我們準備好推進 Lightspeed 時，我們將擁有我們需要的監管權在世界各地提供我們需要提供的服務。我帶你去 20-F。我知道我們確實有一些披露。但這就是我的想法。

And as it relates to the GEO satellites, at what point do you have to make a decision whether you want to invest in new ones to replace aging satellites. I know you have the CapEx guidance of $40 million to $70 million, but also in the 20-F, you increased the cost to launch in GEO satellite to $200 million to $500 million, which implies that you'd have to step up CapEx if that's the path you want to take or is there another path you would -- potentially think about?

由於它與 GEO 衛星相關，您必須在什麼時候決定是否要投資新衛星來替換老化衛星。我知道你有 4000 萬到 7000 萬美元的資本支出指導，但在 20-F 中，你將 GEO 衛星的發射成本增加到 2 億到 5 億美元，這意味著你必須加強資本支出，如果那是你想要走的路，還是你可能會考慮的另一條路？

Yes. We'll take it kind of satellite by satellite. We're only going to replace a GEO satellite or launch an expansion GEO satellite or, frankly, spend any CapEx if we are convinced we've got a strong business case for it. And so whenever a satellite kind of comes up towards the end of its life, we have a hard look at what's the best way forward here.

是的。我們將逐顆衛星地進行。我們只會更換一顆 GEO 衛星或發射一顆擴展 GEO 衛星，或者坦率地說，如果我們確信我們有強大的商業案例，我們就會花費任何資本支出。因此，每當一顆衛星的壽命即將結束時，我們都會仔細研究什麼是最好的前進方式。

And there are some other things we can do. I mean there are some newer technologies out there that can extend the life of the satellite, and we've been evaluating some of those as well. So right now, as you can tell, we don't have any plans right now to spend money this year, at least on replacement GEO satellites.

我們還可以做一些其他事情。我的意思是有一些更新的技術可以延長衛星的壽命，我們也一直在評估其中的一些。所以現在，正如你所知，我們今年沒有任何計劃花錢，至少在更換 GEO 衛星上是這樣。

We're open to doing just that, though, when those satellites come up for renewal. And I got to say we're open to building new GEO satellites, and we've looked at opportunities from time to time to do that. But yes, we'll just evaluate every business case kind of on a stand-alone basis and make sure that there is a strong kind of risk-adjusted rate of return on that. But right now, as you can see, we don't have any CapEx spending for replacement or expansion GEO satellites right now in our plan for this year.

不過，當這些衛星需要更新時，我們願意這樣做。我得說我們對建造新的 GEO 衛星持開放態度，而且我們不時地尋找機會這樣做。但是，是的，我們將單獨評估每個業務案例，並確保其具有很強的風險調整後回報率。但是現在，正如您所看到的，在我們今年的計劃中，我們目前沒有任何用於更換或擴展 GEO 衛星的資本支出。

The kind of segue like back to where Walter's question was earlier. Like if you did not end up pursuing Lightspeed, you have the $1.5 billion of cash. Is that potentially cash you would, I guess, bring back from that subsidiary to invest in GEO? Or how would you think about that?

就像回到 Walter 之前的問題所在的那種 segue。就像如果你最終沒有追求 Lightspeed，你就有 15 億美元的現金。我猜你會從那家子公司帶回來投資 GEO 的潛在現金嗎？或者你會怎麼想？

Yes. I probably rather not speculate too much right now on what alternative paths we could take. As I've said, our focus is on moving forward with Lightspeed, and we're very bullish on that. So -- but yes, to your point, could we bring cash back? Yes, we could. There's nothing I'm staring at our General Counsel. There's certainly nothing that prevents us from doing that.

是的。我現在可能不想過多地推測我們可以採取哪些替代路徑。正如我所說，我們的重點是推進 Lightspeed，我們對此非常看好。所以 - 但是，是的，就您而言，我們可以帶回現金嗎？是的，我們可以。我沒有盯著我們的總法律顧問看。當然沒有什麼可以阻止我們這樣做。

We'll cross that bridge if and when we get there. I think we've been running this business for a pretty long time. We've been pretty hard-headed and pragmatic about how we use our cash and pretty disciplined around that. So anyway, again, the focus right now is moving forward with Lightspeed. If for some reason that didn't happen, we'll chat with you guys then about what we might do with the cash that we've been building up.

如果我們到達那兒，我們會穿過那座橋。我認為我們經營這項業務已經很長時間了。我們對如何使用我們的現金一直非常冷靜和務實，並且在這方面非常有紀律。因此，無論如何，現在的重點是繼續推進 Lightspeed。如果由於某種原因沒有發生，我們將與你們討論我們可能如何處理我們一直在積累的現金。

The next question is from Brandon Karsch from Kennedy Lewis.

