avanti communications group plc 
annual report and accounts 201 4
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014 ifc–1
overview
highlights 2014   1
2–13 
strategic report
business model
chairman’s statement   2
chief executive’s review   3
strategy  6
fleet and coverage  8
products and applications 10
unique product advantages 12
14–21 
strategic report
operational review
financial and operating review  14
sustainability 19
22–37 
corporate 
governance
board of directors   22
corporate governance report   24
audit committee report 29
nominations committee report   30
technical committee  31
report of remuneration committee 32
report of the board of directors 35
statement of directors’ responsibilities  37
38–78 
financial  
statements
independent auditor’s report   38
consolidated income statement   39
consolidated statement of  
comprehensive income   39
consolidated statement of financial position  40
company statement of financial position  41
consolidated and company  
statement of cash flows 42
consolidated and company statement  
of changes in equity 43
notes to the accounts   44
notice of agm   71
form of proxy 77
contents strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
1
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
highlights
2014 
welcome
shareholders
financial highlights
•  revenues increased by 104 to  
656 million 2013 321 million
•  430 million backlog 2013 445 million
•  ebitda positive for the full year for the 
first time
•  1953 million cash at year end
operational highlights
•  success in contracting and building 
several cellular backhaul networks 
•   success in contracting and launching 
broadband deployments for several  
large telcos
•  acquisition of artemis satellite and 
procurement of hylas 4 to create best  
kaband coverage in emea
we are building a business that can 
potentially generate over 700 million in 
revenues and over 500 million ebitda 
annually if the current fleet is filled the 
achievements of the year clearly show  
that avanti is capable of achieving this 
ambitious growth in time
paul walsh
chairman 2
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
m
2012 2013 2014
80
60
20
40
0
m
2012 2013 2014
0
5
5
10
15
chairman’s  
statement
avanti has all the  
ingredients to continue  
to grow a business to  
large scale
paul walsh
chairman
ebitda
17m 
revenue
656m  
104
it has been a good twelve months for avanti revenues doubled 
and the company generated positive ebitda for the year new 
business was signed with major international telecoms and media 
companies the company succeeded in financing a new satellite  
on attractive terms which offers shareholders an additional major 
growth opportunity 
avanti has financed a fleet of five satellites able to serve 27 of  
the world’s population in a region containing thirteen of the world’s 
twenty fastest growing countries the strong focus on africa is 
unique and gives avanti a strategic advantage
avanti has built a network with a high level of quality and flexibility 
in a data market which changes rapidly and constantly pushes  
the boundaries of technology this is fundamental to winning the 
trust of the larger telecommunications companies we have an 
encouraging roster of customers for a young company launching 
novel products simultaneously into over 50 countries in the last two 
years this is an important achievement that points to a positive 
future for avanti
the board took a step forward this year to complete avanti’s 
network in africa with hylas 4 and this gives the company major 
advantages in a region that offers high opportunity this completes 
our strategic plan for geographic coverage
in the quality and breadth of its networks the scale and growing 
quality of its customer base and in its dynamic culture which 
encourages innovation and good customer service avanti has  
all the ingredients to continue to grow a business to large scale  
we are building a business that can potentially generate over 700 
million in revenues and over 500 million ebitda annually if the 
current fleet is filled that will not happen overnight and predicting 
the time taken to contract with the largest telecommunications 
companies is not straight forward but the achievements of the year 
clearly show that avanti is capable of achieving this ambitious 
growth in time
  adjusted ebitda before the share based payment charge strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
3
chief executive’s  
review
the size of customers  
we have been signing and  
the scale of deployments 
they are planning gives  
us confidence
david williams
chief executive
2014 was the first full year of hylas 2 revenues and the first of a 
carefully planned five year programme to sell its extensive capacity 
this helped us to increase revenues by 104 to 656 million and 
to generate ebitda of 17 million before the noncash share based 
payment charge transitioning to ebitda positive and signing 
contracts with some of the biggest telcos and media companies in 
our region is a powerful indicator that we have superior well priced 
products and are able to sell to the most demanding customers 
over the course of the year we saw increasing numbers of large 
customers moving from framework contracts to fixed term 
capacities the rate at which existing customers increased their 
contract values “repeat rate” was an encouraging 52 and the 
number of days from initial enquiry to signing “pipeline” was 98 
which demonstrates that the sales cycle is shortening considerably 
as our products become more firmly established in the market  
we signed 92 new contracts in the year a continuation of our 
9999 sla is a strong reason why new customers are coming  
to our network and existing customers are buying more
there are two important elements to the story of our year the 
growth in the customer base and the financing of hylas 4
customers
revenue growth remains the most important focus for us this is 
being achieved via a customer acquisition strategy that has been 
consistent and successful since the outset
our products have been designed to provide a cloud of data capacity 
that has maximum quality and flexibility and broad coverage of 
emea with a particular focus on subsaharan africa which  
now accounts for more than 80 of our capacity we are able to 
support our large telecommunications company customers in the 
widest possible range of applications they seek greatly exceeding 
the quality and flexibility that they have seen from legacy satellite 
fleets customers access the fleet through proprietary software 
called avanti oss and this enables them to scale and change their 
business with unparalleled flexibility we have a number of patents 
and are pursuing others to protect our innovations
we achieved early success in selling to specialist service providers 
referred to in the industry as “vsat providers” vsat providers have 
used our product for enterprise and government networks media 
services and some regional broadband deployments nine of the 
top 20 vsat providers in our regions now buy avanti capacity  
so we know we have generated a loyal and committed customer 
base in this market and continue to work hard to help them to grow 
as a result much of our new business this year has been won away 
from legacy technology as old capacity leases matured  4
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
we have a lot of capacity to fill – a kaband satellite typically has 
around 5–10 times more available megabits than a kuband 
satellite per tonne and this drives its price down to levels that are 
attractive to customers in order to fill that capacity we need to 
access the large scale international distribution that only major 
telecommunication companies and mobile network operators 
“mnos” can offer the products of interest here are broadband  
for consumers and smes and cellular backhaul for mnos
we have had success this year in finally penetrating these markets 
we created a world first in providing 3g backhaul to mnos  
and have also successfully deployed 4g backhaul for the uk 
government with vodafone and smart launching our backhaul 
products on long term contracts several other large mnos  
now piloting the technology at an advanced stage and some 
proceeding to issue rfps this market is maturing for us
we began deployments in the year for a number of national 
incumbent telco operators telone in zimbabwe has grown its 
usage quickly and we recently announced a contract with orange 
kenya telecom we also signed contracts with some of the largest 
alternative service providers in the regions like wananchi the 
largest media provider in east africa and internet solutions 
dimension data the largest pan african isp  
the progress of large contracts from pilot through business  
case evaluation to negotiation and closure has often been slow 
however we have maintained firm discipline in our pricing model 
with our average price remaining above the 2000 per mhz per 
month that we set in 2008 and we continue to focus on promoting 
our quality and flexibility advantages 
hylas 4 rationale
there were four elements in our decision to finance hylas 4
1 continuity of capacity
we have demonstrated an ability to access the large latent demand 
for our services through some of the contracts we signed in the 
year it will take perhaps another three years for those contracts to 
fully saturate our in orbit capacities but at that point we would risk 
becoming an exgrowth business unless we build further capacity
one of the challenges of the space business is that it takes three to 
four years to design build launch and commission a new satellite 
so it is important that we continue to look far ahead current rates 
of repeat business and new customer acquisition suggest that by 
2017 there is a realistic probability that existing capacities will be 
substantially full the relatively small hylas 3 payload we are flying 
on an esa satellite gives us some ability to expand but without 
expansion capacity across territories there is a risk that the 
business at that point would be waiting several years for its next 
major growth inflection we also need to assure our customers  
of continuity and security of service over the longer term
hylas 4 provides the solution with new capacity over new countries 
in africa as well as new capacity over existing territories in africa 
and europe that can be used for back up and expansion we 
believe that the announcement of our provision of expansion and 
back up capacity on hylas 4 has already had an impact in some 
new customers signing with us
2 opportunities from multinational customers
almost all of our customers in subsaharan africa are multinational 
within that region we conducted a survey to ask them in which 
countries they are active or for which they would like to see avanti 
launch capacity and designed hylas 4 coverage accordingly  
our fleet now covers 13 of the world’s 20 fastest growing 
economies and 27 of the global population the subsaharan 
region includes 1 billion people but currently has internet 
penetration of just 16 mckinsey predicts that gdp from internet 
business in africa will rise from 18 billion to 300 billion 2025 
considerably outstripping the global trend of 33 cagr in data 
usage we see it as strategically important to make sure that we  
are in a position to capitalise on all of the demand in subsaharan 
africa not just part of it given that this is the most exciting high 
growth region in the world it is likely that our focus on africa will 
remain the limit of our geographic ambition for the time being
3 limited competition
there is very little competition for our products because the 
incumbent satellite operators remain broadly conservative about 
moving out of their traditional tv markets and into high quality 
telecoms and where they are beginning to move in a small way 
they are using different business models which we believe 
preserves our quality and flexibility advantage in our target 
markets this means that we have prime mover advantage  
the unmet demand for data across africa is very large and our 
customers want service in additional countries therefore the 
opportunity to drive forward our prime mover advantage is 
strategically appealing
4 efficient financing
as a result of the bond refinancing we completed in 2013 we were 
able to approach the bond market for an addition to the existing 
facility in a very efficient way we were also fortunate to come to  
the bond market at a moment in time when investors were very 
supportive finally we were able to launch the hylas 4 project 
with no equity capital thereby protecting shareholders from dilution 
 
when choosing to finance hylas 4 we used base case 
assumptions that would generate an irr of 29 the financing  
and procurement strategies were carefully designed to manage 
risk match capital to liabilities and most importantly to maximise 
value for shareholders 
chief executive’s  
review continued strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
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governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
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strategic  
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5
hylas 4 financing strategy
the “tapon” bond that we issued in june is sufficient to cover  
our capital commitments because in procurement we achieved a 
limitation of liability of 81 million thus if the capital markets were 
not open around october 2015 we could pause the project for as 
long as necessary that downside protection was important in our 
structuring but the intention remains to complete the financing  
on time as part of the tapon we gained consent to issue up to  
125 million in additional bonds which can therefore be done very 
quickly when the time is right the only variable being the price the 
market will apply at the time in order to access the third tranche of 
bonds of up to 125 million we will also issue up to 100 million of 
junior capital this is defined as any form of capital which has a 
maturity date beyond the bonds does not pay cash interest and is 
unsecured and structurally subordinated to the bonds
the success we achieved in procuring hylas 4 efficiently means 
that the remaining capital requirement is likely to be 10–20 
lower than originally contemplated
other achievements
during the year we acquired the artemis satellite and associated 
spectrum and concluded the first significant new sale of capacity 
artemis’ primary function is to communicate with other 
spacecraft in orbit artemis revenues are by their nature derived 
from short term projects and are unpredictable but we expect the 
satellite to yield a good return
outlook
whilst revenue growth this year was strong there were delays  
to projects from the first half that slipped into the second half of  
the year and some large up front elements of both revenues and 
costs were therefore taken in the second half as we grow we 
expect the susceptibility of the business to the effects of oneoff  
set up costs and our dependence on a small number of large 
contracts will diminish
the size of the customers we have been signing and the scale  
of the deployments they are planning gives us confidence that 
utilisation will continue to grow towards our long term target during 
the coming year revenues for the first quarter are expected to be 
around the average of the last year with new contracts driving into 
growth in subsequent quarters
david williams
chief executive 6
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
strategy  
we connect people wherever they are
we serve them in their homes businesses 
government and on mobiles we do so through 
more than 140 partners in 118 countries our 
network provides ubiquitous internet service to  
27 of the world’s population it delivers the level 
of quality and flexibility that the most demanding 
telco customers in the world seek
avanti sells data 
telecommunications  
products to service  
providers on a  
wholesale basis
avanti owns significant spectrum assets enabling it to operate 
satellites in the high frequency kaband the use of the kaband 
involves frequency reuse techniques which enables us to offer 
more data at lower cost than was previously possible 
avanti has five satellites three in orbit and two under manufacture 
they serve customers across europe the middle east and africa 
avanti pioneered the use of kaband in emea it has also 
pioneered unique technical and commercial models avanti sells to 
telecoms service providers not to end users telecom companies 
have high requirements for quality of service and as a result 
avanti decided to make over 60 separate innovations some patent 
protected which in aggregate produces a very high level of quality 
it is this focus on quality that has enabled us to win global firsts 
such as 3g backhaul
avanti has also introduced new levels of flexibility to the industry  
in three ways firstly our proprietary software enables a service 
provider to set up and manage an international network with no 
capex and very little training thus our infrastructure is “virtualised” 
with enormous power placed in the hands of the service provider 
secondly this software and the hardware platforms they control 
are capable of enormous flexibility in adapting to different customer 
requirements and different applications thus our system can do 
anything from simple low cost consumer broadband through to  
3g backhaul and highly encrypted mobile defence applications 
this responsiveness to customer requests has become a hallmark 
of avanti’s service finally we have changed the business model in 
our industry from inflexible long term transponder leases to a variety 
of easier contract structures some as simple as “pay as you go” 
we have found the best form of marketing is helping a customer to 
experience our product and making sure that commercial models 
remove risk and complexity helps customers to do this as a result 
at over 140 we believe we have signed more service providers than 
our kaband competitors combined 
addressable market potential annual revenues
1
2
3
4
1 carrier services £2 billion
2 broadband £71 billion
3 government £04 billion
4 enterprise £19 billion
independent market research across  
emea clearly demonstrates that avanti  
and the benefits of kaband technology  
are now synonymous within the industry 
avanti is viewed as
• innovative
• reliable 
• highly competent from a technical 
perspective
• providing highly effective customer 
service and sales teams
beyond the technology avanti’s perceived differentiators 
are the quality of its technology and its flexibility as 
opposed to a onesize fits all approach of the competition 
this linked with avanti’s relative size to that of its 
competitors allows it to be nimble and better placed to 
meet clients’ current and future needs 
all these perceptions ensure the company is well placed to 
capitalise on the growing demand for kaband  
across emea
millward brown  
october 2014
 
 undertaken in april 2014 strategic  
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review 14–21
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governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
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strategic  
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7
avanti has been the pioneer and therefore the price setter in its 
markets we decided to pursue a strategy of maintaining average 
prices in a tight range at a level that produces us with reasonable 
returns but also provides service providers with attractive 
economics and maintaining price discipline this is working in that 
customers understand the price proposition and whilst there are 
variations by geography and product we maintain the average 
pricing that we set out at the start
some have talked about over capacity in africa we believe they 
mean that there is excess legacy kuband capacity because in  
the data market it cannot compete on price or performance with 
avanti’s kaband technology
avanti’s technology coverage product pricing and sales strategies 
have been consistent since the outset the business plan is being 
delivered two years later than we expected but the strategy is  
good the company is established with a strong brand a market 
beating product stable pricing an excellent customer base and a 
compounding business model it has all the ingredients needed to 
grow a large scale business
the addressable market for satellite data products in avanti’s  
region has been assessed at up to £114 billion per annum 
the key to accessing this demand is distribution and with over  
140 customers avanti has already created a strong distribution 
network avanti set out to target two types of customer  
the specialist vsat service provider and the large telco
vsat specialists typically serve large corporate or government 
customers with bespoke networks they are highly technology 
literate and know their market very well in the first round of 
customer acquisition avanti signed over 100 vsat specialists  
the customers typically work on a project by project basis 
replacing legacy kuband technology with avanti’s more advanced 
products because they offer end customers high quality at lower 
price we have now penetrated this market by more than 50 
which we believe is a strong indicator of success we have found 
that these customers are loyal they like the product and show a 
high repeat rate ie they are now routinely returning to add to 
capacity orders as they win more projects but in order to fill very 
large amounts of capacity avanti needs to add major telecom 
brands the products concerned are for broadband and cellular 
backhaul in backhaul a single mobile tower can consume the 
same bandwidth as 100 consumer broadband installations so it is 
an efficient way to fill capacity this market is now developing well  
for avanti but it achieved its world first only in 2014 so there is still 
much work to do in consumer broadband avanti has now signed 
and announced several incumbent telcos as customers in an 
african country a customer who needs broadband will first contact 
the national telco thus the brand pulls demand for avanti’s product 
through the breakthroughs made here this year are expected to 
have a major impact in the next few years in filling a great deal of 
capacity at low cost of sale 
thus avanti now has a broad group of expert customers and a 
growing roster of the largest telcos in its region this distribution 
base should therefore support accelerating growth as customers 
grow their businesses and make escalating repeat orders  
creating an attractive compounding business model
there is one significant difference between the distribution model 
for traditional kuband satellites and avanti kaband in terms of 
how it turns into order backlog kuband is dominated by direct to 
home tv in this market tv service providers sign very long term 
leases over the large capacity they need to support a bouquet of 
dozens or hundreds of channels and very few customers fill a 
satellite in data avanti’s customers are starting from scratch they 
therefore typically begin with modest capacity commitments and 
then grow their orders as their own market grows avanti’s order 
backlog should therefore grow over time as its existing customers 
grow their business 8
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
fleet and  
coverage
avanti owns world leading  
kaband spectrum assets that  
can be used to serve up to 27  
of the world’s population 
• the fleet serves customers in europe  
the middle east and africa
• 109 countries covered
•   27 of global population  
covered – 2 billion people 
•  65 of the world’s  
20 fastest growing 
economies 9
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governance 
  
