The financial news for Eutelsat has been depressing for some time. But March 3rd saw its share price rocket ahead by almost 50 per cent on news that diplomatic problems between President Trump and Ukraine could mean the EU backing Eutelsat’s OneWeb division as a powerful alternate to Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite services to Ukraine.
Eutelsat it was committed to boosting Europe’s autonomy in space-based connectivity and supplying Internet access to war-torn Ukraine. Eutelsat investors are seemingly betting on prospects of rising European demand for its OneWeb satellites.
Eutelsat’s share price jumped from €1.20 to end the day at €2.016 but had reached €2.03.
“We have deployed and continue to operate hundreds of terminals across Ukraine and the Black Sea,” a Eutelsat spokesperson told Reuters, adding the company had played a key role in the region since the start of the war.
“US-European tensions put Starlink’s sales momentum at risk in Europe and OneWeb is the only other low-earth orbit option,” Stephane Beyazian, analyst at Oddo BHF, told Reuters.
“We expect customers procuring satellite connectivity solutions to manage the risks related to individual suppliers, which is why they may look for additional capacity providers,” ING analyst Jan Frederik Slijkerman was quoted by Reuters.
Eutelsat, which merged with Britain’s OneWeb in 2023, manages a constellation of around 650 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites supplying Internet access to a wide range of enterprise customers.
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