下一個問題來自 Kennedy Lewis 的 Brandon Karsch。

Just want to turn back to '23 guidance here. You mentioned that half of it was from DISH and the Bell Canada renewal. Could you bucket the other half a little bit? How much of that is Anik F2 changes? Any kind of degradation in the core business, FX or any other variances?

只想在這裡回到 23 年的指南。你提到其中一半來自 DISH 和 Bell Canada 的更新。你能把另一半桶一點嗎？ Anik F2 改變了多少？核心業務、外匯或任何其他差異有任何退化嗎？

Yes, it's a good question. So the other pieces are that DARPA contract that we recognized in Q4. That was kind of a onetime arrangement with DARPA. We said that was about $20 million. So that's another big piece of the revenue decline.

是的，這是個好問題。所以其他部分是我們在第四季度認可的 DARPA 合同。這是與 DARPA 的一次性安排。我們說這大約是 2000 萬美元。所以這是收入下降的另一大原因。

And then beyond that, I mean, that right there accounts for, gosh, I don't know, 3/4 of the downturn roughly. Beyond that, it's odds and ends here and there, with some renewals may be at a lower rate, some lost renewals. It's just a whole bunch of other stuff that builds up to the balance of the decline.

然後除此之外，我的意思是，天哪，我不知道，大約佔經濟衰退的 3/4。除此之外，它到處都是零碎的東西，有些續訂率可能較低，有些續訂丟失。只是一大堆其他東西構成了下降的平衡。

Okay. I thought the DARPA contract was about EBITDA neutral. So I was wondering any other major...

好的。我認為 DARPA 合同的 EBITDA 是中性的。所以我想知道還有其他專業...

The DARPA contract -- yes, you're 100% right. The DARPA contract was EBITDA neutral. I was talking more at the revenue line. So we do have some increased expense coming from some of the third-party capacity we need to support customers on Anik F2. That's probably the biggest driver of some of the OpEx -- some of the ups on the OpEx side, there are some downs on the OpEx side, but countervailing that, there are some increases.

DARPA 合同——是的，你是 100% 正確的。 DARPA 合同的 EBITDA 是中性的。我在收入方面談得更多。因此，我們確實有一些增加的費用來自我們需要的一些第三方能力來支持 Anik F2 上的客戶。這可能是某些 OpEx 的最大驅動因素——OpEx 方面的一些上升，OpEx 方面的一些下降，但抵消了這一點，有一些增加。

And one of the large increases is third-party capacity we need to accommodate customers on Anik F2 that we're continuing to support -- so yes. But look, most of its revenue driven, as you can see, and the big drivers there are DISH, the anticipated Bell renewal and then more of these other kind of -- more other stuff that relates to the regular customer business.

其中一項大幅增加是我們需要的第三方容量，以適應我們將繼續支持的 Anik F2 上的客戶——所以是的。但是看，它的大部分收入都是驅動的，正如你所看到的，那裡的主要驅動因素是 DISH，預期的貝爾續約，然後是更多這些其他類型的 - 更多與常規客戶業務相關的其他東西。

Okay. Would it be possible to quantify what the Anik F2 expense was and also maybe discuss some of your assumptions around the Bell renewal and what makes you so confident that you're: one, going to renew that; and two, you're going to get the prices that you're building into the budget here?

好的。是否可以量化 Anik F2 的費用是多少，也可以討論您對 Bell 續約的一些假設，以及是什麼讓您如此自信：一，將續約；第二，你要在這裡得到你在預算中建立的價格嗎？

Yes, I've talked to Bell. I mean, candidly, I don't think we're going to give any more granularity on F2. I think we've given a lot of granularity on that already.

是的，我和貝爾談過了。我的意思是，坦率地說，我認為我們不會對 F2 提供更多細節。我認為我們已經對此進行了詳細說明。

On Bell, yes, I mean, our confidence stems from the fact that we know them well. They're a big customer. We've been having a lot of conversations with them. And this feels like the deal -- the -- what we baked into our guidance very much reflects the nature of the pretty detailed conversations that we've had with them about what this renewal would look like. So that's what gives us the confidence there.

在貝爾，是的，我的意思是，我們的信心源於我們非常了解他們。他們是大客戶。我們與他們進行了很多對話。這感覺就像這筆交易——我們在指南中融入的內容在很大程度上反映了我們與他們就此次續約的內容進行的非常詳細的對話的性質。所以這就是給我們信心的原因。

Okay. And then on the bond buybacks. Good to see that you reauthorized more buybacks, but it's been a few quarters since you've done any. Any reason that you've been holding off? And has your appetite for that changed at all?