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strategic  
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hylas 1
launch date  november 2010
footprint europe
capacity ghz 30
features  flexible power shifting 
8 ka 1 ku beam
hylas 4
launch date  2017
footprint emeasouth america
capacity ghz 280
features  66 fixed beams
 4 steerable beams
hylas 2
launch date  august 2012
footprint emea
capacity ghz 110
features  44 beams available  
two steerable beams
artemis
launch date  2001
footprint emea
capacity ghz 10
features  steerable ka beam  
sband nav payloads
hylas 3
launch date  2016
footprint emea
capacity ghz 40
features  steerable cluster  
ppp with esa 10
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
pure
products and 
applications  
• customers have exclusive use of a defined number of mhz in specific beams  
traffic is not transparent to avanti
• customers need to buy from us hosting power and backhaul at the ges 
• customers can buy hub and cpe from avanti or directly from the manufacturer
• customers can use avanti’s oss or the hub vendor’s
products
custom
• customers have exclusive use of a defined number of mb in specific beams
• bandwidth hub and hostingpowerbackhaul are supplied by avanti as a  
fully managed service accessed by the avanti oss
• customers can buy cpe either from avanti or the manufacturer
• installers trained and accredited by avanti
managed ip service  
select
packaged broadband
• customers buy individual broadband user accounts which are managed  
and defined by avanti
• accounts are “contended” ie share bandwidth in ratios controlled by avanti  
accounts usually have defined speeds and monthly data throughputs 
• customers buy cpe from avanti
• installers trained and accredited by avanti
raw mhz on our satellites 11
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governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
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strategic  
report  
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backup ispbroadband blue light
applications
sng scadam2m education
enterprise networks oil and gas security application
cellular backhaul hosting military application 12
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
unique product  
advantages
quality
full coverage
• 100 national coverage of primary countries
• overlapping beam patterns no incountry 
coverage gaps
• service providers can offer truly national service 
with consistent quality
smart beam clustering
• avanti’s beam clusters land in a single earth 
station in the relevant country or region
• service providers who want a national service 
need only operate through a single hub
high spectral density
• service providers can use the smallest possible 
terminals providing a cheaper attractive and more 
efficient way of delivering bandwidth to customers
diverse networks deliver 
resilience
• avanti’s ground network is protected from 
atmospheric events
• redundant ground earth station ‘ges’ with 
market beating slas and no atmospheric 
outages at gateway
avanti’s commitment to quality and flexibility has resulted  
in unique product advantages that are now well recognised strategic  
report
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
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strategic  
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hughes
idirect
newtec
your hub
hughes
ct
flexibility
unique avanti operational 
support system ‘oss’
• proprietary oss backed up by high levels of 
training and support puts service providers in 
total control allowing them to configure and 
manage service as if they owned the satellite fleet
multivendor platform
• open architecture enabling the use of any 
vendor’s hub or modem to satisfy service 
providers’ preferences for vendor hardware
contracting flexibility
• three methods of operationcontract to suit 
service providers own risk appetite technical 
capability and budget raw bandwidth managed 
megabit and packaged customer accounts and 
change between them as business evolves
niche applications
• avanti’s cloud enables service providers to form 
their own applications using their own hardware 
software and skills
• significant research and development to date has 
accelerated service providers’ service offerings 14
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
financial  
and operating 
review
the hylas 4 project  
is capable of generating  
an irr of 29 and a npv  
of 812 million using 
a discount rate of 10
nigel fox
group finance director
reporting currency
during the year the group made the decision to change its 
reporting currency to us dollars following the high yield bond 
issue and cognisant that the vast majority of revenues will be 
denominated in us dollars once the first two satellites approach 
capacity hylas 3 and hylas 4 will also have the vast majority  
of their revenues denominated in us dollars
operating performance
revenue in the year increased by 104 to 656 million 2013 
321 million 
revenue for the year included income that is nonrecurring in 
nature it also included project revenues that brought with it 
significant set up costs in the initial phase charged to costs of 
goods sold one particular contract received extended payment 
terms as set out in note 16 of the annual report revenue for this 
contract has been recognised in full on the basis that the ongoing 
contractual and commercial relationship gives management 
confidence that the debt will be recoverable in full and is in line  
with revenue recognition accounting standards 
average pricing remains above our target rate of 2000 per mhz 
per month 
costs of sale have increased year on year not only because there  
is a full year of operating expenditure for the ground stations 
associated with hylas 2 only 9 months in fy 2013 but also 
because of the set up costs mentioned above finally there were 
incremental sub contract costs associated with projects for which 
avanti was the prime contractor
satellite depreciation was 47 3 million 2013 385 million the 
increase reflects a full years charge on hylas 2 and whilst the 
sterling charge for hylas 1 remained constant the us dollar 
reported value increased by 19 million due to the strengthening  
of sterling against our reporting currency
overheads in us dollar terms increased to 349 million 2013 
285 million at the 2013 exchange rates overheads for the year 
would have been 312 million overheads are predominantly 
sterling based salary costs and gateway earth station and ground 
network costs in may 2013 the company moved to larger 
premises in central london additional property costs were also 
incurred in cornwall cyprus germany south africa and the  
middle east 15
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employees
employee numbers increased to 178 at 30 june 2014 2013 156 
with average numbers increasing to 177 from 164
depreciation
depreciation is the largest single operating expense in the income 
statement as the satellite assets are depreciated over their 
warranted lives of 15 years on a straight line basis satellite 
depreciation is charged to costs of sale and depreciation on  
all other assets is charged to operating expenses the total 
depreciation for the year was 496 million 2013 396 million
other operating income
there were three sources of other operating income in the year 
firstly as in prior years the group received grant income related to 
specific operating activities secondly during the year the group 
received an ex gratia receipt of 53 million following a commercial 
settlement in relation to the hylas 2 procurement and thirdly 
there is a small amount of foreign exchange gain
interest
net interest payable increased to 391 million 2013 7 9 million 
following the refinancing of the eca debt facilities in the high yield 
market in addition costs associated with the high yield issuance 
are held on the balance sheet and amortised through the finance 
charges line over the 65 year life of the bond in accordance with 
the relevant accounting standard
taxation
no income tax credit or deferred tax asset has been recognised in 
respect of the losses for the year to 30 june 2014 30 june 2013 
106 million tax credit recognised whilst the group foresees 
utilising the losses in future periods it has taken a prudent 
approach and has not recognised the income tax credit or  
deferred tax asset in this period
the group already carries a significant deferred tax asset in its 
balance sheet and has unclaimed capital allowances on the two 
satellite assets which are expected to shelter any tax liabilities for  
at least three years
loss per share
loss attributable to shareholders is 87 2 million resulting in a loss 
per share of 8118 cents 2013 loss per share 4449 cents
financing and treasury
the capital structure of the group has changed significantly during 
the last 12 months hylas 2 had initially been funded by the export 
credit agencies of france and the united states coface and us 
exim bank respectively whilst this debt was useful it was overly 
restrictive in terms of the group’s growth aspirations
in september 2013 the group concluded its first high yield bond 
issuance by raising 370 million of senior secured notes these 
notes have a coupon of 10 and mature in september 2019 
interest is payable semiannually on 1 april and 1 october
the proceeds of this issuance were used to repay exim bank and 
coface together with break and issuance costs as well as putting 
a small amount of cash onto the balance sheet these break costs 
were communicated to the market in our half year statement to  
31 december 2013
in june 2014 the group raised a further 150 million of high yield 
bonds as a “tap” to the original issue to start work on hylas 4 
the total project cost was budgeted at 350 million with a further 
bond issuance of 125 million anticipated and additional sub
ordinated funds to complete the funding the group has negotiated 
a limitation of liability in contracts with vendors capping costs at  
81 million which would allow a pause in the procurement if market 
conditions for the remaining funding were unfavourable
at 30 june 2014 the group had 1953 million 2013 587 million 
of cash on the balance sheet the total debt outstanding was 
5085 million 2013  3054 million together with 85 million of 
finance leases 2013 7 6 million
insurance
the group maintains a full suite of insurance policies covering not 
only space assets but also business interruption associated with 
the failure of its ground earth stations hylas 1 in orbit insurance 
policy was renewed in november 2013 with an insured value of 
£112 million at a rate of 075 and hylas 2 was renewed shortly 
after the year end for 306 million at 056
currency hedging and exchange rates
our policy remains to hedge all currency exposures as soon as they 
become certain through a combination of natural offset hedging 
and the use of vanilla products through our relationship banks  16
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
balance sheet
tangible fixed assets decreased marginally to 6109 million 2013 
6138 million additions were 289 million of which 110 million 
related to hylas 3 and the balance on ground infrastructure  
total depreciation was 496 million with the satellite depreciation 
charged to costs of sale and the balance to operating costs 
movements in exchange rates increased total nbv by 333 million 
trade and other receivables increased from 207 million to 386 
million the largest movement is the extended payment terms over 
94 million to a customer who has initiated an infrastructure project 
which is of strategic importance to avanti in a specific region the 
yearend position included significant invoices raised in midjune 
and accrued income that were not payable until after 30 june 
these balances have subsequently been received and the 
receivables balance has improved
we have chosen to increase our provisions for doubtful debts  
to 46 million in some regions where infrastructure has been 
disrupted by civil unrest some customers have been unable to 
remit full amounts to settle their accounts however rather than 
terminate services and thereby lose the end customers we have on 
a case by case basis allowed services to continue at the yearend 
we have provided against the outstanding amounts although we 
hope to achieve some recovery against these provisions
in addition the accrued income balance increased to 92 million 
from 46 million these balances represent contracts where we 
recognise revenue on a percentage of completion basis where 
invoicing takes place on a periodic basis
trade and other payables excluding accrued interest fell from  
280 million to 269 million similarly accruals and deferred 
income in noncurrent assets have fallen
gross debt increased to 517 0 million 2013 3130 million 
following the high yield bond issuances to refinance the hylas 2 
debt and to commence hylas 4 cash on balance sheet at 30 
june 2014 was 1953 million 2013 587 million leaving net debt 
of 3217 million 2013 2543 million
2014 
 million
2013 
 million
eca debt 00 3054
bond 5085 00
finance leases 85 76
gross debt 5170 3130
cash 1953 587
net debt 3217 2543
  the face value of the bonds is 520 million however the costs of issuance are netted 
off for disclosure purposes and will be amortised over the life of the bonds
financial  
and operating 
review continued
cash flow
net cash balances increased to 1953 million 2013 587 million
the ebitda before the share based payment charge of 17 million 
translated into 135 million of cash absorbed from operations as a 
result of an increase in working capital of 17 8 million the primary 
reason for the increase in working capital was the extended  
credit terms over a 94 million receivable augmented by a fall in 
trade payables 
net proceeds from financing was 1937 million following the two 
high yield bond issuances of 520 million and the repayments of 
the eca facilities including a break fee of 68 million
backlog
backlog was 4300 million 2013 4450 million in the fourth 
quarter 26m moved from backlog to pl new contracts added 
24m to backlog on a net basis these additions were offset by 
prudent provisions made to backlog in relation to contracts in some 
regions where infrastructure has been disrupted by civil unrest 
many of the relevant contracts are currently being paid and some 
provisions therefore may be written back in future periods
backlog comprises our customers’ committed contractual 
expenditure under existing contracts for the sale of bandwidth 
satellite services consultancy services and associated equipment 
sales over the life of their terms backlog does not include the value 
arising from potential renewal beyond a contract’s current term or 
any projected revenue from framework contracts we do include 
projected revenue from consultancy services provided to 
government customers based on the average revenue generated 
by these services for the last five fiscal years
current backlog includes one contract from a significant customer 
which has a break clause after year five the value of backlog after 
the potential break clause is 160 million
backlog does have a mixture of companies with varying credit quality 
the average credit quality has improved over the last 18 months 17
strategic  
report
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
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strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
post balance sheet events
in august the company signed procurement contracts with orbital 
sciences corporation for the manufacture of hylas 4 and with 
arianespace for the launch vehicle for hylas 4
the satellite will be built by orbital sciences corporation who  
built the hylas 2 spacecraft which is currently outperforming its 
technical specification the satellite will deliver up to 28ghz of 
capacity in 66 fixed beams positioned over africa and europe 
some capacity provides growth for existing markets some 
provides brand new coverage and we retain the flexibility to move 
capacity between different markets the satellite will also have  
four steerable beams which could serve markets in latin america 
or africa the system represents a continuation of avanti’s strategy 
to prioritise quality and flexibility and to ensure that customers 
receive world beating services at low prices
the satellite is scheduled for launch in the three month period 
ending april 2017  it will be launched by arianespace the world’s 
most reliable launch agency with whom avanti has enjoyed a very 
strong relationship through the launch of its first two satellites 
the cost for the satellite plus launch is below 300 million liability 
is capped at 81 million in that avanti can elect to pause the 
project with no further expenditure above that level
the hylas 4 project based on certain assumptions regarding 
launch date constant pricing and fill rates is capable of generating 
an irr of 29 and at npv of 812 million using a discount rate  
of 10
principal risks and uncertainty
foreign exchange risk 
we operate internationally and are exposed to foreign exchange 
risk arising from various currency exposures primarily with respect 
to the sterling and the euro in order to hedge the foreign currency 
risk we enter into forward contracts or natural hedges these risks 
are assessed on a continual basis
at 30 june 2014 if the euro had weakenedstrengthened against 
the us dollar by 5 with all other variables held constant posttax 
loss would have improved by 198597 or worsened by 198597 
at 30 june 2014 if the sterling had weakenedstrengthened 
against the us dollar by 5 with all other variables held constant 
posttax loss would have improved by 453698 or worsened  
by 453698
the us dollar cash reserves and us dollar loan are held in a us 
dollar denominated company and are revalued through reserves 
upon consolidation the average volatility of rates during the year 
compared to the yearend exchange rate was 254 and therefore 
management believes that a 5 sensitivity rate provides a 
reasonable basis upon which to assess expected changes  
in foreign exchange rates
interest rate risk 
we borrow in us dollars at fixed rates of interest and do not seek  
to mitigate the effect of adverse movements in interest rates cash 
and deposits earn interest at fixed rates based on banks’ short
term treasury deposit rates shortterm trade and other receivables 
are interest free
credit risk
credit risk is the risk of financial loss arising from a counterparty’s 
inability to repay or service debt in accordance with contractual 
terms credit risk includes both the direct risk of default and the  
risk of deterioration of creditworthiness we believe we have no 
significant concentrations of credit risk the credit quality of major 
customers is assessed before trading commences taking into 
account its financial position past experience and other factors 
generally when a balance becomes more than 90 days past its  
due date it is considered that the amount will not be fully 
recoverable
liquidity risk
liquidity risk is the risk that we may have difficulty in obtaining  
funds in order to be able to meet both our daytoday operating 
requirements and our debt servicing obligations our exposure  
to liquidity risk management is minimised due to our prudent 
monitoring of all of our liabilities cash and cash forecasts are 
monitored on a daily basis and our cash requirements are met  
by a mixture of short term cash deposits debt and finance leases 
as in prior years two of the key risks to the profitability and liquidity 
of the business is the rate at which we can fill both satellites and  
the prices at which we can do that however the risk of bad debt  
is also a contributory factor
our in orbit satellite fleet footprint is widely spread across 88 
different countries whilst demand obviously varies from country  
to country the breadth of coverage minimises concentration risk  
to downturn in demand with limited competition in the markets 
covered by hylas 1 and hylas 2 we have not seen any 
significant downward price pressure  18
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
in terms of filling the satellites the global economic environment will 
have an impact on customers’ decisions whilst we are not aware 
of losing business to our satellite competition customers are taking 
longer to commit to significant long term expenditures
we have had limited bad debt experience however we have made 
prudent provisions against customers who have been slow with 
settlements as discussed above in the balance sheet report
global economic environment
the global financial system has suffered considerable turbulence 
and uncertainty in recent years this turbulence has contributed to 
a general economic downturn in many of the countries served by 
avanti if potential customers have difficulty accessing capital to 
fund their business plans this may have a negative effect on the 
avanti performance and may delay the onset of new revenue
the political unrest in some of the countries in which we provide 
service whilst it provides opportunities for our business when 
infrastructure is disrupted sometimes makes it difficult for 
counterparties to make timely payments in these circumstances 
we work with our partners and provide support on a case by  
case basis
accounting policies
the group has reviewed its accounting policies in accordance with 
ias 8 accounting policies changes in accounting estimates and 
errors and determined that they are appropriate for the group 
details of critical accounting policies are in note 1 to the 
consolidated annual report 
going concern
the group has available sufficient financial resources at 30 june 
2014 the group has strong backlog underpinning the business 
with a significant pipeline of opportunities to give the directors a 
reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources 
and business demand drivers to adopt the going concern basis  
of accounting for the financial statements
nigel fox
group finance director
financial  
and operating 
review continued 19
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
our approach to sustainability 
avanti recognises that the long term sustainability of the group is 
secured by managing the current impacts of its operations and 
products and anticipating the future global business environment 
avanti’s sustainability strategy is designed to ensure that we have 
in place
• responsible business practices to underpin business activities 
and support employees in making the right decisions to drive 
business performance
• a safe work environment for employees
• a diverse range of talented employees with a broad range of 
skills and capabilities to deliver against global customer 
requirements
• programmes to manage the environmental impact of the 
group’s operations and products reducing the group’s carbon 
footprint and that of the group’s service providers 
the chief executive supported by the board has overall 
responsibility for the group’s ongoing commitment to sustainability 
to ensure that there are appropriate policies systems reporting 
structures and metrics in place to achieve the group’s sustainability 
objectives all avanti employees also have some responsibility  
for sustainability whether it be in their interactions with service 
providers or making efficiencies to support our environmental aims 
the effectiveness of policies and processes are monitored and 
reviewed on an ongoing basis and risks or opportunities are 
assessed and managed
we increasingly adopt targets and metrics to measure our 
performance and provide our stakeholders with an overview of our 
sustainability as a company by focusing on improvement learning 
from our past successes and challenges we are able to further 
enhance future performance avanti evaluates possible sustainability 
issues based on their relevance to our current operations and the 
potential future impact on the business in order to ascertain our 
priorities these priorities may change as the business develops and 
as we receive feedback from our stakeholders and we will therefore 
review on a regular basis for those issues identified as having a high 
importance we have either already developed strategies and have 
controls in place and are reporting on performance or we are 
developing more detailed strategies within our existing systems to 
focus on specific aspects by monitoring our performance in this  
way we will also get valuable feedback for use in the continual 
improvement our policies processes and procedures stakeholder 
engagement is important to avanti we currently hold dialogue with 
all of our major stakeholders as well as listening to others we hope 
to encourage this process still further through clear and objective 
reporting of the key issues
talentavanti people
to have a sustainable business avanti must attract develop and 
retain talent and manage it across the business avanti contributes 
to the wider community through the course of its business by 
creating employment offering apprenticeships and graduate 
training opportunities to young people and by investing in good 
causes that are relevant to the business
attract and retain
like many companies operating in the technology industry in the uk 
avanti has concerns about current and future talent shortages in the 
technology and engineering sectors this is a particular issue as the 
labour market becomes more fluid to mitigate against these issues 
avanti aims to improve retention through improvements to internal 
communications and benefits and a more structured development 
strategy maximising the talent pool available is at the heart of our 
recruitment strategy avanti uses plurality of recruitment methods 
including utilising social media and our own database of interested 
candidates harnessing our employees’ networks online advertising 
and building relationships with universities and other groups 
the measure of voluntary employee turnover provides insight into 
retention avanti’s target for voluntary turnover over a 12 month 
period is under 15 which we have met consistently over the  
last year this level reflects the current average levels of turnover 
experienced in londonbased commercial businesses with an 
appropriate level of churn to refresh the talent base avanti monitors 
this on a monthly basis and regular feedback ensures that any 
potential issues are identified and dealt with 
in the uk currently only 6 of the engineering workforce is female 
of avanti’s engineering population 12 are female and we continue 
to actively promote the industry to young people and women 
through work with universities and colleges through encouraging 
diversity within our workforce avanti aims to better reflect the 
diversity of our customer base and be able to respond better to  
its demands 
working with young people
avanti aims to encourage the workforce of the future by supporting 
science technology and engineering education through building 
links with local colleges and universities in particular through 
involvement with the national space centre and loughborough 
college semta and ukseds avanti’s graduate scheme attracted 
over 300 enquiries this year and provides bright graduates with 
training and hands on experience of technical roles within the 
satellite communications industry now in its third year the graduate 
scheme provides the business with a strong pipeline of committed 
and competent engineers
sustainability  20
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
avanti key behaviours
avanti’s key behaviours set out the principles and standards of 
business conduct expected of all employees wherever they 
operate and in whatever role these behaviours are embedded 
into our induction and performance review processes avanti’s key 
behaviours play a large role ensuring that the strong values of the 
company are maintained as it grows in size avanti’s culture is an 
important factor in driving quality and flexibility for customers and 
other stakeholders in the business 
human rights
avanti requires that its business be conducted with honesty and 
integrity and in full compliance with all applicable laws company 
policies establish clear ethical standards and guidelines for how 
we do business and establish accountability the company has 
clear accountability mechanisms in place to monitor and report on 
compliance with these directives additionally avanti supports and 
upholds the elimination of discriminatory practices with respect to 
employment and occupation and promotes and embraces 
diversity in all aspects of its business operations
developing talent
robust appraisal and performance management processes are in 
place to ensure the company is able to deliver quality and flexibility 
throughout all areas of work by identifying and developing skills 
and knowledge within the business and empowering employees 
to suggest improvements and innovation avanti offer development 
opportunities across the business in technical and management 
skills to ensure our workforce are ready to adapt to changes in 
technology and markets avanti is proud of its record of developing 
talent and promoting from within in 2014 alone a third of all 
vacancies were filled by internal promotion
key next steps
avanti continue to develop and diversify our recruitment practices 
and grow our links with relevant university and other groups to 
promote engineering and the satellite industry we also continue  
to review and improve our practices and policies to ensure that  
we remain an attractive employer and our workforce is flexible  
and able to adapt quickly to change and growth 
sustainability 
continued
health and safety
avanti wants employees to work in a safe healthy environment  
to achieve this we continue to review and update our policies 
procedures and practices to assess and mitigate against any  
risks avanti has a robust health and safety audit and improvement 
process and encourages employees to report potential issues  
and suggest improvements
environment
at avanti we feel an environmental responsibility to both our service 
providers and their wider communities fortunately our technology 
enables us and our service providers to behave in an environmentally 
responsible way services and applications such as teleworking  
video conferencing distance learning and ecommerce allow service 
providers to exchange information and ideas without actually travelling 
— saving energy and reducing pollution today service providers  
can use our wireless services to make the distribution of goods more 
efficient help reduce energy use in workshops offices and homes 
and take advantage of telemedicine and distance learning
measuring the environmental impact
avanti encourages all employees to avoid all unnecessary travel  
by providing full telephone or video conferencing in meeting rooms 
at avanti sites employees are expected to consider the necessity 
of their journeys and to use alternative methods of communication 
where possible such as remote accreditation of partners and 
supporting partners via video conferencing we also carefully 
monitor energy usage and waste in our head office in london and 
hope to roll out this monitoring across other sites in the near future
stakeholders
avanti’s principal stakeholders include investors employees 
partners suppliers government and nongovernment organisations 
and the communities in which it operates avanti aims to 
communicate openly with stakeholders about its business in order 
to better understand their views and concerns and explain the 
company’s approach 21
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
the strategic report on pages 2 to 21 was approved by the board of directors on 29 october 2014 and signed on its behalf by
 
