DigitalGlobe 4th quarter and full year results

24 February 2010, 11:56pm

Longmont, Colorado, February 24, 2010 – DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

Fourth quarter 2009 revenue was $72.9 million, an increase of 1.0% compared to the same period last year. Fourth quarter net income was $13.8 million or $0.30 per diluted share as compared to net income of $13.8 million or $0.31 per diluted share for the fourth quarter 2008. Fourth quarter 2009 Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $42.7 million, compared to fourth quarter 2008 Adjusted EBITDA of $43.7 million.

For 2009, the company reported record revenue of $281.9 million, an increase of 2.4% compared to 2008. Net income for 2009 was $47.4 million or $1.06 per diluted share as compared to net income of $53.8 million or $1.22 per diluted share for 2008. Adjusted EBITDA for 2009 was $169.4 million compared to 2008 Adjusted EBITDA of $174.8 million. The definition of Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliation to net income are set forth in this press release.

“I am very pleased with DigitalGlobe’s performance in the fourth quarter. Not only did we deliver record revenue, but we also executed on a number of key milestones, concluding an extraordinary year.” said Jill Smith, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. “We delivered growth in all our target business segments, and continued to add significant new capabilities, including WorldView-2, with its unique 8-band imagery and tremendous collection capacity, and expansion of our web services and cloud computing offering. We are confident that the superior collection capability of our constellation and ability to deliver geointelligence to customers with the speed and accuracy that they demand is strengthening DigitalGlobe’s position as the industry leader.”

Ms. Smith continued, “We enter 2010 with strong momentum in all our key markets. We look forward to expanding our relationship with NGA under the EnhancedView contract, expected to be awarded later this year, and to strengthening our international defense and intelligence sector as operations are initiated with our Direct Access Program customers over the course of the year. This, together with promising opportunities in the commercial sector, further increases our optimism about DigitalGlobe’s growth outlook.”

Business Highlights

· WorldView-2, the company’s latest high-resolution satellite, achieved full operational capability on January 4, 2010. WorldView-2 effectively doubles the collection capacity of DigitalGlobe’s constellation to over 500 million square kilometers a year, and offers exciting new capabilities, including unique 8-band multispectral imagery. The company estimates the useful life for WorldView-2 will be approximately 11 years.

· First Direct Access Program (DAP) customer initiated service for direct tasking and downlink of high-resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe’s constellation during the fourth quarter 2009 and a second customer initiated service in the first quarter 2010. All current DAP customers are expected to be operational by mid-2010.

· Exited 2009 with a higher second half revenue run-rate than the first half of 2009 for our commercial business, reflecting continued progress in developing and expanding major account relationships.

· Modified the option portion of the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, providing continued access to WV-1 until the EnhancedView procurement process is concluded. The modified option gives NGA the option to extend the current SLA for three months on the same terms, from April 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010 with six additional options, each for a one-month period, through December 31, 2010.

· Increased ImageLibrary size to over 900 million square kilometers as of December 31, 2009.

Full Year 2010 Outlook

· Full year 2010 total revenue is expected to be between $330 million and $360 million.

· Full year 2010 diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.25 and $0.55.

· Full year 2010 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $185 million and $210 million.

· Capital expenditures for 2010 are expected to be between $30 million and $35 million.

DigitalGlobe

Geo: International