好的。然後是債券回購。很高興看到你重新授權了更多的回購，但你已經有幾個季度沒有做過了。你有什麼理由一直拖延嗎？你對它的胃口有沒有改變？

Like figuring out when you -- in -- public companies are so heavily regulated in terms of issuing securities, buying security back. So there were, I don't know, a lot of considerations out there at the time. And we've always tried to be pretty clear with the market about what authority we've been getting from our Board and kind of what our intentions are just so everyone has a pretty good sense for how we're thinking about it.

就像弄清楚你什麼時候——在——上市公司在發行證券、回購證券方面受到如此嚴格的監管。所以，我不知道，當時有很多考慮因素。我們一直試圖讓市場清楚地知道我們從董事會獲得了什麼授權，以及我們的意圖是什麼，這樣每個人都能很好地了解我們的想法。

So I don't know -- I mean, all I would say is, there are kind of a kaleidoscope of factors out there that we need to take into account. We've taken those into account. The Board has increased our authorization in terms of what we can do in terms of debt repurchases.

所以我不知道——我的意思是，我只想說，我們需要考慮各種各樣的因素。我們已經考慮到了這些。董事會增加了我們在債務回購方面的授權。

I think we've always said that we believe our debt trading at these levels, we think that current debt prices don't represent really fair value of the debt, and we think that it could be a good use of cash that we have that builds up in the restricted group in particular.

我想我們一直說我們相信我們的債務交易處於這些水平，我們認為當前的債務價格並不代表債務的真正公允價值，我們認為我們擁有的現金可能是一種很好的利用方式特別是在受限制的群體中建立起來。

And so, yes, in any event, we just wanted to make everyone aware that we've got this increased authorization from the Board. And if we think that it's the right thing to do, that will go back out in the market and repurchase the debt.

所以，是的，無論如何，我們只是想讓每個人都知道我們已經從董事會獲得了更多的授權。如果我們認為這是正確的做法，那將回到市場並回購債務。

Not saying that we're going to, but just letting everyone know that we've got the authority to do it. And yes, just wanted the market to be aware of that.

並不是說我們會這樣做，只是讓每個人都知道我們有權這樣做。是的，只是想讓市場意識到這一點。

Okay. And if I could just sneak one more in here. Just on the Lightspeed side, I appreciate that you say that you've had some momentum building, but it sounds like the commentary has been pretty similar to what we've heard in the last couple of quarters. So maybe if there's anything else you could share maybe at least you think at this point, this incremental subordinated capital, do you think that's going to come from private investors? Or are you talking to government entities for that?

好的。如果我能再偷偷進來一個就好了。就 Lightspeed 而言，我很欣賞你說你已經建立了一些勢頭，但聽起來評論與我們在過去幾個季度聽到的非常相似。所以也許如果還有什麼你可以分享的，也許至少你現在認為，這種增量次級資本，你認為這將來自私人投資者嗎？還是您正在為此與政府實體交談？

I don't want to get into through the potential financing sources could be. But I will say that we are in discussions with financing sources for the funding that we need. I feel pretty good about where those conversations are, although, it ain't over until it's over. So no guarantees.

我不想通過潛在的融資來源進入。但我要說的是，我們正在與融資來源討論我們需要的資金。我對這些對話的位置感覺很好，儘管直到結束才算結束。所以沒有保證。

Yes, I don't think I can offer that much more incremental insight but only to say that, yes, personally, I remain optimistic that we're going to get the funding that we need to move Lightspeed forward. And yes, we're excited to do that.

是的，我認為我無法提供更多的增量見解，但只能說，是的，就我個人而言，我仍然樂觀地認為我們將獲得推動 Lightspeed 前進所需的資金。是的，我們很高興這樣做。

The next question is from Arun Seshadri from BNP Paribas.

下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Arun Seshadri。

Most have been asked. Just on the Lightspeed topic, could I ask the question in a little bit different way. I mean, have there been some new parties, either investors or partners that have emerged in the last 3 or 6 months that would make you more confident today than you would have been a few months ago?

大多數都被問到了。就 Lightspeed 主題而言，我能否以稍微不同的方式提出問題。我的意思是，在過去 3 或 6 個月中是否出現了一些新的政黨，無論是投資者還是合作夥伴，這會讓你今天比幾個月前更有信心？

Arun, what I would say is I think there's a lot of interest in LEO right now, and there are a lot of parties that kind of share our vision that there's a big opportunity there. There aren't that many LEO operators out there that if you are bullish on the opportunity that you can put money to work with. And so I'd say that. Yes. And I'd say, again, maybe just reiterate, we've already got a lot of our financing lined up which gives us confidence that already a significant -- a significant amount of the financing that we need. We already have a line on. So yes, that's what I would say that we're in discussions with folks. I do think there are investors out there that are interested in supporting a project like ours, and we'll see if we get there with them.