david williams    nigel fox   
chief executive   group finance director
corporate social responsibility
avanti communications  
strengthening families  
in tanzania and kenya
 
from sos children’s villages we reach out  
to families in the surrounding community 
known as family strengthening programmes 
our community work offers a range of support 
to fragile families and helps to prevent 
children from ending up alone
 
we believe the best place for children to develop is within a 
caring family environment as well as creating sos families in 
our children’s villages we also work to prevent families living 
nearby from falling apart each family we support is offered  
a package of services and a family development plan 
gradually they build their capacities and are better able to 
care and protect their children we tailor services to each 
family’s needs with our longterm goal to empower families 
so they can support themselves
working with the wider community means we can reach 
beyond sos children’s villages and help thousands of 
children and their families 
in 2013 thanks to avanti communications’ 
support our work reached 2493 slum 
dwellers in nairobi and daressalaam
organisational departments
the structure at avanti is designed to promote flexibility and excellent 
customer service by encouraging accountability and allowing  
for focused working this is achieved by grouping the functions 
whose main purpose are customer facing the partner support 
deployment and logistics teams sales and revenue generation 
marketing sales and presales and technical operations and 
innovation procurement satellite operations ground operations  
and networks interdepartmental working is encouraged through  
the use of project teams and regular meetings of the management 
team as well as regular cross company training 22
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
a strong and  
experienced board
02 03 04
05 07 08
10 11
06
01
09
board of  
directors strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
23
01 paul walsh  • ∆
chairman
paul was appointed chairman of compass 
group plc in february 2014 having been a 
nonexecutive director of the company since 
january 2014 previously paul was the ceo  
of diageo plc from september 2000 to  
july 2013 and the chief operating officer of 
diageo from january 2000 paul joined 
grandmet’s brewing division in 1982 and 
became finance director in 1986 he held 
financial and commercial positions with inter 
continental hotels and in the grandmet food 
business becoming ceo of the pillsbury 
company in 1992 paul was appointed to the 
grandmet board in october 1995 and to the 
diageo board in december 1997  paul is a  
nonexecutive director at unilever plc and 
fedex corporation and was appointed to  
the board of the united spirits limited in 
august 2013 paul became chairman of  
avanti in march 2014
02 david williams
chief executive
david is a cofounder of the company  
prior to this he spent 10 years working in the 
city financing telecommunications projects 
with chase manhattan cibc and babcock 
and brown he graduated from leeds with a 
degree in economics and politics
03 david bestwick †
technical director
david is a cofounder of the company david 
graduated from the university of leicester in 
1987 with a bsc in physics with astrophysics 
following three years at marconi research 
centre he joined vega group plc in 1990 
where he worked on a wide range of satellite 
applications projects david is responsible for 
all new technology and project developments
04 nigel fox
group finance director
nigel is a chartered accountant and has held 
various senior finance roles before joining 
avanti communications in 2007  including 
chief financial officer of climax group  
group financial controller at arc international 
finance director of ruberoid building 
products and group financial controller  
of ruberoid plc
05 matthew o’connor
chief operating officer
matthew joined avanti in 2005 having worked 
in the telecommunications industry for 20 years 
initially for bt where he held a number of sales 
and marketing roles within the uk and 
international divisions he joined telewest in 
1996 as a director of its business division 
where he was part of the team that grew the 
business from a £30 million regional business 
to a £300 million turnover national operation in 
6 years he went on to be managing director 
of the wholesale division with customers that 
included tmobile 3 cable and wireless  
ntl and many telecoms resellers
06 john brackenbury cbe  • ∆ 
nonexecutive
john stepped down from chairman of avanti 
to a nonexecutive director role in march 2014 
he was awarded a cbe in june 2000 for his 
contribution to tourism education and 
employment he is a leading industrialist with 
over 40 years of experience in the drinks and 
leisure sector he is trustee and director of 
springboard educational trust chairman of 
brackenbury leisure ltd and trustee and vice 
president of gamcare john is the chairman 
of the nominations committee of avanti 
communications group plc
07 alan foster • ∆
nonexecutive
alan was a senior partner of dezoete  bevan 
for over twenty years and on the creation of 
bzw asset management he was appointed 
deputy chairman this company was the 
forerunner of barclays global investors
08 professor michael walker 
obe freng †
nonexecutive
michael walker has spent more than 25 years 
in industry the last ten years of which until his 
retirement in september 2009 he was group 
research and development director for the 
vodafone group of companies with the 
responsibility for the group’s research activities 
intellectual property and technology standards 
worldwide he also led technology innovation 
and managed engagement with startup 
companies for vodafone and was a member of 
the board of vodafone ventures the venture 
capital arm of the company michael is a 
vodafone fellow and an executive technical 
advisor to the company he is chairman of the 
board of the european telecommunications 
standards institute he holds the vodafone 
chair in telecommunications at royal holloway 
university of london as a parttime professor 
and is a visiting professor at the university of 
surrey he was recently appointed head of 
school for natural and mathematical sciences 
at king’s college london he was appointed an 
obe in june 2009 for his services to the 
telecommunications industry
09 richard vos  • †
nonexecutive
richard is a telecommunications and satellite 
professional with international experience 
gained over 40 years working in the industry 
his previous positions included chairman of 
satcom group holdings plc inmedia 
communications ltd and of inmarsat ventures 
plc and head of satellite investments for  
bt serving as governor and chairman for the 
uk and ireland on the board of intelsat 
richard has recently accepted a non 
executive role in one horizon group inc 
effective from september 2013 in july 2014 
richard was appointed director of tawsat 
holdings limited and tawsat limited both are 
satellite ip development and licensing 
companies registered in ireland richard is the 
chairman of the remuneration committee of 
avanti communications group plc
10 william wyatt  • ∆
nonexecutive
william is chief executive officer of caledonia 
investments plc he is also a nonexecutive 
director on the boards of terrace hill group 
plc cobehold sa tge marine ac and sterling 
industries plc
11 paul johnson 
nonexecutive
paul is a fellow of the institute of chartered 
accountants in england and wales he spent 
38 years with kpmg europe llp  becoming a 
partner in 1988 and has extensive experience 
of working with companies in a variety of 
different industries in both the listed and private 
sectors for the last 12 years he was chairman 
of kpmg london and eastern counties and a 
member of kpmg’s uk markets executive 
paul is the chairman of the audit committee of 
avanti communications group plc
committees
  audit
•  remuneration
δ nomination
†  technical 24
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
corporate  
governance report
chairman’s statement of 
compliance with the uk 
corporate governance code
paul walsh
chairman
avanti firmly supports the upholding of good principles of corporate 
governance not only because it is required for compliance 
purposes but because effective corporate governance serves to 
ensure that the business is run properly and in the interests of all of 
its stakeholders 
the board recognises that it is accountable to shareholders for the 
group’s activities and that it is responsible for the effectiveness of 
corporate governance practices it remains committed to 
maintaining high standards of corporate governance and whilst the 
group is aim listed and therefore not required to comply with the 
new 2014 uk corporate governance code ‘the code’ the board 
seeks to comply with the code in all material respects wherever it  
is practical to do so having regard to the size of the group and the 
resources available to it
as a board we monitor closely for developments in legislation 
regulation and industry guidelines to ensure that our corporate 
governance policies are kept uptodate and that the board 
committees take into account all of the latest guidance in their 
areas of activity
the board takes all appropriate measures to ensure that no conflict 
of interest can exist between members of the board and other 
stakeholders in the company 
throughout the year ended 30 june 2014 the board considers  
that the company complied in all material respects with those  
parts of the code that it considers appropriate this corporate 
governance report the report of the board and the remuneration 
report detail how the company has applied the main principles of 
the code strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
25
role of the board
the board of directors has a collective duty to promote the long 
term success of the avanti group for its shareholders the board 
sets the group’s strategy and ensures that the necessary resources 
are in place to achieve the strategic priorities 
in determining the long term strategy and objectives of the group 
the board takes into account its duties and responsibilities not just 
to its shareholders but also to customers employees and other 
stakeholders and makes its decisions objectively it reviews 
management and financial performance monitors the delivery of 
strategy and achievement of objectives and works within a rigorous 
framework of internal controls and risk management the board 
develops and promotes the collective vision of the group’s 
purpose objectives values and key behaviours
composition of the board
during the year the board comprised a nonexecutive chairman 
six other nonexecutive directors and four executive directors  
the balance of the board together with the advice sought from 
other members of senior management and the company’s external 
advisors ensures that no individual has unfettered powers  
of decision
chairman and the chief executive
the board is chaired by paul walsh who provides leadership that 
demonstrates the values and behaviours of the company the 
chairman is responsible for creating the conditions for overall  
board and individual director effectiveness he ensures that both 
executive directors and nonexecutive directors make available 
sufficient time to execute their duties in an appropriate manner  
that all directors receive sufficient financial and operational 
information and that there is proper debate at board meetings  
he is also responsible in consultation with the chief executive  
and the company secretary for setting the agenda for the  
board’s meetings
david williams is the chief executive and supported by the group 
finance director the chief operating officer and the technical 
director he is responsible for the daytoday management of the 
company he provides leadership to the group to successfully plan 
and execute the objective and strategy agreed by the board 
the roles of the chairman and chief executive are separate with 
each having clearly defined duties and responsibilities
nonexecutive directors 
the group benefits from the extensive experience of the 
nonexecutive directors in areas critical to the long term future 
success of the company encompassing a deep understanding of 
the industry technology corporate strategy finance and 
investment the nonexecutive directors help the executive 
directors by contributing independent challenge and rigour to the 
board’s deliberations and assisting in the development of the 
company’s strategy in addition they are responsible for monitoring 
the performance of the executive directors against agreed goals 
and objectives their views are essential in overseeing the 
performance of the company
induction and ongoing training
all directors have access to advice from the company secretary 
and independent professionals at the company’s expense training 
is available for directors as necessary new directors receive an 
induction programme and all the directors are encouraged to 
continue professional education programmes
matters reserved for the board
the board recognises that to ensure the long term success of the 
company certain specific matters should be reserved for the 
consideration and decision of the board alone decisions 
specifically reserved for approval by the board are formally 
recorded and include
• annual and interim accounts and financial statements
• dividend policy
• board appointments
• group strategy and annual operating budget
• changes to the group’s capital structure
• changes to the group’s management and control structure
• major capital expenditure acquisitions and disposals
• treasury policies
• risk management strategy
• group corporate governance policy and
• environmental health and safety and sustainability policies
board meetings
the board met on nine occasions during the year the board also 
maintained an open dialogue throughout the year and contact by 
telephone occurred whenever necessary 
the attendance of directors at board meetings during the year was 
as follows
board attendance for the financial year 1 july 2013 to 
30 june 2014
attended
chairman paul walsh 99
executive directors david williams 99
david bestwick 89
nigel fox 99
matthew o’connor 89
nonexecutive directors john brackenbury 99
alan foster 89
william wyatt 99
richard vos 89
michael walker 79
paul johnson 99
during the year the chairman continued the practice of maintaining 
a 12 month agenda for board and committee meetings agenda 
items included permanent items such as progress reports from the 
executive directors and the company secretary as well as periodic 
items such as updates from the board committees review of the 
risk register and internal controls strategy and succession planning  26
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
corporate  
governance report continued
in advance of each meeting the board is provided with monthly 
management reports and other relevant information in a timely 
manner and in a form and quality that it considers appropriate 
the chairman and the board have confidence that the way in 
which the board meetings are conducted ensures that they cover 
all the matters required to be discussed and that sufficient time is 
allowed for discussion of each matter at the most appropriate 
meeting in the year enabling the members of the board to 
discharge their duties as directors effectively 
the company secretary attends all board meetings and is available 
to advise on any corporate governance issues that may arise
reappointment of directors
all directors are required to retire every three years and may offer 
themselves for reappointment which is not automatic as a 
company with a longterm growth strategy it is appropriate for 
directors to serve on the board for more than a single term subject 
to continuing satisfactory performance
all directors proposed to shareholders for election or reelection 
are accompanied by a biography and a description of the skills and 
experience that the board considers relevant the board is satisfied 
that all the directors standing for election or reelection continue to 
perform effectively and demonstrate commitment to their roles 
including commitment of time for board and board committee 
meetings as well as any other duties which may be undertaken by 
them from time to time
board committees
the board has established a number of committees to assist in the 
discharge of its responsibilities the principal committees are the 
nominations committee the audit committee the remuneration 
committee and the technical committee the responsibilities of 
each of these board committees are set out in their individual 
terms of reference the role and responsibilities of the committees 
are discussed further below
committee meetings are held independently of board meetings 
and invitations to attend are extended by the committee chairman 
to other directors the group’s advisors and management as 
appropriate
the audit committee
the audit committee is comprised of five nonexecutive directors 
paul johnson richard vos william wyatt paul walsh and john 
brackenbury the committee is chaired by paul johnson through 
their other business activities each member of the committee has 
significant experience in financial matters the company considers 
that the composition of the audit committee is in accordance with 
the code further information on the activities of the committee is 
set out in the audit committee report on page 29
nominations committee
the nominations committee is comprised of four nonexecutive 
directors paul walsh william wyatt john brackenbury and alan 
foster it is chaired by john brackenbury except when the matters 
under consideration relate to his position for further information on 
the activities of the committee please refer to page 30
the remuneration committee
the remuneration committee is comprised of five nonexecutive 
directors alan foster william wyatt richard vos paul walsh and 
john brackenbury it is chaired by richard vos 
executive directors and senior management attend remuneration 
committee meetings at the invitation of the committee chairman 
only
the remuneration committee meets according to the company’s 
requirements at least twice a year 
the remuneration committee determines within agreed terms of 
reference specific remuneration packages for the chairman the 
executive directors and the officers of the company this includes 
implementation of group share incentive plans in accordance with 
the committee’s terms of reference no director may participate in 
discussions relating to his own terms and conditions of service or 
remuneration
with regards to the remuneration policy the committee considers
• the pay scales applied to each director’s package
• the proportion of the different types of reward within  
each package
• the period within which performance related elements  
become payable
• what proportion of rewards should be related to measurable 
performance or enhanced shareholder value and the balance 
between short and longterm performance elements and
• transparency of directors’ remuneration in the annual financial 
statements further information on the activities of the 
committee is set out in the remuneration committee report  
on pages 32 to 34
technical committee
the technical committee is comprised of two nonexecutive 
directors michael walker and richard vos the technical director 
and other senior technical management of the company it is 
chaired by michael walker for further information on the activities 
of the committee please refer to page 31 strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
27
relations with shareholders
the board recognises the importance of establishing and 
maintaining good relationships with all of the company’s 
shareholders during the period under review the chief executive 
finance director chairman remuneration committee chairman 
and audit committee chairman have met with analysts and 
institutional shareholders to keep them informed of significant 
developments and report to the board accordingly on the views of 
these stakeholders
the interim report and the annual report and financial 
statements are the primary means used by the board for 
communication during the year with all of the company’s 
shareholders the board also recognises the importance of the 
internet as a means of communicating widely immediately and cost 
effectively and a group website wwwavantiplccom is maintained 
to facilitate communications with shareholders
information available online includes copies of the full and half year 
financial statements press releases and company news 
corporate governance information and key dates in the financial 
calendar
the board is committed to the constructive use of the agm as a 
forum to meet with shareholders and to hear their views and 
answer their questions the 2014 agm will be held on 27 
november 2014 at 900 am
shareholders are encouraged to attend the agm and to participate 
in proceedings by asking questions during the formal part of the 
meeting voting on resolutions put to the meeting and providing 
board members with their views in informal discussions after the 
meeting
notice of the agm is on page 71 and it is also available to download 
on the company’s website separate resolutions are proposed on 
each issue so that they can be given proper consideration and 
there is a resolution to approve the annual report and accounts 
the company counts all proxy votes and indicates the level of 
proxies lodged on each resolution after it has been dealt with 
usually by a show of hands
financial reporting
at the half year and the year end all operating group companies 
are required to produce financial statements to comply with local 
accounting regulations and to produce sufficient information to 
enable the central finance team to produce ifrscompliant 
consolidated financial statements 
the board presents a balanced and understandable assessment of 
the group’s position and prospects in all interim and price sensitive 
public reports whilst also reporting to regulators all information 
required to be presented by statutory requirements
internal control and risk management
the board has overall responsibility for the group’s system of 
internal control to safeguard company assets and shareholders’ 
investments the risk management process and systems of internal 
control are designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of 
failure to achieve the group’s objectives
the board has reviewed the effectiveness of the system of internal 
control for the year ended 30 june 2014 and up to the date of the 
signing of the annual report and accounts the board will continue 
to develop and implement internal control procedures appropriate 
to the group’s nature and scale 
the company does not have an internal audit function due to the 
small size of the company’s administrative function and the high 
level of director review and authorisation of transactions the audit 
committee believes that these internal controls are adequate for the 
group’s current size and does not feel that a separate internal audit 
function is currently warranted this situation is kept under regular 
review
the board recognises that an essential part of its responsibility is 
the effective safeguarding of assets the proper recognition of 
liabilities and the accurate reporting of results the group has a 
comprehensive system for regular reporting to the board this 
includes an annual planning and budgeting system with budgets 
approved by the board
the financial reporting system compares against budget and prior 
year and reconsiders its financial year forecast on a monthly basis
the board has established a formal policy of authorisation setting 
out matters which require its approval and certain authorities 
delegated to the executive directors 28
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
the key features of the group’s system of internal control are  
as follows
• management responsibility and accountability there are clearly 
defined management responsibilities reporting lines and limits 
of authority the chief executive officer and finance director 
meet regularly with the executive directors and other members 
of senior management to review progress on financial 
commercial operational supply chain hr health safety and 
environmental issues as well as regulatory and legal compliance 
matters
• strategy and planning the group updates its strategic plan 
each year and this is approved by the board
• budgeting and reporting detailed management accounts are 
prepared each month consolidated and reviewed in detail with 
senior management
• expenditure approval authorisation and control procedures are 
in place for capital expenditure and other major projects there 
is also a process to review capital expenditure projects post 
completion to highlight any issues and improve future projects 
authorisation procedures for operating costs and contractual 
commitments are reviewed regularly
• independence of the finance function the finance function is 
encouraged to act independently of general management in the 
course of its preparation of monthly accounts and exercising of 
control procedures
• insurance and risk management policies this includes a formal 
annual risk review report to the board regular meetings are 
held with insurance and risk advisors to assess the risks 
throughout the group
• documented policies there are documented policies for a 
range of areas including hr matters expenditure treasury and 
financial reporting
• cash the cash and debt position at group and operational level 
is monitored daily and variances from forecast levels are 
investigated thoroughly working capital balances are reviewed 
on a monthly basis at group level and any significant variances 
are analysed and investigated
• effectiveness the board continually reviews the effectiveness of 
the systems of internal control and risk management procedures 
throughout the year
ethics
the group prides itself on carrying out its business in a fair honest 
and open manner ensuring that it complies with all relevant laws 
and regulations 
under the companies act 2006 a director of a company must 
avoid a situation in which he or she has or can have a direct or 
indirect interest that conflicts or may possibly conflict with the 
interests of the company the company has a formal procedure in 
place to manage the disclosure consideration and if appropriate 
the authorisation of any such possible conflict directors are aware 
of the requirement to notify the board as soon as they become 
aware of any possible future conflict or a material change to an 
existing authorisation only directors who have no interest in the 
matter being considered are able to take the relevant decision 
the executive directors have contracts of service with one year’s 
notice whilst nonexecutive directors’ appointments can be 
terminated at any time with six months’ notice 
none of the nonexecutive directors has any material business or 
other relationship with the company or its management 
details of the directors’ service contracts emoluments the 
interests of the directors in the share capital of the company and 
options to subscribe for shares in the company are provided in the 
remuneration report on pages 32 to 34
bribery act 2010
the board has performed an assessment of the risk environment 
and implemented a framework to ensure that the group trades in 
compliance with the bribery act 2010 which reinforces the group’s 
stand against bribery or corruption of any form
corporate  
governance report continued strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
29
all members of the audit committee are independent non
executive directors the board is confident that the collective 
experience of the audit committee members enables them  
as a group to act as an effective committee
by invitation the meetings of the audit committee may be  
attended by the chief executive and group finance director  
the kpmg llp audit engagement partner is present at the audit 
committee meetings to ensure full communication of matters 
relating to the audit the chairman of the audit committee meets 
regularly with the group finance director and external auditors 
the audit committee has particular responsibility for monitoring  
the financial reporting process the adequacy and effectiveness of 
the operation of internal controls and risk management and the 
integrity of the financial statements this includes a review of 
significant issues and judgements policies and disclosures its 
duties include keeping under review the scope and results of the 
audit and its cost effectiveness consideration of management’s 
response to any major external audit recommendations and the 
independence and objectivity of the external auditors
during the year to 30 june 2014 the audit committee reviewed and 
endorsed prior to submission to the board halfyear and fullyear 
financial statements interim management statements and results 
announcements it considered internal management reports and 
risk management updates agreed external audit plans received 
updates on management responses to audit recommendations 
and approved the review of accounting policies progress on 
implementation of processes to meet the requirements of the uk 
bribery act was also provided to the committee following the 
issue of high yield bonds in october 2013 the company 
commenced limited quarterly reporting and the audit committee 
additionally required kpmg to carry out reviews on revenue 
recognition and analytical reviews of the quarterly financial 
statements with management
external auditor
auditor objectivity and independence is safeguarded through  
a variety of mechanisms to ensure the auditor’s independence 
the committee annually reviews the company’s relationship with 
kpmg following the review in 2014 the company concluded  
that it continues to have an objective and professional relationship 
with kpmg and that there are sufficient controls and processes  
in place to ensure the required level of independence in addition  
the auditor is required to review and confirm their independence  
to the committee on a regular basis 
nonaudit services 
the company’s auditor may also be employed where as a result  
of their position as auditor they either must or are best placed to 
perform the work in question a formal policy is in place in relation 
to the provision of nonaudit services by the auditor to ensure that 
there is adequate protection of their independence and objectivity
paul johnson
audit committee chairman
audit committee 30
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
the nominations committee comprises a majority of independent 
nonexecutive directors the nominations committee meets as 
and when necessary and details of the membership of the 
committee is shown on page 23 the nominations committee  
has responsibility for nominating to the board candidates for 
appointment as directors bearing in mind the need for diversity 
and a broad representation of skills across the board
the nominations committee will also make recommendations to 
the board concerning the reappointment of any independent 
nonexecutive director at the conclusion of his or her specified 
term the election and reelection of any director by shareholders in 
accordance with the provisions of the code and changes to senior 
management including executive directors
another area of activity which the committee debated and which 
was also discussed with the full board related to board diversity 
and agreement to the issue of a statement of how the board 
considers diversity as part of its succession planning gender is 
one element of the considerations made in appointing senior 
management board appointees and as part of general recruitment 
practices across the group the nominations committee gives  
full consideration to succession planning in the course of its work 
taking into account the challenges and opportunities facing the 
company how to take account of diversity including gender and 
what skills and expertise are needed on the board and from senior 
management in the future 
john brackenbury cbe
nominations committee chairman
nominations  
committee strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
31
the board of avanti has established a technical committee  
to report on progress by the company with all aspects of the 
technology that underpins its business 
the activities of the committee include
1 reviewing progress on the development deployment and 
operation of the technology that supports avanti’s business  
on an ongoing basis
2 monitoring all technological risks identified in the company  
risk register 
3 assisting the company with the resolution of technology 
problems and the realisation of technology opportunities 
4 assessing whether the technology employed is the best fit for 
the avanti business and that the technology team is strong 
enough to develop deliver operate and maintain it in the best 
interests of the business
5 bringing to the attention of the board any issues with 
technology including disruptive technology which might  
have a significant impact on the business of the company 
6 preparing and maintaining a technology strategy for the 
company which is continuously updated
the technical committee is chaired by professor michael walker 
with support from richard vos david bestwick and senior 
executives from within the company
this year the technical committee has focused its work on 3 main 
topics
1 assessing the design of the hylas 4 satellite to make sure it 
meets the company’s needs from a technological perspective
2 driving forward the establishment of a companywide quality 
assurance regime
3 providing support to various activities associated with the 
development of satellite backhaul products for a range of 
wireless applications including 3g and 4g cellular services
overall the technical committee is pleased with the progress  
the company has made in establishing a technological base  
well adapted for the company’s future growth 
professor michael walker obe
nonexecutive director
technical  
committee 32
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
report of the  
remuneration committee
remuneration committee 
the remuneration committee comprises independent nonexecutive directors only the remuneration committee on behalf of the 
board meets as and when necessary to review and approve as appropriate the remuneration of the executive directors and senior 
management and major remuneration plans for the group the remuneration committee consists of r vos chairman j brackenbury  
a foster p walsh and w wyatt 
during the year the remuneration committee met five times
remuneration policy
the company’s policy on remuneration of directors is to attract retain and motivate the best people recognising the input they make  
to the ongoing success of the business consistent with this policy the remuneration and benefits package awarded to directors is 
intended to be competitive and comprises a mix of performancerelated and nonperformance related elements designed to incentivise 
directors in the short and longer term and align their interests with those of shareholders their remuneration accordingly consists of 
base pay annual bonus long term incentive plan share options pension contributions and other benefits such as health care
under the company’s long term incentive plan ltip which came into operation in july 2013 shares will only vest if specific targets are 
met after a fixed period of years after they are allocated the targets set by the remuneration committee reflect the desired performance 
of the company as it develops from a “startup” to a more mature business
the above represents no change from the company’s existing remuneration policy and no further change is anticipated in the coming year
remuneration 2014
the remuneration of the directors for the year was as set out below the previous year’s figures are shown for comparison
for the year ended 30 june 2014
salaries

