SOCIÉTÉ EUROPÉENNE DES SATELLITES INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30th JUNE 1998

Société Européenne des Satellites SA (SES), of Luxembourg, the operator of ASTRA, Europe's leading direct-to-home satellite system, today announced its interim consolidated results for the six months ended June 30^th, 1998.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Revenues up 13 per cent. to LUF 10,091 million (MECU 247).
• Net income up 8 per cent. to LUF 3,645 million (MECU 89).
• Earnings per A share up 8 per cent. at LUF 97.9 (ECU 2.4).
• ASTRA audience in Europe up 7.6 per cent. to 73.4 million homes.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY (Unaudited consolidated results)

	6 months ended June 30th, 1998 MLUF	6 months ended June 30th, 1997 MLUF	12 months ended Dec. 31st, 1997 MLUF
Revenues	10,091	8,932	18,074
EBITDA	8,221	7,400	14,488
Operating profit	5,540	5,101	9,859
Net income	3,645	3,379	6,406
Capital expenditures	1,656	5,408	11,013
Operating cash flow	7,526	7,455	15,372
Net debt	18,333	18,524	19,231
Earnings per A share (LUF)	97.9	90.7	172.0
The basis of preparation for these financial results conforms with the accounting policies and figures issued in the IPO prospectus dated July 5th,1998. The Luxembourg franc amounts are translated, solely for the convenience of the reader, into ECU at the exchange rate on June 30th,1998 of LUF 40.86 = ECU 1.00

Commenting today, Mr Romain Bausch, Director General and Chairman of the Management Committee of SES said:

"We are pleased to announce our first set of results since the successful IPO in July this year. Our performance so far in 1998 is in line with the indications given at the time of the IPO and underlines the progress we continue to make in all aspects of our business.

Our revenue growth in the first half-year primarily reflects the bringing into service of ASTRA 1G, which reached a transponder utilisation rate of 62.5 per cent as of June 30th. Our costs increased at a higher rate than revenues because of the marketing and development expenditure involved in the roll-out of new digital services and the opening up of our second orbital position at 28.2° East.

With the successful launch of ASTRA 2A on August 30^th this year we have significantly enhanced our digital transmission infrastructure and we are well placed to consolidate our position as Europe's leading provider of broadcast satellite services."

Recent Events

In July 1998, SES successfully conducted an Initial Public Offering of 1/6 of its equity, valuing the company at LUF 223.4 billion (US$ 6.0 billion).

During the same month, the Radio Regulations Board of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) concluded that the satellite network Europesat 1 has not been brought into use at the neighbouring orbital position of 29° East within the required time period. Consequently this Eutelsat project should no longer be taken into account when analysing modifications or enhancements to the BSS (Broadcast Satellite Services) plan.

SES has successfully launched the ASTRA 2A satellite on August 30th, 1998. The spacecraft will broadcast digital services of leading broadcasters (BSkyB, BBC, Discovery, Flextech, Viacom, UKTV, Turner Broadcasting and Viacom) to the UK and Ireland. The satellite is fully deployed in orbit and is expected to enter operational service before the end of this month at the orbital position of 28.2° East.

In a related development, and in order to provide back-up capacity for ASTRA 2A, SES has leased the Sirius 3 spacecraft from the Nordic Satellite Company (NSAB) for a period of up to 12 months. Sirius 3 is expected to be launched into orbit at the beginning of October 1998.

On September 11th, 1998 the Appeal Court in the US took a decision in the lawsuit initiated by Mr. Clay T. Whitehead in the US against the company. The Appeal Court has affirmed the dismissal of all claims based on lack of jurisdiction, confirming thus the decision taken at the first instance. The lawsuit filed by Mr. Whitehead against SES in Luxembourg is still pending.

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