阿倫，我想說的是，我認為現在人們對 LEO 很感興趣，而且有很多各方都同意我們的願景，即那裡有很大的機會。沒有那麼多的 LEO 運營商，如果你看好這個機會，你可以投入資金。所以我會這麼說。是的。我要說的是，也許只是重申一下，我們已經準備好了很多融資，這讓我們有信心，我們已經需要大量的融資。我們已經開通了。所以是的，這就是我要說的，我們正在與人們討論。我確實認為那裡有投資者有興趣支持像我們這樣的項目，我們會看看是否能與他們一起實現。

Got it. And then as far as timing goes, how would you handicap the timing of an announcement on Lightspeed? I mean, would you say this is like a month or couple of months away? Or do you think theoretically, it could be significantly longer.

知道了。然後就時間而言，您將如何阻礙在 Lightspeed 上發佈公告的時間？我的意思是，你會說這是一個月還是幾個月之後？或者你認為理論上，它可能會更長。

Look, having gotten this sort of wrong before. I'm just so low to -- no, I am. And it's not because I like conviction that it's going to happen. But bringing this all to a close has definitely taken longer than I had anticipated. I don't want to say anything, but I just don't want to -- it's tempting, but yes, let us just keep working on it.

看，以前犯過這種錯誤。我只是太低了——不，我是。這並不是因為我喜歡相信它會發生。但是結束這一切所花的時間肯定比我預期的要長。我不想說什麼，但我只是不想——這很誘人，但是，是的，讓我們繼續努力吧。

I think we're making progress. I think we'll be able to offer some clarity. I hate using terms like this, but in the near term, and all I would say is we're -- I think we're doing all the right things. We still have a great opportunity here, and we want to get it right. That's the other thing I'd say would be easy in some ways just to say, oh, screw. We've got all this cash on our balance sheet. We've already lined up all this money. We'll just start blowing our brains out in spending money. We haven't wanted to do it like that. And anyway, so stay tuned. I think we're making progress. And hopefully, we'll be able to say something more definitive again in the near term.

我認為我們正在取得進展。我認為我們能夠提供一些清晰度。我討厭使用這樣的術語，但在短期內，我只想說我們——我認為我們正在做所有正確的事情。我們在這裡仍然有很好的機會，我們想把它做好。這是我想說的另一件事，在某些方面很容易，只是說，哦，去他的。我們的資產負債表上有所有這些現金。我們已經準備好了所有這些錢。我們將開始在花錢上絞盡腦汁。我們不想那樣做。無論如何，敬請期待。我認為我們正在取得進展。希望我們能夠在短期內再次說出更明確的話。

One last thing on the Lightspeed topic. Is there -- I mean, are there any additional changes in the scope of the overall project possible or probable as a result of potentially some new investors, et cetera, and finalizing the terms.

關於 Lightspeed 主題的最後一件事。是否有 - 我的意思是，由於潛在的一些新投資者等，以及最終確定條款，整個項目的範圍是否可能或可能發生任何其他變化。

That's a good question. Potentially, there are opportunities to tweak some things. Maybe just to step back. Fundamentally, I think we have a really good design for a Lightspeed. It is a massively capable constellation that we've designed. It's capital efficient, right, it's much fewer satellites than the thousands of satellites that some of the other folks are deploying. We just don't think that we need to do that to effectively serve the enterprise and government market that we're focused on.

這是個好問題。潛在地，有機會調整一些東西。也許只是退後一步。從根本上說，我認為我們有一個非常好的 Lightspeed 設計。這是我們設計的一個功能強大的星座。它具有資本效率，對，它比其他一些人正在部署的數千顆衛星少得多。我們只是認為我們不需要這樣做來有效地服務於我們關注的企業和政府市場。

So I'd say fundamentally, the core building blocks of the project, a couple of hundred satellites, process payloads, digital antennas, optical inter-satellite links. All of those things, I think, remain intact -- is there a little tweaking that can be done here and there to maybe improve things a little bit further.

所以我想從根本上說，該項目的核心組成部分，幾百顆衛星，處理有效載荷，數字天線，光學衛星間鏈路。我認為，所有這些事情都保持完好無損——是否可以在這里和那裡進行一些調整，以進一步改進事情。

Yes, I think so, and we've been exploring some of that. So some of the investors have particular focuses in terms of markets that they're focused on, yes, they do. And there's potential tweaking that we can do to address their focus areas. But yes, beyond that, I'd say, again, fundamentally, the design that we've been talking to the market about our customers about remains intact.