bonus

other  
benefits 

post 
employment 
benefits 

total  
2014 

total  
gbp 
£
executive     
d j williams 629094 286474 134338 – 1049906 631558
d j bestwick 420726 210083 83228 52591 766628 461807
n a d fox 336087 167821 61427 42337 607672 366014
m j o’connor 293070 146391 40988 36638 517087 311537
nonexecutive     
p walsh 194830 – – – 194830 117167
f e j g brackenbury cbe 232969 – 13190 – 246159 150246
d a foster 85885 – – – 85885 52500
w p wyatt 77703 – – – 77703 47526
m walker 99007 – – – 99007 59912
c r vos 91981 – – – 91981 56250
p r johnson 89974 – – – 89974 55000
total 2551326 810769 333171 131566 3826832 2309517 strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
33
 for the year ended 30 june 2013 
salaries

bonus

other  
benefits 

post 
employment 
benefits 

total  
2013 

total  
gbp 
£
executive     
d j williams 513063 – 123671 64133 700867 446697 
d j bestwick 384724 – 71281 43678 499683 318472 
n a d fox 299679 – 56326 37460 393465 250774 
m j o’connor 273006 – 37076 34126 344208 219381 
nonexecutive     
p walsh 56223 – – – 56223 35833
f e j g brackenbury cbe 172590 – 10236 – 182826 116524
d a foster 64394 – – – 64394 41042
w p wyatt 56222 – – – 56222 35833
m walker 58184 – – – 58184 37083
c r vos 64721 – – – 64721 41250
p r johnson 33341 – – – 33341 21250
total 1976147 – 298590 179397 2454134 1564139
basic salary
base salary is set by the committee and reviewed annually taking into account an individual’s performance and experience measured by 
appraisal and market practice the executive directors received a 25 increase for the year ended 30 june 2014 the variances above 
this level are attributed to movements in exchange rates between the sterling salaries paid and us dollar salaries reported
pension
the company does not operate a specific pension scheme for the executive directors the executives are entitled to a company 
contribution to their private pensions equal to 125 of their base salary all directors are entitled to participate in the group workplace 
pension scheme
cash bonus 
bonus awards which are not pensionable are made to the executive directors based on group financial and individual performance 
bonus payments are only payable if the company meets a specific target threshold personal performance is appraised against the 
achievement of challenging objectives set at the start of each financial year and is linked to group strategic and operational performance
save as you earn
during the year two executive directors made contributions into the avanti saye schemes nigel fox made monthly contributions of £250 
into the november 2013 saye scheme and david bestwick made monthly contributions of £250 in the november 2011 saye scheme 
directors’ share interests 
the following directors held interests in the share capital of the company
 
