Jeff, Re: "How much of a bird's transponder rates drop to the bottom line?"
It seems Loral has so many pseudo "bottom lines:" EBITDA pre- and post-devevlopment, with and without affiliates, operating income, taxable income, net after changes in affiliate's equity, net-net to common s/h after preferred dividends.
As Lor works through its business plan, attention should focus farther down the income statement, but the true bottom line is likely to be negative for at least six more quarters. In the CC, mgmt said CY99 losses will be $1.01/sh, substantially worse than 1998, due mainly to equity losses at G*, etc; and I doubt they'll have net positive earnings in CY2000.
Personaly, this year, I plan to focus on operating income which seems to be in powerful uptrend since the downtick associated with Orion's acquisition: Q2=-26M, Q3=-19M, Q4=+11M. If that continues, I'll feel pretty good, and not be too peeved at the way they're always rejiggering how EBITDA is presented.
Regards,
RS |