是的，我想是的，我們一直在探索其中的一些。因此，一些投資者特別關注他們所關注的市場，是的，他們確實如此。我們可以做一些潛在的調整來解決他們的重點領域。但是，是的，除此之外，我要說的是，從根本上說，我們一直在與市場討論客戶的設計仍然完好無損。

The next question is from [David Win] from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 [David Win]。

I appreciate it. Most of might have been answered, but just one or two others for me. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the utilization increase? Was that more a function of the anomaly? Or is there other stuff going on there?

我很感激。大多數可能已經回答，但對我來說只有一兩個。您能否談談利用率的提高？這更多是異常的功能嗎？還是那裡有其他事情發生？

No, that's a great question. And I think we promised in the past, if utilization is meaningfully affected by a satellite coming out of service or something. No, I'm looking at one of my colleagues, who's totally close to this. No, it's just been hitting a lot of singles and doubles, frankly, quarter after quarter, just steadily filling up maybe some beams that in the past have had a little bit less utilization.

不，這是一個很好的問題。我認為我們過去曾承諾，如果衛星停止服務或其他原因對利用率產生重大影響。不，我在看我的一位同事，他非常接近這個。不，它只是擊中了很多單打和雙打，坦率地說，一個季度又一個季度，只是穩定地填補了過去利用率較低的一些光束。

I think we've got a very good team that is just constantly looking for ways to regroom the capacity. It's always the case in a business like ours that you sell out of capacity and some areas that are very hot, and you have available capacity in other areas where there's just less demand. But the satellites have certain flexibility to swap capacity around and you're always looking for opportunities to continue to do that. So that's what the utilization increases have come from just in the trenches, making good, careful capacity planning decisions. Demand, as we've said, has been pretty good and just -- yes, chipping away filling up.

我認為我們有一支非常優秀的團隊，他們一直在尋找重新培養能力的方法。在像我們這樣的企業中，情況總是如此，您的產能和一些非常熱門的地區已經售罄，而您在其他需求較少的地區有可用產能。但是衛星具有一定的靈活性來交換容量，你一直在尋找機會繼續這樣做。因此，這就是利用率的提高僅來自於在戰壕中做出的良好、謹慎的容量規劃決策。正如我們所說，需求一直非常好，而且只是——是的，正在逐漸填補。

And look, our utilization is pretty high right now, 89%. I think if you look across the industry, that's got to be up there in terms of utilization. I do think we do a good job of making full use of the capacity that we're investing in. And as you can see from all the cash we've been building on, it'd be easy for us to go out and buy 2 new GEO satellites and throw them up there. But yes, it's just kind of not the way we approach the business.

看，我們現在的利用率非常高，達到 89%。我認為，如果你縱觀整個行業，就利用率而言肯定是領先的。我確實認為我們在充分利用我們正在投資的能力方面做得很好。正如你從我們一直在建設的所有現金中看到的那樣，我們很容易出去購買2 顆新的 GEO 衛星，然後把它們扔到那裡。但是，是的，這不是我們處理業務的方式。

Perfect. That's great. And then I appreciate all the color around the Bell renewal later this year. Are there any other contracts that you can maybe point us to for maybe the early part of '24? Or any other bigger ones that you can maybe give us some color on?

完美的。那太棒了。然後我欣賞今年晚些時候貝爾更新的所有顏色。在 24 世紀初期，您是否可以向我們指出任何其他合同？或者你可以給我們一些顏色的任何其他更大的？

Yes. I think the other kind of more meaningful stuff that comes up. So we renewed DISH for 2 years, and they've got an option to renew for an additional year. So that would come up if memory serves, kind of early Q2 next year? I think that's right. And then beyond that, probably later more like Q4 just looking at something -- like Q4 next year, Nimiq 5 with DISH would be coming up for renewal. So those are I'd say the more meaningful ones that come up next.

是的。我認為出現了另一種更有意義的東西。所以我們將 DISH 續訂了 2 年，他們可以選擇再續訂一年。那麼，如果有記憶的話，明年第二季度初會出現這種情況嗎？我認為這是對的。然後除此之外，可能以後更像是第四季度，只是在看一些東西——比如明年第四季度，帶有 DISH 的 Nimiq 5 將要更新。所以我想說的是接下來會出現的更有意義的內容。

Perfect. And then just one last one for me. But how should we be thinking about potential spectrum constraints on the Ka-band with other guys launching satellites pretty quickly. Like is that something that could be an issue in 5 years' time or something like that? How should we be thinking about that?