fully paid ordinary shares  
of 1p each
30 june 2014 30 june 2013
d j williams 1709414  1656901 
d j bestwick 1301954  1297954 
f e j g brackenbury cbe 516432  430791 
d a foster 451250  396250 
p walsh 205000  130000 
m j oconnor 203961  197091 
n a d fox 134580  132620 
w p wyatt 35342  35342 
c r vos 21030  21030 
p r johnson 10000 10000  34
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
report of the  
remuneration committee continued
directors’ long term incentive plans ltips 
ltips have been established by the company with approval of the remuneration committee and with the advice and assistance of 
deloitte touche tohmatsu limited to reward and incentivise the executive directors and senior managers of the company 
all unvested shares are held in the employee benefit trust ebt the ltip allocations are in separate sub funds within the ebt and are 
subject to automatic revocation if certain criteria are not met and continue to be revocable for the entire trust period
the total allocation to the executive is subject to specific performance criteria which must be met a fixed number of years after the grant 
for the awards potentially vesting in 2016 the criteria are twofold
two thirds of an award or a proportion thereof will vest if specific ebitda targets are achieved or bettered ebitda will be based on the 
company’s audited financial statements for the relevant financial year the ebitda part will lapse to the extent it does not vest
one third of an award or a proportion thereof will vest if the threemonth average share price to 30 june 2016 is equal to or above a 
specified amount in the event of any variation in the share capital of the company by way of capitalisation or rights issue consolidation 
subdivision or reduction or otherwise the remuneration committee shall make an appropriate adjustment to the share price targets to 
reflect this
the share price part will lapse to the extent it does not vest in accordance with the schedule
current allocations are as set out below
outstanding allocations
potentially 
vesting 2015
no options
potentially 
vesting 2016
no options total
d j williams 306855 329869 636724
d j bestwick 234539 252129 486668
n a d fox 89907 96731 186638
m j o’connor 82089 84552 166641
total 713390 763281 1476671
richard vos
remuneration committee chairman strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
35
the directors have pleasure in presenting their annual report 
together with the audited financial statements for the year ended 
30 june 2014
principal activities
the principal activity of the company is the provision of satellite 
communication services and it is expected to be so for the 
foreseeable future the services are principally provided via 
kaband satellites avanti’s first satellite hylas 1 was launched in 
november 2010 and brought into commercial service in april 2011
the second satellite hylas 2 was successfully launched on 2 
august 2012 and came into commercial service in october 2012  
a review of the group’s business and developments during the  
year is included in the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s 
statement and the strategic review
the third satellite artemis was acquired from the european 
space agency ‘‘esa’’ on 31 december 2013
business review and key performance indicators
as the company is still in the early stages of its strategy with a 
focus on the future we do not currently focus on traditional key 
performance indicators ‘kpis’ instead our business model is 
focused on development of the satellite fleet and sale of capacity  
in the chairman’s statement and finance and operating review 
we have highlighted key financial statistics such as revenue and 
operating profit however given the nature of the business at the 
current time we do not consider them to be kpis
results and dividends
the results for the year ended 30 june 2014 are shown on page 39 
no equity dividend was paid in the year ended 30 june 2014  
2013 nil no final dividend is proposed at the year end 2013 nil 
the loss for the year transferred to the shareholder’s funds was 
87 2 million 2013 loss of 47 7 million the net asset position at 
year end is 3094 million 2013 367 3 million
share capital
the company did not issue any new ordinary shares during the 
year ended 30 june 2014 2013 nil details of the company’s 
share capital are given in note 22 to the consolidated financial 
statements
qualitative and quantitative disclosures  
about interest foreign exchange credit  
and liquidity risks
a discussion of the group’s financial risk management objectives 
and policies and the exposure of the group to interest rate foreign 
exchange credit and liquidity risk is included in the finance and 
operating review pages 14 to 18
report of the  
board of directors
research and development
the group continues to invest in new services and technology 
through its research and development programmes which can lead 
to profitable exploitation of avanti’s satellite capacity these include 
pure research into new products as well as developing those 
services which have been demonstrated to have a profitable 
business case
directors
the directors who served during the year and were in office up to 
the date of signing were as follows
p walsh
d j williams
d j bestwick
n a d fox
m j o’connor
f e j g brackenbury cbe
d a foster
c r vos
w p wyatt
m walker obe
p r johnson
a biography for each director is provided on page 23 in accordance 
with the company’s articles of association all directors will offer 
themselves for reelection every 3 years the board believes  
that the members of the board continue to be effective and to 
demonstrate commitment to their roles the board and the group 
the board therefore recommends the reappointment of all 
directors who are up for reelection at the agm
directors’ emoluments
remuneration policy
the company’s policy on remuneration of directors is to attract 
retain and motivate the best people recognising the input they have 
to the ongoing success of the business consistent with this policy 
the benefit package awarded by avanti communications group plc 
to its directors is intended to be competitive it comprises a mix of 
performancerelated and nonperformance related remuneration 
designed to incentivise the directors and align their interest with 
those of shareholders and consists of base pay annual bonus long 
term incentive plan share options pension contributions and other 
benefits such as health care 36
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
major shareholders
at september 2014 the company had been notified pursuant to 
the financial conduct authority’s disclosure and transparency 
rules of the following notifiable voting rights in the company’s 
issued ordinary share capital
30 september 2014
m  g investment management ltd 21790683
caledonia investments plc 13131632
the capital group companies inc 6937062
gic private limited 5905492
directors  related 4757443
solus alternative asset management lp 4504620
hargreaves lansdown asset management 4200826
legal  general investment management ltd 4194367
avanti communications group ebt 4111473
barclays plc 3416487
policy and practice on payment of creditors
the group and company’s policy and practice on payment of 
creditors is
• to pay all suppliers within the time limit agreed at the start of  
the business with that supplier
• to ensure that all suppliers are aware of the terms of payment 
and
• to pay in accordance with the contractual and other legal 
obligations whenever it is satisfied that the supplier has  
provided the goods andor services in accordance with the 
agreed terms and conditions
at 30 june 2014 the company had trade creditors of  
208191 2013 nil
employees
the group employed 178 people at 30 june 2014
employees are key to the group’s success and we rely on the 
workforce being committed to helping us achieve our business 
objectives
employees are regularly updated about market and industry 
developments
communication between the board and employees at all levels  
is highly valued and this is achieved through regular staff 
presentations given by the chief executive and regular email 
communication the group believes in equal opportunities for all 
employees and prospective employees irrespective of nationality 
ethnicity religion age gender sexuality or disability the group  
has zero tolerance of discrimination in any form
political donations
during the year the group made no political donations 2013 nil
corporate governance
the corporate governance report is provided on pages 24 to 37 
and includes reports from the board’s audit nominations 
remuneration and technical committees
notice of annual general meeting
the notice of the company’s agm can be found on page 71
directors’ and officers’ liability insurance
the group maintains appropriate insurance to cover directors’  
and officers’ liability for itself and its subsidiaries at the date  
upon which this report was approved and for the year ended  
30 june 2014 the company provided an indemnity in respect  
of all of the group’s directors in respect of all losses arising out  
of or in connection with the execution of their powers duties  
and responsibilities as directors to the extent permitted by the 
companies act 2006 and the company’s articles of association
by order of the board
patrick willcocks
company secretary
report of the  
board of directors continued strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
37
the directors are responsible for preparing the strategic report 
the directors’ report and the financial statements in accordance 
with applicable law and regulations  
company law requires the directors to prepare group and parent 
company financial statements for each financial year as required 
by the aim rules of the london stock exchange they are required 
to prepare the group financial statements in accordance with  
ifrss as adopted by the eu and applicable law and have elected 
to prepare the parent company financial statements on the  
same basis 
under company law the directors must not approve the financial 
statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair 
view of the state of affairs of the group and parent company and of 
their profit or loss for that period in preparing each of the group 
and parent company financial statements the directors are  
required to  
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them 
consistently  
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and 
prudent  
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance with 
ifrss as adopted by the eu and  
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis 
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group and the 
parent company will continue in business 
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of 
the corporate and financial information included on the company’s 
website legislation in the uk governing the preparation and 
dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in 
other jurisdictions
statement of  
directors’ responsibilities
each director confirms that to the best of his knowledge and belief
• the financial statements in this document prepared in 
accordance with the applicable set out accounting standards 
give a true and fair view of the assets liabilities financial position 
and profit of the company and of the group as a whole and
• the directors’ report including the strategic report includes a 
fair view of the development and performance of the business 
and the position of the company and of the group as a whole 
including a description of the principal risks and uncertainties 
that they face
in the case of each director in office at the date on which the 
directors’ report is approved
• so far as the directors are aware there is no relevant audit 
information of which the company’s auditors are unaware and
• they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as 
directors in order to make themselves aware of any relevant 
audit information and to establish the company’s auditors are 
aware of that information
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of 
the corporate and financial information included on the company’s 
website legislation in the uk governing the preparation and 
dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in 
other jurisdictions
this confirmation is given in accordance with the provisions of  
s418 of the companies act 2006
approved by the board of directors and signed on behalf  
of the board
david williams
chief executive 38
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
independent auditor’s report
to the members of avanti communications group plc
we have audited the financial statements of avanti communications group plc for the year ended 30 june 2014 set out on pages 39  
to 70 the financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and international financial reporting 
standards ifrss as adopted by the eu and as regards the parent company financial statements as applied in accordance with the 
provisions of the companies act 2006
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the companies act 2006 
our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them 
in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to 
anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we  
have formed 
 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 37  the directors are responsible for the preparation 
of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion 
on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and international standards on auditing uk and ireland those 
standards require us to comply with the auditing practices board’s ethical standards for auditors
scope of the audit of the financial statements
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is provided on the financial reporting council’s website at  
wwwfrcorgukauditscopeukprivate
opinion on financial statements
in our opinion
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 30 june 2014 
and of the group’s loss for the year then ended
• the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu
• the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu and as 
applied in accordance with the provisions of the companies act 2006 and
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the companies act 2006
opinion on other matter prescribed by the companies act 2006
in our opinion the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements 
matters on which we are required to report by exception
we have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the companies act 2006 requires us to report to you if 
in our opinion
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company or returns adequate for our audit have not been received 
from branches not visited by us or
• the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made or
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
tudor aw senior statutory auditor
for and on behalf of kpmg llp statutory auditor
chartered accountants
15 canada square
london
29 october 2014 39
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
notes
year ended 
30 june 2014 
’000
year ended 
30 june 2013 
’000
revenue 2 65622 32125
cost of sales 86699 57973
 satellite depreciation 47339 38456
 other cost of sales 39360 19517
gross loss 21077 25848
operating expenses 3 34886 28484
other operating income 6 7219 1513
loss from operations 48744 52819
finance income 7 10 442
finance expense 7 38957 6506
net financing expense 38947 6064
loss before taxation 87691 58883
income tax credit 8 – 10553
loss for the year 87691 48330
loss attributable to
equity holders of the parent 87199 47736
noncontrolling interests 492 594
basic loss per share cents 9 8118c 4449c
diluted loss per share cents 9 8118c 4449c
the notes on pages 44 to 70 are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements
consolidated statement of comprehensive income
year ended 30 june 2014
year ended 
30 june 2014 
’000
year ended 
30 june 2013 
’000
loss for the year 87691 48330
other comprehensive income
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations and investments that may be recycled to the 
income statement 2122 8193
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations and investments that will not be recycled to the 
income statement 31235 –
total comprehensive loss for the year 58578 56523
attributable to
equity holders of the parent 58086 55929
noncontrolling interests 492 594
items in the statement above are net of tax the income tax relating to each component of other comprehensive income is disclosed in note 8
the notes on pages 44 to 70 are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements
consolidated income statement
year ended 30 june 2014 40
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
notes
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
assets
noncurrent assets
property plant and equipment 11 610857 613828
intangible assets 12 13963 13512
deferred tax assets 17 21074 18852
total noncurrent assets 645894 646192
current assets
inventories 15 1733 4510
trade and other receivables 16 38648 20685
cash and cash equivalents 18 195283 58699
total current assets 235664 83894
total assets 881558 730086
liabilities and equity
current liabilities
trade and other payables 19 39870 28018
loans and other borrowings 20 4545 27043
total current liabilities 44415 55061
noncurrent liabilities
trade and other payables 19 15299 21707
loans and other borrowings 20 512431 286006
total noncurrent liabilities 527730 307713
total liabilities 572145 362774
equity
share capital 22 1799 1799
ebt shares 22 90 90
share premium 22 415130 415130
foreign currency translation reserve 6211 22902
retained earnings 111963 25443
total parent shareholders’ equity 311267 368674
noncontrolling interests 1854 1362
total equity 309413 367312
total liabilities and equity 881558 730086
the consolidated financial statements of company number 6133927 on pages 39 to 70 were approved by the board of directors on  
29 october 2014 and signed on its behalf by
nigel fox
group finance director
consolidated statement of financial position
as at 30 june 2014 41
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
notes
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
assets
noncurrent assets
deferred tax assets 17 497 497
investments 13 148668 148668
loan receivable 16 527500 –
total noncurrent assets 676665 149165
current assets
trade and other receivables 16 245543 251016
total current assets 245543 251016
total assets 922208 400181
liabilities and equity
current liabilities
trade and other payables 19 18429 108
loans and other borrowings 20 1526 365
total current liabilities 19955 473
noncurrent liabilities
loans and other borrowings 20 511104 166
total liabilities 531059 639
equity
share capital 22 1799 1799
ebt shares 22 90 90
share premium 22 415130 415130
foreign currency translation reserve 15902 15902
retained earnings 9968 1575
total shareholders’ equity 391149 399542
total liabilities and equity 922208 400181
the consolidated financial statements of company number 6133927 on pages 39 to 70 were approved by the board of directors on  
29 october 2014 and signed on its behalf by
nigel fox
group finance director
company statement of financial position
as at 30 june 2014 42
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
group company
notes
year ended 
30 june 2014 
’000
year ended 
30 june 2013 
’000
year ended 
30 june 2014 
’000
year ended 
30 june 2013 
’000
cash flow from operating activities
cash absorbedgenerated by operations 28 13528 16435 9618 364
interest paid 20392 7977 14898 –
interest received – – 29880 –
net cash absorbedgenerated by operating activities 33920 24412 24600 364
cash flows from investing activities
payments for other financial assets and investments – – 527500 –
payments for property plant and equipment 25798 73783 – –
net cash used in investing activities 25798 73783 527500 –
cash flows from financing activities
proceeds from borrowings 10 43823 – –
proceeds from bond issue 530667 – 530667 –
repayment of borrowings 305367 4704 – –
payment of finance lease liabilities 4161 537 366 364
cost of existing finance 6827 – 6827 –
debt issuance costs 20574 – 20574 –
net cash received fromused by financing activities 193748 38582 502900 364
effects of exchange rate on the balances of cash and cash 
equivalents 2554 2107 – –
net increasedecrease in cash and cash equivalents 136584 61720 – –
cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the financial year 58699 120419 – –
cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year 18 195283 58699 – –
the notes on pages 44 to 70 are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements
consolidated and company statement of cash flows
year ended 30 june 2014 43
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
consolidated
notes 
share capital 
’000
employee benefit 
trust ebt 
’000
share premium 
’000
retained 
earnings 
’000
foreign currency 
translation 
reserve 
’000
noncontrolling 
interests 
’000
total equity 
’000
2013
at 1 july 2012 1799 90 415130 21709 14709 768 423251
loss for the year – – – 47736 – 594 48330
other comprehensive 
income – – – – 8193 – 8193
share based payments 23 – – – 588 – – 588
tax credit taken directly 
to reserves – – – 4 – – 4
at 30 june 2013 1799 90 415130 25443 22902 1362 367312
2014
at 1 july 2013 1799 90 415130 25443 22902 1362 367312
loss for the year – – – 87199 – 492 87691
other comprehensive 
income – – – – 29113 – 29113
share based payments 23 – – – 679 – – 679
at 30 june 2014 1799 90 415130 111963 6211 1854 309413
company
notes 
share capital 
’000
employee benefit 
trust ebt 
’000
share premium 
’000
retained 
earnings 
’000
foreign currency 
translation 
reserve 
’000
noncontrolling 
interests 
’000
total equity 
’000
2013
at 1 july 2012 1799 90 415130 286 3086 – 413647
loss for the year – – – 1294 – – 1294
share based payments – – – 22 – – 22
other comprehensive 
income – – – – 12816 – 12816
tax credit taken directly 
to reserves 17 – – – 17 – – 17
at 30 june 2013 1799 90 415130 1575 15902 – 399542
2014
at 1 july 2013 1799 90 415130 1575 15902 – 399542
loss for the year – – – 8408 – – 8408
share based payments – – – 15 – – 15
at 30 june 2014 1799 90 415130 9968 15902 – 391149
the notes on pages 44 to 70 are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements
consolidated and company statement of changes in equity
year ended 30 june 2014 44
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
1 accounting policies
statement of compliance
the group financial statements have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards as adopted by the eu 
ifrs international financial reporting interpretations committee ifric interpretations and the companies act 2006 applicable to 
companies preparing their accounts under ifrs
the principal activity of the group is the provision of satellite communication services the services are principally provided via kaband 
satellites
the company is a public limited company which is listed on the alternative investment market “aim” and domiciled and incorporated in 
the uk
the registered office of the company is 20 black friars lane london united kingdom
the principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below these policies have been 
consistently applied to all the years presented unless otherwise stated
basis of preparation
the consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis with the exception of share based payments and 
financial derivatives which are incorporated using fair value
the company has elected to disclose satellite depreciation as a separate item in cost of sales on the face of the consolidated income 
statement due to the significance of the charge
the company has taken the exemption under section 408 of the companies act 2006 to not present the parent company income 
statement or statement of comprehensive income
the company incurs and sources a significant majority of costs in us dollars and the financing is in us dollars having considered the 
aggregate effect of all relevant factors which are the main determinants of functional currency the directors concluded that following the 
first bond issue the functional currency of the company had changed to us dollars accordingly the directors determined that this had 
changed from 1 july 2013 in accordance with ias 21 this change has been accounted for following the same methodology as detailed 
below for the change in the group’s presentational currency
from 1 july 2013 the group changed its presentational currency to us dollars comparative information has been restated in us dollars 
in accordance with the guidance defined in ias 21 the 2013 financial statements and associated notes have been retranslated from 
sterling to us dollars in compliance with ias 21 as follows
• assets and liabilities were translated at closing rate
• income and expenses were translated at actual rates or appropriate averages
• equity components were translated at historical rates
• differences resulting from the retranslation of the opening net assets and the results for the year have been taken to reserves
the following adopted ifrss have been issued but have not been applied by the group in these financial statements their adoption is 
not expected to have a material effect on the financial statements unless otherwise indicated
• ifrs 11 joint arrangements
• ifrs 12 disclosure of interests in other entities
• ias 27 separate financial statements 2011
• ias 28 investments in associates and joint ventures 2011
• amendments to ifrs 7 financial instruments disclosures – offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities
• amendments to ias 32 financial instruments presentation – offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities
• amendments to ias 12 income taxes – deferred tax recovery of underlying assets
the group continues to monitor the potential impact of other new standards and interpretations which may be endorsed by the european 
