Telesat's Q2 profit leaps to $187M on foreign exchange gains

Telesat Holdings Inc. reported a 19-per-cent rise in second-quarter revenues Monday as foreign exchange gains boosted its profit to $187 million.

Privately held Telesat, the world's fourth-largest fixed satellite services operator, said revenues were $201 million, compared with $169.5 million for the same period a year ago.

It said its net earnings include a non-cash foreign exchange gain of $190 million related to its U.S. dollar debt, which was partially offset by non-cash losses on financial instruments.

Telesat's second-quarter profit last year was $12.4 million.

"Although the broader economic environment presents certain challenges, Telesat remains well positioned at this time given the strong momentum achieved to date, our significant contractual backlog and the recent addition of Telstar 11N and planned launch of Nimiq 5 later this year," CEO Dan Goldberg said in a news release.