完美的。然後給我最後一個。但是我們應該如何考慮 Ka 波段的潛在頻譜限制以及其他快速發射衛星的人。就像這可能是 5 年後的問題或類似的問題嗎？我們應該如何思考？

Yes. Good question. We've got a whole team that's dedicated to the regulatory rights and coordinating with other operators out there and whatnot. From everything that we see right now and all the analysis that we've been doing, we feel comfortable that we're going to have access to the spectrum that we need to operate Lightspeed in a way that allows us to achieve our business plan objectives. So yes. And look, again, we've got a few hundreds of satellites that we're going to be using. They're very advanced. They have beams that are hopping in a lot of flexibility in terms of how we use the satellites, but it's something that we pay a lot of attention to. And we believe that we're good in terms of our ability to operate the constellation and access the spectrum that we need.

是的。好問題。我們有一整個團隊致力於監管權利並與其他運營商協調等等。從我們現在看到的一切和我們一直在做的所有分析來看，我們感到很自在，我們將能夠以一種允許我們實現業務計劃目標的方式訪問我們運營 Lightspeed 所需的頻譜.所以是的。再看一遍，我們將要使用數百顆衛星。他們非常先進。就我們如何使用衛星而言，它們的波束具有很大的靈活性，但這是我們非常關注的事情。而且我們相信，就我們運營星座和獲取所需頻譜的能力而言，我們做得很好。

So that's something you think maybe becomes an industry-wide problem, maybe 10 years out or something, but just not with any current projections.

所以你認為這可能會成為一個全行業的問題，也許 10 年之後，但目前沒有任何預測。

Yes, hard to say. Spectrum is certainly a finite resource. At some point, that could become an issue for the foreseeable future, I think, yes, I think that we're in a good spot.

是的，很難說。頻譜當然是一種有限的資源。在某些時候，這可能會成為可預見的未來的一個問題，我認為，是的，我認為我們處於一個很好的位置。

The next question is from Raghav Garg from DoubleLine.

下一個問題來自 DoubleLine 的 Raghav Garg。

SES's confirmed talks with Intelsat. Just wanted to get your thoughts on M&A in general with ViaSat soon to be merging with Inmarsat and Eutelsat and OneWeb. Do you feel like, do you need to do something or just be patient.

SES 已確認與 Intelsat 的會談。只是想了解您對 ViaSat 即將與 Inmarsat、Eutelsat 和 OneWeb 合併的一般併購的看法。你覺得，你需要做點什麼還是耐心點。

Yes, it's a great question. And we saw the reports this morning about rumors around SES and Intelsat. Can't say that those rumors are new and can't say that we were surprised by it. Nor would I say that we're surprised by the M&A activity that's taking place in the sector, our industry has gone through sort of cycles and it feels to me, and I think I've said on a prior call, feels to me that we're entering into another one of the cycles.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我們今天早上看到了有關 SES 和 Intelsat 的謠言的報導。不能說這些謠言是新的，也不能說我們對此感到驚訝。我也不會說我們對該行業正在發生的併購活動感到驚訝，我們的行業經歷了某種週期，我覺得，我想我在之前的電話會議上說過，我覺得我們正在進入另一個週期。

We clearly are with the Inmarsat-Viasat merger pending Eutelsat-OneWeb -- we'll see if these rumors around SES and Intelsat are correct. On balance, I think it's a good thing for the industry. It's something that we've been anticipating for a while. And I think it will help rationalize, certainly, the supply side of the equation.

我們顯然支持 Inmarsat-Viasat 合併懸而未決的 Eutelsat-OneWeb——我們將看看這些關於 SES 和 Intelsat 的謠言是否正確。總的來說，我認為這對行業來說是一件好事。這是我們期待已久的事情。我認為這肯定有助於使等式的供應方合理化。

For us, I'd say we'll be open-minded about it. I think that the most important thing that any operator needs to do to compete is to have the most -- have the best value proposition for your customers.

對於我們來說，我會說我們會對此持開放態度。我認為任何運營商為了競爭需要做的最重要的事情就是擁有最多 - 為您的客戶提供最好的價值主張。

I mean it sounds like a truism, but I don't know it's true. And it's why we've been so focused on bringing Lightspeed forward because we've been monitoring very closely the changes that we've been seeing in the customer community and the user applications, whether that's cloud, whether that's e-commerce or whether how the government wants to make use of space-based infrastructure in the future.

我的意思是這聽起來像是老生常談，但我不知道這是真的。這就是為什麼我們一直如此專注於推動 Lightspeed 向前發展，因為我們一直在密切關注我們在客戶社區和用戶應用程序中看到的變化，無論是雲、電子商務還是如何政府希望在未來利用天基基礎設施。

For us, that all points to a network that looks like Lightspeed. I think that's still the most important thing to get right as a satellite operator, having the offerings that the customers want today and that you think they're going to want in the future. So I'd say that's our biggest focus right now.