union and require adoption by the group in future accounting periods
critical accounting estimates and management judgement 
the presentation of financial statements in conformity with ifrs requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates it also requires 
management to exercise its judgement in the process of applying the group’s accounting policies
notes to the accounts 45
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
1 accounting policies continued
the estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and 
liabilities within the next financial year are addressed below
a revenue recognition
the group uses the percentageofcompletion method in accounting for its consultancy projects use of the percentage of completion 
method requires the group to estimate the services performed to date as a proportion of the total services to be performed
b impairment of satellites
the carrying amount of the satellites are dependent on the group’s ability to sell sufficient capacity in the satellites over their useful 
economic lives in management’s view at this early stage in the life of the hylas 1 and 2 satellites the sale of capacity is progressing well 
and in line with plans the group will assess impairment annually
c european space agency “esa” funding and sale of capacity
in april 2006 the group entered into a contract with esa to receive funding for the build of the hylas 1 satellite and also giving esa the 
right to use up to 10 of capacity on hylas 1 for a period of 3 years if the capacity is available an assessment of the fair value of the 
revenues for the sale of capacity has been performed in order to account for this as a multiple element arrangement the fair value of the 
capacity sales will be recognised as revenue on a straight line basis over a 3 year period this 3 year period commenced when hylas 1 
became operational in april 2011 management has made their best estimate of the fair value of the revenue element of the transaction 
based on market prices of the capacity at the inception of the arrangement the residual fair value represents the value of the capital grant 
and this is released to cost of sales over a period of 15 years to match the useful economic life of the satellite if the fair value of the 
capacity sale was altered by 10 the impact on the revenue figure would be 575000
d impairment of goodwill arising as part of business combinations
for the purpose of impairment testing goodwill acquired in a business combination is allocated to each of the cash generating units 
“cgus” or groups of cgus that is expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination each unit or group of units to which the 
goodwill is allocated represents the lowest level within the entity at which the goodwill is monitored for internal management purposes 
goodwill impairment reviews will be undertaken annually the carrying value of goodwill is compared to the recoverable amount which is 
the higher of value in use and the fair value less costs to sell any impairment would be recognised immediately as an expense and would 
not subsequently be reversed
going concern
the directors have assessed forecast future cash flows for the foreseeable future being a period of at least a year following the approval 
of the accounts and are satisfied that the group’s cash resources and facilities are sufficient to meet these cash flows
considering the above the directors believe that the group is well placed to manage its business risks successfully despite the continued 
current uncertain economic outlook and have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational 
existence for the foreseeable future therefore they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual 
financial statements
basis of consolidation
where the company has the power either directly or indirectly to govern the financial and operating policies of another entity or business 
so as to obtain benefits from its activities it is classified as a subsidiary the consolidated financial statements present the results of the 
company and its subsidiaries including filiago gmbh  co and the employee benefit trust “the group” as if they formed a single entity 
intercompany transactions balances income and expenses are therefore eliminated in full
subsidiaries are fully consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to the group the group applies the acquisition method to 
account for business combinations the cost of control for the acquisition of a subsidiary is the fair values of the assets transferred the 
settlement of preexisting relationships the liabilities incurred to the former owners of the acquiree and the equity interests issued by the 
group identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent liabilities assumed in a business combination are measured initially at their 
fair values at the acquisition date the group recognises any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree on an acquisitionbyacquisition basis 
either at fair value or at the noncontrolling interest’s proportionate share of the recognised amounts of acquiree’s identifiable net assets
goodwill is initially measured as the excess of the aggregate of the cost of control and the fair value of noncontrolling interest over the net 
identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed if this cost of control is lower than the fair value of the net assets of the subsidiary 
acquired the difference is recognised in the income statement
the financial statements of legal subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting year as the parent company using consistent 
accounting policies 46
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
1 accounting policies continued
revenue recognition
the group currently earns revenue primarily from the sale of satellite broadband services to customers and from providing consultancy 
advice connected with the exploitation of the space assets in the current year revenue from the sale of satellite broadband services on 
the hylas fleet is the key revenue stream of the business with space consultancy contracts being a smaller proportion of the total revenue
broadband satellite communications services revenues are recorded in accordance with the contracted amounts
for multiple element arrangements revenue is allocated to each element on fair value regardless of any separate prices stated within the 
contract the portion of the revenue allocated to an element is recognised when the revenue recognition criteria for that element have 
been met
revenue also includes the sale of satellite equipment recognised when the risks and rewards of ownership have transferred to the customer
revenue from space consultancy and other consultancy contracts connected with the exploitation of the space assets are recognised by 
reference to the stage of completion of the contract activity at the reporting date the contracts are broken down into separable elements 
which are all judged individually on a percentage of completion basis in order to ascertain the completeness of an overall project by its 
nature these projects require a certain element of judgement by management contract costs are recognised as an expense in the period 
they are incurred where avanti is judged to be the prime partner revenues are recognised on a gross basis in line with the risks and 
rewards of the contract
accrued income represents the excess of revenue recognised over amounts invoiced deferred income represents any unearned 
balances remaining from amounts invoiced to customers pursuant to prepaid contracts
appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts are recognised as an expense when there is objective evidence that trade 
receivables are impaired accounts receivable balances are specifically reviewed to assess a customer’s ability to make payments
leased assets
the determination of whether an arrangement is or contains a lease is based on the substance of the arrangement and requires an 
assessment of whether the fulfilment of the arrangement is dependent on the use of a specific asset or assets and whether the 
arrangement conveys the right to use the asset
leases of property plant and equipment where the group holds substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as 
finance leases assets acquired under hire purchase or a finance lease are capitalised in the statement of financial position those held 
under hire purchase and finance lease contracts are depreciated over the shorter of either their estimated useful lives or the term of the 
lease the interest element of these obligations is charged to the income statement over the relevant period the capital element of the 
future payments is treated as a liability
leases where a significant portion of the risks and rewards are held by the lessor are classified as operating leases rentals are charged 
to the income statement on a straight line basis over the period of the lease
interest income and expense 
borrowing costs incurred for the construction of the satellite assets are capitalised during the period of time required to complete and 
prepare the assets for their intended use in accordance with ias 23 ‘borrowing costs’ other borrowing costs are expensed in the 
income statement
financial costs of debt are allocated to periods over the term of the related debt using the effective interest rate method issuance costs 
are deducted from the debt proceeds on initial recognition of the liability and are amortised and charged to the income statement as 
finance costs over the term of the debt
interest income on cash deposits is recognised on an effective interest rate methodology taking into account the principal amounts 
outstanding and the interest rates applicable
notes to the accounts continued 47
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
1 accounting policies continued
foreign currency 
transactions entered into by the group entities in a currency other than the currency of the primary economic environment in which it 
operates the “functional currency” are recorded at the rates ruling when the transactions occur foreign currency monetary assets and 
liabilities are translated at the rate ruling at the reporting date exchange differences arising on the retranslation of unsettled monetary 
assets and liabilities are recognised immediately in the income statement except for foreign exchange differences on intercompany loans 
that are designed as quasiequity as they are not expected to be repaid which are recognised in other comprehensive income
the presentational currency of the group is us dollars
on consolidation assets and liabilities of foreign undertakings are translated into us dollars at year end exchange rates the results of 
foreign undertakings are translated into us dollars at average rates of exchange for the year unless this average is not a reasonable 
approximation of the cumulative effects of the rates prevailing on the transaction dates in which case income and expenses are translated 
at the dates of the transactions foreign exchange differences arising on retranslation are recognised directly in a separate component of 
equity the foreign currency translation reserve
in the event of the disposal of an undertaking with assets and liabilities denominated in a foreign currency the cumulative translation 
difference associated with the undertaking in the translation reserve is charged or credited to the gain or loss on disposal recognised in 
the income statement
pension schemes 
employees have the option to establish their own pension scheme to which the group will match employee contributions up to a 
maximum amount there is no ongoing liability to the group beyond the period that the contributions are made the cost of such 
contributions are charged to the income statement when incurred
share based payments
the group operates a number of equity settled share based payment arrangements under which the group receives services from 
employees as consideration for equity instruments share options and shares of the group equity settled share based payments are 
measured at fair value excluding the effect of non marketbased vesting conditions at the date of grant but include any marketbased 
performance criteria and the impact of vesting conditions the fair value determined at the grant date is recognised on a straightline basis 
over the vesting period based on the group’s estimate of the options or shares that will eventually vest and adjusted for the effect of non 
marketbased vesting conditions
fair value is measured using either the binomial options pricing model the black scholes model or monte carlo simulations whichever is 
most appropriate to the award
service and performance conditions are vesting conditions any other conditions are nonvesting conditions which have to be taken into 
account to determine the fair value of equity instruments granted in the case that an award or option does not vest as a result of a failure 
to meet a nonvesting condition that is within the control of either counterparty this is accounted for as a cancellation cancellations must 
be treated as accelerated vesting and all remaining future charges are immediately recognised as the requirement to save under an 
employee share save arrangement is a nonvesting condition employee cancellations must be treated as an accelerated vesting
current tax 
the charge for taxation is based on taxable profits for the year taxable profits differ from profit as reported in the income statement 
because it excludes items of income and expenses that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are 
never taxable or deductible
the tax expense for the period comprises current and deferred tax tax is recognised in the income statement except to the extent that it 
relates to items recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity in this case the tax is also recognised in other 
comprehensive income or directly in equity respectively
current tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to the taxation authorities based on 
tax rates that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the reporting date 48
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
1 accounting policies continued
deferred tax 
deferred tax is recognised on differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities in the financial statements and the 
corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit and is accounted for using the balance sheet liability method deferred 
tax liabilities are generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences and deferred tax assets are generally recognised for all 
deductible temporary differences to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which those deductible 
temporary difference can be utilised
the carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that 
sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered management believes the recognised deferred 
tax asset will be recoverable within 34 years based on forecasts showing increased utilisation of the satellite fleet
deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period in which the liability is settled or 
the asset realised based on tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date the measurement of the 
deferred tax liabilities and assets reflects the tax consequences that would follow from the manner in which the group expects at the 
reporting date to recover or settle the carrying amount of its assets and liabilities
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the group has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and 
the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same taxation authority on either the same taxable group company or 
different group entities which intend either to settle current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis or to realise the assets and settle the 
liability simultaneously in each future period in which significant amounts of deferred tax assets or liabilities are expected to be settled or 
recovered
property plant and equipment 
property plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses depreciation is 
provided so as to write off the cost of assets other than assets under construction over their estimated useful lives using the straightline 
method depreciation on satellite assets commences once inorbit testing has been completed and the satellite is available for use
cost includes the original purchase price of the asset and the costs directly attributable to bringing the asset to its working condition for its 
intended use
motor vehicles 25 per annum  plant and machinery 25 per annum
network assets 20–25 per annum  leasehold improvements 25 per annum
fixtures and fittings 25 per annum  satellite in construction nil
satellite in operation 667 per annum
the estimated useful lives residual values and depreciation method are reviewed at each year end with the effect of any changes in 
estimate accounted for on a prospective basis the gain or loss arising on the disposal of assets is charged to the income statement 
account and is calculated as the difference between the disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the assets
assets held under finance leases are depreciated over their expected useful lives on the same basis as owned assets or where shorter 
the term of the relevant lease
satellite in construction relate to costs including employee related costs directly attributable to the construction of the hylas satellites 
once the satellites become operational and placed into service the assets are transferred to a space asset category and depreciated 
over the life of the satellites
where the conditions for capitalisation are not met the costs are expensed through the income statement
intangible assets 
intangible assets are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses amortisation is provided so 
as to write off the cost of assets other than assets under construction over their estimated useful lives using the straightline method the 
amortisation rate on computer software is 25 newly acquired intangible assets as part of the business combination customer lists and 
trade name are amortised over 15 and 5 years respectively
cost includes the original purchase price of the asset and the costs attributable to bringing the asset to its working condition for its 
intended use
notes to the accounts continued 49
strategic  
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
1 accounting policies continued
the estimated useful lives residual values and amortisation method are reviewed at each year end with the effect of any changes in 
estimate accounted for on a prospective basis the gain or loss arising on the disposal of assets is charged to the income statement and 
is calculated as the difference between the disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the assets
research and development costs in relation to the satellites are capitalised if they meet the conditions set out in ias 38 ‘intangible assets’ 
which are that development costs are only capitalised once a business case has been demonstrated as to the technical feasibility and 
commercial viability capitalised development costs are amortised over the expected useful life of the assets
impairment of nonfinancial assets that have an indefinite useful life for example goodwill or intangible assets not ready for use are not 
subject to amortisation and will be tested annually for impairment
assets that are subject to amortisation and depreciation are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate 
that the carrying amount may not be fully recoverable the impairment review comprises a comparison of the carrying amount of the fixed 
asset with its recoverable amount which is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use
fair value less costs to sell is calculated by reference to the amount at which the asset could be disposed of value in use is calculated by 
discounting the expected future cash flows obtainable as a result of the asset’s continued use including those resulting from its ultimate 
disposal at a marketbased discount rate on a pretax basis
an impairment loss is recognised in the income statement whenever the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount
the carrying amount will only be increased where an impairment loss recognised in a previous period for an asset either no longer exists 
or has decreased up to the amount that it would have been had the original impairment not occurred
for the purpose of conducting impairment reviews cgus are identified as groups of assets and liabilities that generate cash flows that 
are largely independent of other cash flow streams the assets and liabilities include those directly involved in generating the cash flows 
and an appropriate proportion of corporate assets for the purposes of impairment individual satellites are treated as individual cgus
investments 
investments are recorded at cost investments are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the 
carrying amount may not be fully recoverable
investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost and reviewed for impairment on an annual basis
european space agency esa funding 
as noted in the critical estimates and judgements an element of income from esa represents revenue for the sale of capacity on the 
satellite the fair value of the capacity sold to esa is being recognised as revenue over 3 years on a straight line basis
grant funding 
other grant income which has capital expenditure and job creationsafeguarding targets is recognised on a straight line basis over the 
relevant period irrespective of cash and claims and is disclosed as other operating income
inventories 
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost comprises all costs of purchase cost of conversion and other 
costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition
cost is determined by the firstin firstout method
net realisable value is based on estimated selling price less any further costs expected to be incurred to completion and disposal
equity instruments 
equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of directly attributable issue costs 50
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
1 accounting policies continued
trade receivables and other financial assets 
trade and loan receivables are measured at initial recognition at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the 
effective interest rate method where the time value of money is material appropriate allowances for estimating irrecoverable amounts are 
recognised in the income statement where there is evidence that the asset is impaired this impairment would be recognised within 
operating expenses
cash and cash equivalents 
cash and cash equivalents in the statement of financial position are comprised of cash on hand and demand deposits and other short 
term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into known amounts of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in 
value for the purpose of the consolidated cash flow statement cash and cash equivalents are stated net of outstanding bank overdrafts
provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefits arising from past events 
and the amount of the obligation can be estimated reliably provisions are not recognised unless the outflow of economic benefits to settle 
the obligation is more likely than not to occur
borrowings 
interestbearing bank loans and overdrafts are measured initially at fair value net of transaction costs incurred borrowings are 
subsequently stated at amortised cost any difference between the proceeds and the redemption value is recognised in the income 
statement over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest method
borrowings are classified as current liabilities unless the group has an unconditional right to defer settlement of the liability for at least 12 
months after the reporting date
trade payables 
trade payables are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost
business combinations 
business combinations are recognised in the consolidated financial statements from the time of acquisition
acquisitions are accounted for using the acquisition method and the identifiable assets and liabilities acquired are measured at their fair 
values at the date of acquisition
any excess of the cost of control over the fair value of the acquired assets and liabilities is recognised as goodwill within intangible assets 
intangible assets are amortised over their useful life and any goodwill is tested annually for impairment
derivative financial instruments 
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised on the group’s statement of financial positions when the group becomes a party to 
the contractual provisions of the instrument
the group uses derivative financial instruments mainly to reduce exposure to foreign exchange risks the group does not hold or issue 
derivative financial instruments for trading purposes derivatives are recognised at fair value on the date a contract is entered into and are 
subsequently remeasured at their fair value fair value is measured using the closing bank rate compared with the contract rate
hedge accounting is currently not applied changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments are recognised in the income statement 
as they arise
segment reporting 
operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision maker the 
chief operating decision maker who is responsible for allocating resources and assessing performance of the operating segments has 
been identified as the avanti executive board who make the strategic decisions 
notes to the accounts continued 51
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review 14–21
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governance 
  