對我們來說，這一切都指向一個看起來像 Lightspeed 的網絡。我認為這仍然是衛星運營商最重要的事情，即擁有客戶今天想要的產品以及您認為他們將來會想要的產品。所以我想說這是我們現在最大的關注點。

And look, I mean, we've been pretty transparent with folks. There are headwinds in the satellite world right now, and we've been seeing that on the DTH business, there's a massive opportunity on global broadband connectivity.

看，我的意思是，我們對人們一直非常透明。目前衛星世界存在逆風，我們已經看到在 DTH 業務中，全球寬帶連接存在巨大機遇。

And if you look at where our industry is growing, it's -- and where I look where we're growing with Intelsat, it's those markets. So yes, I think if we get that right, bringing an advanced state-of-the-art infrastructure to meet the customers' requirements. I think we should be good. Does that mean that we would be close-minded about inorganic opportunities? No. So that's how we think about it.

如果你看看我們的行業正在增長的地方，它就是 - 我看我們正在與 Intelsat 一起增長的地方，就是那些市場。所以是的，我認為如果我們做對了，帶來先進的最先進的基礎設施來滿足客戶的需求。我想我們應該好好的。這是否意味著我們會對無機機會持封閉態度？不，這就是我們的想法。

Last question on your capital structure. You commented, obviously, where your debt trades, you can do these buybacks. But just a bigger picture question on how you plan to address your capital structure you have a few years here. But obviously, the market is telling you, you [cannot] refinance your debt today. So just how do you plan to deal with the maturities, given it's unlikely that LEO will be a meaningful contributor, if any, by the time your capital structure comes do.

關於您的資本結構的最後一個問題。你評論說，很明顯，在你的債務交易的地方，你可以進行這些回購。但只是一個更大的問題，你打算如何解決你在這裡幾年的資本結構。但顯然，市場告訴你，你今天 [cannot] 為你的債務再融資。那麼你打算如何處理到期問題，因為到你的資本結構出現時，LEO 不太可能成為有意義的貢獻者（如果有的話）。

So maybe I'll say a few words about it, and then Andrew can say a few words about it as well. First off, as you know, it's some years out. It's about 4 years out right now. So we certainly have a fair amount of runway there.

所以也許我會說幾句話，然後安德魯也可以說幾句話。首先，如你所知，它已經有幾年了。現在大約有 4 年了。所以我們在那里肯定有相當多的跑道。

Two, we're generating still a meaningful amount of cash, and we've been disciplined about what we've been doing with that cash, and we've got a lot of cash on our balance sheet right now.

第二，我們仍在產生大量現金，而且我們一直對使用這些現金所做的事情進行紀律處分，而且我們的資產負債表上現在有很多現金。

Three, you're right, assuming we move forward with Lightspeed, it's probably not the case that there's an enormous amount of EBITDA that's coming off of Lightspeed at the time that we're going to be needing to refinance. But I do expect that Lightspeed will be far along and that we will have secured a meaningful amount of customers.

第三，你是對的，假設我們繼續推進 Lightspeed，在我們需要再融資的時候，Lightspeed 可能不會產生大量的 EBITDA。但我確實希望 Lightspeed 能夠走得更遠，並且我們將獲得大量客戶。

And look, as I mentioned, we already have about CAD [0.75 billion] in backlog on Lightspeed now. And we haven't even fully pulled the trigger on it. And my expectation is that when it's time to raise money for Telesat in the future, either by issuing equity or debt. A lot of that's going to be tied to how investors think about the -- yes, I mean, it's obvious the future prospects of the company, and I think the future prospects of the company out in that timeframe, out when that debt comes up for when it matures, I think our prospects are going to be growing because I think we'll have executed well on Lightspeed and that our prospects will be quite bright.

看看，正如我提到的，我們現在已經在 Lightspeed 上積壓了大約 7.5 億加元。我們甚至還沒有完全扣動扳機。我的期望是，當未來需要通過發行股票或債務為 Telesat 籌集資金時。這在很大程度上與投資者的看法有關——是的，我的意思是，很明顯公司的未來前景，而且我認為公司的未來前景在那個時間框架內，在債務出現時就會消失因為當它成熟時，我認為我們的前景將會增長，因為我認為我們將在 Lightspeed 上表現出色，我們的前景將非常光明。

And that as a result, our access to capital be that on the equity side or the debt side, I think we're going to be in a great place. And to the point the conversation we were just having, there are a lot of changes taking place in the industry more broadly to the helm as kind of where we're going to be 4 years or so from now. So anyway, that's I'd say that's how we're thinking about it. And then, of course, can we opportunistically be out there in the market or do something more fundamental in terms of our debt. Yes, potentially. So I think we've got a lot of tools to address that in the future. That's how we think about it.

因此，無論是在股權方面還是在債務方面，我們都可以獲得資本，我認為我們會處於一個很好的位置。就我們剛才的談話而言，從現在開始大約 4 年左右，這個行業正在發生很多變化，更廣泛地掌舵。所以無論如何，我會說這就是我們考慮它的方式。然後，當然，我們可以機會主義地進入市場，或者在我們的債務方面做一些更基本的事情。是的，有可能。所以我認為我們有很多工具可以在未來解決這個問題。我們就是這麼想的。

Yes from my perspective, there's not much more I can add to that. That's pretty comprehensive. And indeed, that's the way we see it, $1.7 billion in cash, generated over $200 million this year alone. Maturities are out 2026, 2027. I think that covered the way we see it. So there's no more I could add.

是的，從我的角度來看，我沒有什麼可以補充的了。這很全面。事實上，這就是我們看到的方式，17 億美元的現金，僅在今年就產生了超過 2 億美元。到期時間為 2026 年、2027 年。我認為這涵蓋了我們的看法。所以我沒有更多可以添加的了。

Okay. And we have time for one more question here, please.

好的。我們還有時間在這裡再提問一個問題。

And the last question will be from Mr. (inaudible) [Invescore].

最後一個問題將來自（聽不清）[Invescore] 先生。

Just in terms of the delays in raising money for LEO. How is that impacting your supply agreements with the satellite manufacturers? And do those agreements have a drop dead date? Or do they need an expiration date at which point they would need to be renegotiated? Or are they being renegotiated on an ongoing basis at this point?

就為 LEO 籌集資金的延遲而言。這對您與衛星製造商的供應協議有何影響？這些協議是否有終止日期？或者他們是否需要一個到期日，屆時他們需要重新協商？還是此時正在持續重新談判？

That's a great question. So the prime contractor that we've been engaged with is [Thales]. And we received -- and it's one of the things that for those of you who followed the Lightspeed story, when COVID hit and inflation hit, we needed to spend quite some time with Thales kind of rescoping the program and they had to go back out to their supply chain and get updated bids and all that. And it took a whole lot longer than we wanted, but we finally got all that, and it was on that basis that we went back out to financing sources with an updated business plan.

這是一個很好的問題。因此，我們一直與之合作的主要承包商是 [Thales]。我們收到了——對於那些關注 Lightspeed 故事的人來說，這是其中一件事，當 COVID 和通貨膨脹來襲時，我們需要花相當長的時間與 Thales 一起重新確定該計劃的範圍，他們不得不退出到他們的供應鏈並獲得更新的出價等等。它花費的時間比我們想要的要長得多，但我們終於得到了所有這些，正是在這個基礎上，我們通過更新的商業計劃重新尋找融資來源。

And I would say that from that time and based on our recent conversations with Thales, all the pricing that was put together as a result of that effort remains intact. Now they'll need to reconfirm their price to us. But in a recent discussion with them, we're getting comfort that the pricing for the constellation that we've been talking about is going to be consistent with the last pricing that we've heard from them. But it's a great question.

我要說的是，從那時起，根據我們最近與 Thales 的對話，所有因這項努力而製定的定價都保持不變。現在他們需要向我們再次確認他們的價格。但在最近與他們的討論中，我們感到欣慰的是，我們一直在談論的星座定價將與我們從他們那裡聽到的最後一個定價一致。但這是一個很好的問題。

And then I'd say the pricing for the other elements of the program, the big one would be of launch vehicles and then some other elements around landing stations and user terminals, we feel confident also that those prices are consistent with the business case that we've been working with.

然後我會說該計劃其他元素的定價，最大的是運載火箭，然後是著陸站和用戶終端周圍的一些其他元素，我們也有信心這些價格與商業案例一致我們一直在合作。

Okay. Operator, well, thank you very much. Thank you all for participating in our full year results conference call, and we look forward to speaking with you again in the not-too-distant future when we release our Q1 numbers. So thank you very much.

好的。接線員，好的，非常感謝。感謝大家參加我們的全年業績電話會議，我們期待在不久的將來發布第一季度數據時再次與您交談。非常感謝。

Thank you very much to you all.

非常感謝大家。

Thank you. The conference has now ended. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

謝謝。會議現已結束。請此時斷開您的線路，我們感謝您的參與。