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financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
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model  2–13
2 revenue
as stated in note 1 the group currently earn revenue primarily from the sale of satellite broadband services to customers and from 
providing consultancy advice connected with the exploitation of the space assets on adoption of ifrs 8 ‘operating segments’ the 
group concluded that the chief operating decision maker the avanti executive board manage the business and the allocation of 
resources on the basis of the provision of satellite services resulting in one segment
revenue of 65622000 2013 32125000 represents sales of satellite broadband services provided to external customers revenue  
on space and consultancy contracts recognised on a percentage of completion basis and the sale of terminals of this 16578000 
2013 4027 000 relates to the sale of terminals and other equipment as referred to in the critical estimates and judgements revenues 
from esa representing the sale of capacity on hylas 1 comprise 83 2013 218 of total revenue
the group derived 14698000 2013 6152000 of its turnover from european countries outside the united kingdom 35252000 
2013 10692000 from countries outside europe and 15672000 2013 15281000 from the united kingdom
3 operating expenses
operating expenses by function are as follows
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
distribution 4250 5885
administration 30636 22599
34886 28484
loss from operations for the year is stated after charging the following
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
operating expenses
depreciation of property plant and equipment 2238 1177
amortisation of intangible assets 225 217
research and development costs expensed as incurred 42 50
employee benefit expense 19399 15969
operating lease expenses 2582 1133
cost of sales
space asset depreciation 47339 38456
release of esa grant 1505 1359
satellite services 18830 8002
materials purchased 11299 4945
sub contractors 7365 3387
4 auditor remuneration
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
audit of these financial statements 209 173
disclosures below are based on amounts receivable in respect of other services to the company and its 
subsidiaries
amounts receivable by the company’s auditor and its associates in respect of
– audit of financial statements of subsidiaries of the company 29 24
– audit related assurance services 392 –
– taxation compliance services 43 27
673 224 52
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
5 employee benefit costs
the aggregate remuneration of all employees comprised
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
wages and salaries 19587 14949
social security costs 1614 2302
pension costs 360 240
share based payment expense 679 588
22240 18079
less costs capitalised as satellite in construction 2841 2110
19399 15969
employee numbers
the average monthly number of people including the executive directors employed during the year by category of employment
30 june 2014 
no employees
30 june 2013 
no employees
operations 49 45
sales and marketing 47 38
development and engineering 48 42
administration and executive 33 39
177 164
6 other operating income
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
ex gratia receipt 5342 –
exchange gainloss on trade receivables and payable balances 454 353
other grant income 1423 1366
liquidated damages – 500
7219 1513
the ex gratia receipt arose following a commercial settlement in relation to the hylas 2 project
the liquidated damages in the year ended 30 june 2013 were received in relation to the late delivery of the hylas 2 satellite
7 net finance expenseincome
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
finance income
financing exchange gain – 413
interest income on bank deposits 10 29
10 442
finance expense
interest expense on borrowings and loans 39051 7942
fair value loss on derivatives – 199
financing exchange loss 271 –
finance lease expense 219 249
less interest capitalised to satellite in construction 584 1884
38957 6506
net finance expense 38947 6064
notes to the accounts continued 53
strategic  
report
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
8 income tax credit
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
current tax
current year tax expense – –
total current tax – –
deferred tax
origination and reversal of temporary differences 5877 13675
adjustment in respect of prior periods 3438 2270
impact of change in uk tax rate 2439 852
total deferred tax – 10553
total income tax credit – 10553
the tax on the group’s loss before tax differs from the theoretical amount that would arise using the weighted average tax rate applicable 
to profits of the consolidated entities as follows
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
loss before tax 87691 58883
tax credit at the corporate tax rate of 225 2013 238 19730 14014
tax effect of nondeductible expenses 181 339
adjustment in respect of prior periods 1548 2270
effect of tax rates in foreign jurisdictions 2662 –
deferred tax asset write off – 852
impact of change in uk tax rate 2439 –
temporary differences for which no deferred tax has been recognised 9578 –
current year tax losses for which no deferred tax asset has been recognised 5544 –
foreign exchange translation differences 2222 –
income tax credit – 10553
income tax credit recognised in the income statement – 10553
no income tax credit has been recognised in respect of the losses for the year ended 30 june 2014 30 june 2013 106m tax credit 
recognised whilst the group foresees utilising the losses in future periods it has taken a prudent approach and has not recognised the 
income tax credit in this period
the standard rate of corporation tax in the uk changed from 23 to 21 with effect from 1 april 2014 accordingly the rate of 225 
2013 238 has been applied in the above reconciliation
reductions in the uk corporation tax rate from 26 to 24 effective from 1 april 2012 and to 23 effective 1 april 2013 were 
substantively enacted on 26 march 2012 and 3 july 2012 respectively further reductions to 21 effective from 1 april 2014 and 20 
effective from 1 april 2015 were substantively enacted on 2 july 2013 this will reduce the company’s future current tax charge 
accordingly the deferred tax asset at 30 june 2014 has been calculated based on the rates of 20 and 21 substantively enacted at the 
balance sheet date 
9 earningsloss per share
30 june 2014 
cents
30 june 2013 
cents
basic and diluted loss per share 8118 4449
the calculation of basic and diluted earningsloss per share is based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the 
weighted average number of shares in issue during the year
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
loss for the year attributable to equity holders of the parent company 87199 47736
weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of basic and diluted earnings per share 107408907 107306711 54
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
10 profit of the parent company
as permitted by section 408 of the companies act 2006 the income statement of the parent company is not presented as part of these 
accounts the loss of the parent company after tax for the year ended 30 june 2014 amounted to 8408000 2013 1294000 loss
11 property plant and equipment
leasehold 
improvements 
’000
network 
assets 
’000
fixtures and 
fittings 
’000
satellites in 
operation
 ’000
satellites in 
construction 
’000
motor 
vehicles 
’000
group total 
’000
cost
balance at 1 july 2012 413 16060 1188 233548 360395 88 611692
additions 1472 243 424 27265 47224 – 76628
transfer – 3266 – 368424 365158 – –
disposals – 24 – – – 24 48
effect of movements in exchange 
rates 58 430 45 4097 12615 2 9053
balance at 30 june 2013 1827 12583 1567 633334 29846 62 679219
additions – 6 628 17344 10956 – 28934
transfer – – – – – – –
disposals – – – 11236 – – 11236
effect of movements in exchange 
rates 218 1449 166 27906 3554 8 33301
balance at 30 june 2014 2045 14038 2361 667348 44356 70 730218
accumulated depreciation
balance at 1 july 2012 396 6861 944 18944 – 71 27216
charge for the year 72 932 157 38456 – 16 39633
transfer – 479 – 479 – – –
disposals – 24 – – – 22 46
effect of movements in exchange 
rates 13 196 32 1168 – 3 1412
balance at 30 june 2013 455 7094 1069 56711 – 62 65391
charge for the year 388 1513 336 47340 – – 49577
disposals – – – 1989 – – 1989
effect of movements in exchange 
rates 70 890 129 5285 – 8 6382
balance at 30 june 2014 913 9497 1534 107347 – 70 119361
net book value
balance at 30 june 2014 1132 4541 827 560001 44356 – 610857
balance at 30 june 2013 1372 5489 498 576623 29846 – 613828
at 30 june 2014 the group held assets under finance lease agreements with a net book value of 3953856 2013 4098294 a depreciation 
charge for the year of 984244 2013 219219 has been provided on these assets these assets are included in network assets
satellites in operation includes the hylas 1 and 2 satellites and the artemis satellite hylas 1 came into commercial service on 1 april 
2011 and the associated satellite assets were depreciated from this point hylas 2 came into commercial service on 1 october 2012 and 
all related satellite and ground station assets have been depreciated from this point artemis was acquired on 31 december 2013 and 
has been depreciated from this date
the satellites in construction assets of 44356000 now relates to hylas 3 and 4 design 2013 29846000 in relation to hylas 2 and 3
included in the satellites in operation costs are capitalised finance costs of 57 027 000 2013 53523954 related to the hylas 2 
satellite the hylas 2 assets are located in cyprus
impairment reviews were conducted on the satellites in operation the carrying value of the assets are supported and thus there is no 
impairment loss recorded a sensitivity analysis was carried out by management and is not considered to have a significant impact on the 
impairment conclusions
notes to the accounts continued 55
strategic  
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
12 intangible assets
computer 
software 
’000
brand 
name 
’000
customer 
lists 
’000
goodwill 
’000
group total 
’000
cost
balance at 1 july 2012 620 285 2181 11822 14908
effect of movements in exchange rates 19 7 57 490 445
balance at 30 june 2013 601 292 2238 11332 14463
effect of movements in exchange rates – 14 109 553 676
balance at 30 june 2014 601 306 2347 11885 15139
accumulated amortisation
balance at 1 july 2012 620 41 104 – 765
charge for the year – 61 156 – 217
effect of movements in exchange rates 19 3 9 – 31
balance at 30 june 2013 601 99 251 – 951
charge for the year – 63 162 – 225
effect of movements in exchange rates – – – – –
balance at 30 june 2014 601 162 413 – 1176
net book value
balance at 30 june 2014 – 144 1934 11885 13963
balance at 30 june 2013 – 193 1987 11332 13512
goodwill and intangible assets were generated from the group obtaining control of filiago gmbh  co “filiago” located in germany  
on 1 november 2011 and resulted in the recognition of 121m of goodwill and 27m of intangible assets representing the filiago brand 
name and customer lists the intangibles acquired with obtaining control of filiago represent the cashgenerating unit
as set out in ias 36 impairment of assets a cashgenerating unit is the smallest identifiable group of assets that generate cash inflows 
from continuing use that are largely independent of the cash flows from other assets or groups of assets for the purpose of impairment 
testing of goodwill goodwill is allocated to a group of cashgenerating units being subsidiaries acquired in each acquisition such group 
of cash generating units represent the lowest level within the group for which the goodwill is monitored for internal management 
purposes
the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating units is determined using valueinuse which is calculated by using the discounted cash 
flow method this method considered the cash flows of the cashgenerating units for the 10 years from the reporting date to 30 june 2024 
with subsequent transition to perpetuity year 1 of these cash flows were based on a detailed management budget and years 2 to 10 on 
growth assumptions that remain consistent at 9 a perpetuity growth rate of 2 was applied to the year 10 cash flows the present 
value of cash flows is calculated by discounting the cash flow by pretax interest rate of approximately 146
the brand names acquired in the course of the filiago business combination of 306000 are amortised on a straightline basis over a 
period of five years at the year end the nbv of the brand names is 144000 2013 193000 after charging 63000 2013 61000  
of amortisation in the year
the customer lists acquired in the course of the filiago business combination of 2347 000 are amortised on a straightline basis over a 
period of fifteen years at the year end the carrying amount of the customer bases is 1934000 2013 1987 000 after charging 
162000 2013 156000 of amortisation in the year 56
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
13 investments
company
shares in subsidiary undertakings
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
beginning of the year 148668 153428
effect of movements in exchange rates – 4760
148668 148668
the directors believe that the carrying value of the investments is supported by their underlying net assets
a full list of the company’s subsidiaries is disclosed in note 14
14 subsidiaries
 as at the end of the year the group and company held the following investments in subsidiary companies
name of subsidiary nature of business place of incorporation
avanti communications limited telecommunication consultancy england  wales
avanti space limited satellite services england  wales
avanti local tv services limited satellite services england  wales
avanti space 3 limited satellite services england  wales
avanti launch services limited management services isle of man
avanti broadband limited satellite services england  wales
avanti broadband ire limited satellite services england  wales
avanti hylas 2 limited satellite services england  wales
avanti hylas 2 launch services limited management services isle of man
avanti communications infrastructure limited holding company england  wales
avanti employee benefit trust employee benefit trust england  wales
avanti hylas 2 cyprus limited satellite services cyprus
avanti hylas services limited project management services cyprus
avanti communications marketing services limited sales and marketing england  wales
avanti communications germany gmbh satellite services germany
avanti communications sweden ab satellite services sweden
hybeam limited satellite services england  wales
 company was dormant in the year ending 30 june 2014
the company holds 100 ownership interest and voting power in all the above entities
on 1 november 2011 the group took effective control of filiago gmbh  co “filiago” by enhancing the security over its loans with filiago 
since 1 november 201 1 “the date of control” filiago has been accounted for as a subsidiary in the consolidated financial statements because  
of the control now held but because the group has not purchased any equity shares in the company a 100 noncontrolling interest is 
recognised on the statement of financial position removing the impact of achieving control from shareholders’ funds
notes to the accounts continued 57
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
15 inventories
group
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
finished goods 1733 4510
finished goods represent customer premises equipment which includes dishes modems and outdoor unit transceivers
the cost of inventories recognised as an expense during the period was 11928905 2013 4864000
there have been no writedowns of inventory during the year
16 trade and other receivables
group company
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
trade receivables 25583 9586 913 –
less provision for impairment of trade receivables 4566 1690 – –
net trade receivables 21017 7896 913 –
accrued income 9182 4646 – –
prepayments 5956 5534 4708 1516
amounts due from group companies – – 239672 249500
other receivables 2493 2609 250 –
38648 20685 245543 251016
for discussion of credit risk refer to note 21b
included in the group’s trade receivables balance at 30 june 2014 is a long term receivable of 94m 10 of the original balance has 
already been collected with the remainder payable in nine equal instalments of 1040000 due every six months commencing 30 june 
2015 the receivable will be fully repaid by 30 june 2019 in addition to the instalments payable interest is payable at 525 per annum
the company has non current trade and other receivables of 527 5m relating to amounts due from a group company interest is payable 
on this intragroup loan at 105 per annum
17 deferred taxation
deferred income tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets against current tax 
liabilities and when the deferred income taxes relate to the same fiscal authority the offset amounts are as follows
group company
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
deferred tax assets 30753 28309 79 497
deferred tax liabilities 9679 9457 418 –
21074 18852 497 497
the gross movement on the deferred income tax account is as follows
balance at beginning of year 18852 8778 497 443
income tax recognised in the income statement – 10553 – 351
loss transfer to group company – – – 264
tax creditedcharged directly to equity – 4 – 17
effects of movements in exchange rates 2222 475 – 16
balance at end of year 21074 18852 497 497 58
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
17 deferred taxation continued
group
opening 
balance 
’000
credited 
charged to 
the income 
statement 
’000
credited 
charged
 to equity 
’000
effects of 
movements in  
exchange rates
’000
closing 
balance 
’000
30 june 2014
tax assets
provisions and deferred income 4072 906 – 486 3652
share based payment 916 – – 109 1025
unused tax losses 23321 – – 2755 26076
total tax assets 28309 906 – 3350 30753
tax liabilities
property plant and equipment 9457 906 – 1128 9679
total tax liabilities 9457 906 – 1128 9679
net deferred tax assetliability 18852 – – 2222 21074
group
opening 
balance 
’000
credited 
charged to 
the income 
statement 
’000
credited 
charged 
to equity 
’000
effects of 
movements in 
exchange rates
’000
closing 
balance 
’000
30 june 2013
tax assets
provisions and deferred income 7638 3433 – 133 4072
share based payment 1024 74 4 30 916
unused tax losses 11794 12143 – 616 23321
total tax assets 20456 8636 4 779 28309
tax liabilities
property plant and equipment 11678 1917 – 304 9457
total tax liabilities 11678 1917 – 304 9457
net deferred tax assetliability 8778 10553 4 475 18852
company
opening 
balance 
’000
credited 
charged to 
the income 
statement 
’000
credited 
charged 
to equity 
’000
effects of 
movements in  
exchange rates
’000
closing 
balance 
’000
30 june 2014
tax assets
share based payment 78 – – – 78
unused tax losses 419 – – – 419
total tax assets 497 – – – 497
notes to the accounts continued 59
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
17 deferred taxation continued
company
opening 
balance 
’000
credited 
charged to 
the income 
statement 
’000
credited 
charged
 to equity 
’000
effects of 
movements in 
exchange rates
’000
closing 
balance 
’000
30 june 2013
tax assets
share based payment 100 2 17 3 78
unused tax losses 342 90 – 13 419
total tax assets 442 88 17 16 497
at 30 june 2014 none of the deferred tax asset of 308m 2013 283m is expected to be recovered in the next 12 months
at 30 june 2014 none of the deferred tax liability of 97m 2013 95m is expected to be settled in the next 12 months
no deferred tax asset has been recognised in respect of the losses for the year ended 30 june 2014 30 june 2013 106m tax credit 
recognised whilst the group foresees utilising the losses in future periods it has decided not to recognise the deferred tax asset 
movement in the year
as at 30 june 2014 the total unrecognised deferred tax asset totalled 151m this is made up of unused tax losses of 55m and other 
temporary differences of 96m
management believes the recognised deferred tax asset will be recoverable within 34 years based on forecasts showing increased 
utilisation of the satellite fleet
18 cash and cash equivalents
for the purpose of the cash flow statement cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and at banks net of outstanding overdrafts
cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year are comprised as follows
group
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
cash and bank balances 193568 57172
shortterm deposits 1715 1527
net cash and cash equivalents 195283 58699
19 trade and other payables
group company
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
current
trade payables 8485 18091 5355 –
social security and other taxes 662 484 – –
other payables 2121 245 – 106
accruals and deferred income 28602 9688 13074 2
39870 28018 18429 108
noncurrent
accruals and deferred income 15299 21707 – –
15299 21707 – –
accruals and deferred income above includes the interest accrued in the company of 13m in relation to the 370m and 150m bonds 60
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
20 loans and other borrowings
group current group noncurrent
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
secured at amortised cost
bank loans – 22640 26 282793
high yield bonds – – 508419 –
finance lease liabilities
i
 note 24 4545 4403 3986 3213
4545 27043 512431 286006
company current company noncurrent
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
secured at amortised cost
bank loans – – – –
high yield bonds – – 508418 –
finance lease liabilities
i
 note 24 1526 365 2686 166
1526 365 511104 166
i finance lease obligations are secured by retention of title to the related assets the borrowings are on fixed interest rate debt with repayment periods not exceeding 5 years
high yield bonds
the company issued 10 senior secured notes of 370m and 150m on 1 october 2013 and 17 june 2014 respectively
issuer
original  
notional value description of instrument due
avanti communications group plc 520m 10 senior secured notes 1 october 2019
the high yield bonds are disclosed in noncurrent loans and borrowings as detailed below
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
high yield bonds 520000 –
add issue premium unamortised 7444 –
less debt issuance costs 19026 –
508418 –
loan balances outstanding as at 30 june 2013 related to debt financing for hylas 2 with us exim bank and coface these amounts 
were repaid during the year current year noncurrent bank loans relate predominantly to the bond issues as disclosed above
notes to the accounts continued 61
strategic  
report
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
21 financial instruments and risk management
group
the group is subject to the risks arising from adverse movements in interest rates and foreign currency the managing of these risks 
along with the daytoday managing of treasury activities is performed by the finance team
all financial instruments have been measured at amortised cost as such financial assets being cash and cash equivalents and trade and 
other receivables are classified as ‘loans and receivables’ and financial liabilities being trade and other payables and interest bearing 
liabilities have been classified as ‘other financial liabilities’
a market risk
i foreign exchange risk management
the group operates internationally and is exposed to foreign exchange risk arising from various currency exposures primarily with 
respect to gbp and the euro in order to hedge the foreign currency risk the group enters into forward contracts or natural hedges  
these risks are assessed on a continual basis
at 30 june 2014 if the euro had weakenedstrengthened against the us dollar by 5 with all other variables held constant post tax loss 
would have improved by 198597 or worsened by 198591 2013 post tax profit would have improved by 404686 or worsened by 
404686
at 30 june 2014 if the sterling had weakenedstrengthened against the us dollar by 5 with all other variables held constant post tax 
loss would have improved by 453698 or worsened by 453698 2013 post tax profit would have improved by 34416 or worsened by 
34416
the average volatility of rates during the year compared to the year end exchange rate was 234 and therefore management believes 
that a 5 sensitivity rate provides a reasonable basis upon which to assess expected changes in foreign exchange rates 
ii interest risk management
the group borrows in us dollars at fixed rates of interest and does not seek to mitigate the effect of adverse movements in interest rates 
cash and deposits earn interest at fixed rates based on banks’ short term treasury deposit rates shortterm trade and other receivables 
are interest free
b credit risk management
the group’s principal financial assets are cash and short term deposits and trade and other receivables the group has no significant 
concentrations of credit risk with the exception of the other financial assets cash and cash equivalents are deposited with highcredit 
quality financial institutions with a minimum rating of a the credit quality of major customers is assessed before trading commences 
taking into account its financial position past experience and other factors
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
trade receivables 21017 7896
total 21017 7896
the ageing of trade receivables which have not been impaired was as follows
not past due 
’000
1–30 days 
’000
31–60 days 
’000
60 days
 ’000
total 
’000
30 june 2014 13698 2947 1228 3144 21017
30 june 2013 3283 1485 510 2618 7896 62
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
21 financial instruments and risk management continued
movements in the provision for impairment of trade receivables are as follows
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
at beginning of year 1690 408
allowances made in the period 3990 1291
amounts used and reversal of unused amounts 1114 9
at end of year 4566 1690
the provision of 4566000 2013 1690000 has been raised against gross trade receivables of 25583000 2013 9586000 every 
major customer is assessed on an individual basis and we provide for bad debts when an impairment has been identified
c liquidity risk management
the group’s exposure to liquidity risk management is minimised due to the prudent monitoring of all of the group’s liabilities cash and 
cash forecasts are monitored on a daily basis and our cash requirements are met by a mixture of short term cash deposits debt and 
finance leases
the following table analyses the group’s financial liabilities into relevant maturity groupings based on the expected undiscounted cash 
flows
within 1 year 
’000
1 to 2 years 
’000
2 to 5 years 
’000
over 5 years 
’000
contractual 
amount 
’000
carrying
 amount 
’000
30 june 2014
bank loans 26 – – – 26 26
high yield bonds – – – 520000 520000 508419
finance leases 4624 2630 1267 – 8521 8531
trade payables 8485 – – – 8485 8485
30 june 2013
bank loans 36336 45677 215935 60085 358033 305433
finance leases 4599 2115 1171 – 7885 7616
trade payables 18091 – – – 18091 18091
interest is payable on the high yield bonds at 10 pa over the five year remaining life of the bonds
in addition the company has intercompany balances carried at 2396m 2013 2495m the contractual amount is equal to the 
carrying amount
d capital risk management
the group’s objectives when managing capital are to safeguard the group’s ability to continue as a going concern in order to provide 
returns for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders and to maintain an optimal capital structure to reduce the cost of capital the 
capital structure of the group consists of debt which includes the borrowings disclosed in note 20 cash and cash equivalents disclosed 
in note 18 and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent comprising ordinary share capital share premium other reserves and 
retained earnings
we endeavour to maximise earnings and minimise risk through an appropriate balance of debt and equity
notes to the accounts continued 63
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
21 financial instruments and risk management continued
e financial instruments by category
group
assets as per balance sheet
loans and 
receivables 
’000
total 
’000
30 june 2014
trade and other receivables excl prepayments 32692 32692
cash and cash equivalents 195283 195283
227975 227975
30 june 2013
trade and other receivables excl prepayments 15151 15151
cash and cash equivalents 58699 58699
73850 73850
liabilities as per balance sheet
other financial 
liabilities at 
amortised cost 
’000
total 
’000
30 june 2014
borrowings excl finance lease liabilities 508445 508445
finance lease liabilities 8531 8531
trade and other payables excl nonfinancial liabilities 54507 54507
571483 571483
30 june 2013
borrowings excl finance lease liabilities 305433 305433
finance lease liabilities 7616 7616
trade and other payables excl nonfinancial liabilities 49678 49678
362727 362727
company
assets as per balance sheet
loans and 
receivables 
’000
total 
’000
30 june 2014
trade and other receivables excl prepayments 240835 240835
240835 240835
30 june 2013
trade and other receivables excl prepayments 249500 249500
249500 249500
liabilities as per balance sheet
other financial 
liabilities at 
amortised cost 
’000
total 
’000
30 june 2014
finance lease liabilities 4212 4212
trade and other payables excl nonfinancial liabilities 18429 18429
22641 22641
30 june 2013
finance lease liabilities 531 531
trade and other payables excl nonfinancial liabilities 108 108
639 639 64
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
21 financial instruments and risk management continued
financial instruments and risk management – company
the company does not have a material exposure to interest rate risk and foreign exchange risk
overall market risk credit risk and liquidity risk are managed on a group wide basis derivatives are measured at fair value and 
intercompany balances and accruals are measured at amortised cost all intercompany balances are repayable on demand and accruals 
and derivatives mature in less than 1 year
there is no provision for impairment against any of the company’s financial assets
22 share capital – issued and fully paid
number 
of shares 
’000
group and 
company 
ordinary shares 
’000
ebt 
shares 
’000
group and 
company share 
premium 
’000
at 1 july 2012 111736 1799 90 415130
at 30 june 2013 111736 1799 90 415130
at 1 july 2013 111736 1799 90 415130
at 30 june 2014 111736 1799 90 415130
23 share based payments
the fair value of share options charged to the income statement in the period was 679000 2013 588000 the full fair value of these 
options is recognised over the vesting period for those options all share based payment plans are equity settled and details of these 
plans are set out below
the company has established 17 share option schemes
• enterprise management incentives scheme emi
• long term incentive plan ltip
• unapproved share option plan 2007
• unapproved share option plan march 2010
• unapproved share option plan july 2010
• unapproved share option plan october 2010
• unapproved share option plan april 2011
• save as you earn scheme saye july 2010
• unapproved share option plan july 2011
• unapproved share option plan october 2011
• unapproved share option plan october 2011 – key management personnel
• save as you earn scheme saye november 2011
• unapproved share option plan march 2012
• unapproved share option plan april 2012
• unapproved share option plan october 2013
• long term incentive plan ltip july 2013
• unapproved share option plan may 2014
the 2014 charges and weighted average fair value for each of the significant plans above were as follows
2014 charge 

2013 charge 

emi 2983 38155
ltip schemes 118806 214879
unapproved schemes 554975 305031
saye schemes 2670 30010
679434 588075
to date all options with exception of the saye scheme have been granted with a strike price of 1 pence the strike price on the  
saye scheme 2010 is £470 and on the saye scheme 2011 is £309
notes to the accounts continued 65
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
23 share based payments continued
in july 2007 an employee benefit trust ebt was established the ebt is managed by bedell trustees in jersey the results of the ebt 
have been consolidated into the group’s results
the table below sets out the number and weighted average exercise prices waep of and movements in the significant share options 
schemes during the year
2014 
no
2014 
waep
2013 
no
2013 
waep
emi
outstanding at the beginning of the year 140394 £001 156201 £001
granted during the year – £001 – £001
forfeited in the year – £001 – £001
exercised during the year 9316 £001 15807 £001
outstanding at the end of the year 131078 £001 140394 £001
unapproved schemes
outstanding at the beginning of the year 442691 £001 563705 £001
granted during the year 442000 £001 – £001
forfeited in the year – £001 – £001
exercised during the year – £001 121014 £001
outstanding at the end of the year 884691 £001 442691 £001
saye schemes
outstanding at the beginning of the year 135243 £410 135243 £410
granted during the year – £410 – £410
forfeited in the year – £410 – £410
exercised during the year – £410 – £410
outstanding at the end of the year 135243 £410 135243 £410
the weighted average share price for the year ended 30 june 2014 was £238 2013 £299
136201 2013 102713 of the emi options nil 2013 15000 of the unapproved 2007 scheme and nil 2013 50000 of the unapproved 
july 2010 scheme were exercisable from 30 june 2014 with exception of the ltip shares issued to senior management all outstanding 
ltip shares were returned to the ebt
the exercise price of options outstanding at 30 june 2014 was £001 2013 £001 and the weighted average remaining contractual life 
was 55 years 2013 67 years
each model has slightly different exercise criteria and therefore separate valuation models were used
emi scheme
the emi scheme was used to issue options to staff on 24 july 2007 at an exercise price of 1p the new options are issued for 10 years 
with 25 vesting at the end of years 3 4 5 and 6 those staff who had previously held unvested options in the former parent company at 
the time of the demerger were given a shorter vesting period for these new options there are no performance criteria associated with 
these options and they are exercisable as long as the option holder remains an employee of the company
the weighted average inputs to the blackscholes model are as follows
share price at date of grant  £216
expected volatility   35
weighted average exercise price £001
expected life   4 years
expected dividend yield  1
riskfree interest free  55
expected volatility was determined by calculating the actual volatility of the group’s share price since flotation the expected life used in 
the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and 
behavioural considerations 66
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
23 share based payments continued
long term incentive plan
the ltip was established by the company with approval from the remuneration committee to reward and incentivise the executive 
directors and senior managers of the company
the ltip allocations are in separate sub funds within the ebt and are subject to a discretionary trust the shares are subject to automatic 
revocation if certain criteria set out below are not met and continue to be revocable for the entire trust period
the allocations into the ltip vary for each executive the total allocation to each executive is split into three separate tranches
i the core tranche
this element of the grant became exercisable in 7 equal instalments the first instalment was exercisable on grant and the second on 
30 june 2008 the remaining 5 were exercisable yearly thereafter
ii the exceptional achievement tranche
this element of the grant was amended during 2010 originally these options were only exercisable if the average market value of the 
share exceeded £5 for a consecutive period of six months prior to 30 june 2010 given the unprecedented market conditions over the 
previous year the remuneration committee considered that whilst the executives had performed well and that the share price had 
outperformed the ftse 100 and aim all share index since the ltips were granted the target set in the ltip rules may still not be 
achieved
in may 2010 the remuneration committee agreed to extend the target date to 31 december 2010 and that the six month average target 
price should be increased £550 the benchmark for this tranche of ltip was satisfied in november 2010
iii the extraordinary achievement tranche
this element of the grant was only exercisable if the market value of a share exceeded £10 for a consecutive period of six months before 
30 june 2013 at 30 june 2013 the criteria of the extraordinary achievement tranche had not been met therefore the outstanding shares 
have been returned to the ebt
executive 
directors 
no
senior 
managers 
no
opening balance 2013
original allocations
core 1192960 125000
exceptional 679570 62500
extraordinary 679213 62500
additional grant july 2010 400000 –
total allocation 2951743 250000
core vested 1192960 71429
exceptional vested 679570 62500
unvested balance returned to the ebt 1079213 62500
outstanding balance 30 june 2013 – 53571
movements in year ended 30 june 2014
core vested – 17857
outstanding balance 30 june 2014 – 35714
iv the share award tranche
the share award ltip 2015 was issued 30 july 2013 for two years to 30 june 2015 23rds of the award is based on revenue 
performance for the year ending 30 june 2015 13rd of the award is based on a share price as at 30 june 2015
a second ltip award was issued on 14 january 2014 for two years to 30 june 2016 23rds of the award is based on ebitda performance 
for the year ending 30 june 2016 13rd of the award is based on a share price as at 30 june 2016
notes to the accounts continued 67
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
23 share based payments continued
the total number of options issued under the awards was as follows
30 june 2015 30 june 2016
total award
no
twothirds 
dependent 
on revenue 
performance
no
onethird 
dependent on 
share price
no
total award
no
twothirds 
dependent 
on ebitda 
performance
no
onethird 
dependent on 
share price
no
executive directors 713390 475593 237797 763281 508854 254427
senior managers 209543 139695 69848 221289 147526 73763
922933 615288 307645 984570 656380 328190
unapproved schemes
at 30 june 2014 there were 12 unapproved schemes in place established at various dates since 2007 
under each scheme the options are issued for 10 years with 25 or 33 vesting at the end of years 3 4 5 and 6 two new unapproved 
schemes were established in year ended 30 june 2014
under nine of the schemes noted below the market value of the shares must be £1000 or more per share for a consecutive period of six 
months in order for the vesting conditions to be met for all other schemes there are no performance criteria and the options are 
exercisable as long as the option holder remains with the company
unapproved schemes with £1000 share price vesting criteria
• unapproved share option plan march 2010
• unapproved share option plan october 2010
• unapproved share option plan april 2011
• unapproved share option plan july 2011
• unapproved share option plan october 2011
• unapproved share option plan march 2012
• unapproved share option plan april 2012
• unapproved share option plan july 2013
• unapproved share option plan may 2014
save as you earn saye schemes
the save as you earn schemes were established in july 2010 and november 2011 and were open to all employees of the company at 
the time
save as you earn is an hmrc approved all employee savingsrelated share option scheme under which employees save up to a limit  
of £250 on a fourweekly basis with an option to buy shares in the company at the end of a threeyear period at a discount of up to 20  
of the market value on the grant date options are not subject to performance conditions all options are exercisable from three years from 
the date of grant all options expire six months from their exercise date 68
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
24 obligations under finance leases
leasing arrangements
finance leases relate to capital equipment with lease terms of 3–5 years the group has the option to purchase the equipment for a 
nominal value at the conclusion of the lease agreement the group’s obligations under finance leases are secured by the lessor’s title to 
the leased assets
finance lease liabilities
group  
minimum lease payments
group  
present value of lease payments
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
no later than one year 4624 4599 4545 4403
later than 1 year no later than 5 years 3897 3286 3986 3213
8521 7885 8531 7616
less future finance charge 10 269 – –
8531 7616 8531 7616
company  
minimum lease payments
company  
present value of lease payments
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
no later than one year 1526 365 1526 365
later than 1 year no later than 5 years 2686 166 2686 166
4212 531 4212 531
less future finance charge – – – –
4212 531 4212 531
included in the financial statements as
group company
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
current borrowings 4545 4403 1526 365
noncurrent borrowings 3986 3213 2686 166
present value of minimum lease payments 8531 7616 4212 531
25 obligations under operating leases
the group’s future aggregate minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases are as follows
30 june 2014 30 june 2013
land  
buildings 
’000
other 
’000
land  
buildings
’000
other 
’000
no later than one year 2193 41 1959 20
later than 1 year no later than 5 years 10963 58 9794 –
after 5 years 28138 – 27097 –
41294 99 38850 20
operating lease commitments principally relate to leased office space of the group’s head office during the prior year the group exited 
from its lease commitments at 74 rivington street london and relocated its head office to cobham house 20 black friars lane london 
on 6 may 2013 the group entered into a 20 year lease on the property with annual rent of 20m other operating leases include a fleet 
of 5 vans
notes to the accounts continued 69
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
26 capital commitments
as at 30 june 2014 the group has contracted but not provided for capital commitments of 522m made up of cad96m and €317m 
in relation to the procurement of avanti’s third satellite hylas 3 2013 160m in relation to hylas 3
27 related party transactions and directors’ emoluments
transactions with directors
details of the directors’ remuneration are set out below in aggregate for each of the categories specified in the companies act 2006
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
salaries and other short term employee benefits 2884 2275
bonus 811 –
3695 2275
payments into defined contribution schemes 132 179
gain on exercise of share options – 333
3827 2787
pension contributions amounting to 131566 2013 173942 were made into personal pension schemes in respect of three 2013 four 
of the directors
no nonexecutive directors exercised share options in the period
the emoluments of the highest paid director totalled 1049906 2013 700867 made up of
total emoluments
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
salaries and other short term employee benefits 763 637
bonus 286 –
payments into defined contribution schemes current year – 64
total emoluments 1049 701
transactions with directors and key management personnel – group and company
details of the remuneration of directors and key management personnel are set out below in aggregate for each of the categories 
specified in ias 24 “related party disclosures”
key management personnel are considered to be the executive board the general counsel the head of regulatory and the managing 
director of the consulting division
group company
total emoluments
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
salaries and other short term employee benefits 3922 3400 550 727
bonus 1091 – – –
payments into defined contribution schemes 114 236 – –
share based payments – 497 – –
5127 4133 550 727 70
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
27 related party transactions and directors’ emoluments continued
other related party transactions
subsidiaries
intragroup transactions are eliminated on consolidation and are not reported in the group accounts the company charged the following 
management fees to its subsidiaries
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
avanti communications limited 1876 1754
avanti broadband limited 2928 5110
avanti space limited 974 1219
avanti hylas 2 limited 1307 190
7085 8273
the parent company had the following intercompany balances outstanding at the year end
30 june 2014 
’000
30 june 2013 
’000
avanti communications limited 127961 142165
avanti space limited 7378 5449
avanti broadband limited 18352 13330
avanti hylas 2 limited 1469 1106
avanti communications infrastructure limited 87450 87450
239672 249500
in addition to the above related party balances at 30 june 2014 the parent company had a loan receivable from avanti hylas 2 limited  
of 527 5m interest is payable at a rate of 105 per annum
intercompany balances are unsecured and repayable on demand
28 cash absorbed bygenerated from operations
group 
30 june 2014 
’000
company 
30 june 2014 
’000
group 
30 june 2013 
’000
company 
30 june 2013 
’000
loss before taxation 87691 8407 58884 1669
interest receivable 10 29880 199 202
interest payable 30210 28072 – –
amortised bond issue costs 1648 1648 – –
foreign exchange losses in operating activities 245 211 – –
depreciation and amortisation of noncurrent assets 49803 – 39850 –
provision for doubtful debts 3332 – 2553 –
loan breakage costs 6827 6827 5 –
onerous lease provision – – 588 –
share based payment expense 679 15 – 20
increasedecrease in stock 326 – 3267 –
increasedecrease in debtors 9702 5474 4109 1748
decreaseincrease in trade and other payables 8053 5658 6640 63
cash absorbed bygenerated from operations 13528 9618 16435 364
notes to the accounts continued 71
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting of the company will be held at 900am on 27 november 2014 at the bridewell 
suite crowne plaza london – the city 19 new bridge street london ec4v 6db for the following purposes
ordinary business
to consider and if thought fit to pass the following resolutions which will be proposed as ordinary resolutions
1 report and accounts
to receive the audited annual accounts for the year ended 30 june 2014 together with the reports of the directors and auditor therein
2 reelection of directors
21 to reelect nigel fox as a director of the company who retires by rotation in accordance with the company’s articles of association
22 to reelect michael walker as a director of the company who retires by rotation in accordance with the company’s articles  
of association
3 election of auditor
to reappoint kpmg llp as auditor of the company
4 auditor’s remuneration
to authorise the directors to determine the remuneration of the auditors
special business
to consider and if thought fit to pass the following resolutions of which resolution 5 will be proposed as an ordinary resolution and 
resolution 6 will be proposed as a special resolution
5 directors’ authority to allot shares
that the directors are generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to section 551 of the companies act 2006 the “act” in 
substitution for all or such existing authorities which are hereby revoked to allot shares in the company and grant rights to subscribe for 
or to convert any security into shares of the company such shares and rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into share of the 
company being “relevant securities” at such times and to such person on such terms and in such manner as they think fit up to an 
aggregate nominal amount of £376455 such authority to expire on 27 may 2016 or at the conclusion of the annual general meeting 
following the date on which this resolution is passed whichever is the earlier save that the company may before such expiry make any 
offer or agreement which would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may allot relevant 
securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if that authority had not expired
notice of agm 72
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
6 directors’ power to issue shares for cash
that in substitution for any equivalent authorities and powers granted to the directors prior to the passing of this resolution the directors 
be and they are hereby empowered pursuant to section 5701 of the act to allot equity securities as defined in section 560 of the act of 
the company wholly for cash pursuant to the authority of the directors conferred by resolution 5 above andor where such an allotment 
constitutes and allotment of equity securities by virtue of section 5602 of the act as if section 5611 of the act did not apply to such 
allotment provided that the power conferred by this resolution shall be limited to
a the allotment of equity securities in connection with an invitation or offer of equity securities to the holders of ordinary shares in the 
capital of the company excluding any shares held by the company as treasury shares as defined in section 7245 of the act on a 
fixed record date in proportion as nearly as practicable to their respective holdings of such shares or in accordance with the rights 
attached to such shares but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary or expedient in 
relation to fractional entitlements or as a result of legal or practical problems under the laws of or the requirements of any regulatory 
body or any stock exchange in any territory or otherwise howsoever and
b the allotment of equity securities pursuant to the exercise of any options granted by the company at the date of this resolution and
the allotment otherwise than pursuant to paragraphs a and b above of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal value equal to 
£112936 and unless previously renewed revoked varied or extended this power shall expire on the earlier of the date falling 18 months 
after the date of the passing of this resolution and the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the company except that the 
company may at any time before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require relevant securities to be allotted 
after such expiry and the directors may allot relevant securities in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if this power had not 
expired 
 
by order of the board
patrick willcocks
secretary
registered office cobham house 20 black friars lane london ec4v 6eb
registered number 6133927
29 october 2014
notice of agm continued strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
73
notes
1 pursuant to regulation 41 of the uncertificated securities 
regulation 2001 as amended only those members registered 
in the register of members of the company at 600pm on 25 
november 2014 or if the annual general meeting is adjourned 
48 hours before the time fixed for the adjourned annual general 
meeting shall be entitled to attend and vote at the annual 
general meeting in respect of the number of shares registered in 
their name at the time in each case changes to the register of 
members after such time shall be disregarded in determining the 
rights of any person to attend or vote at the annual general 
meeting
2 if you wish to attend the annual general meeting in person and 
to ensure your entrance to the meeting is dealt with promptly 
please bring your attendance card with you and register at the 
registration desk inside the building
3 a member who is entitled to attend speak and vote at the 
annual general meeting may appoint a proxy to attend speak 
and vote instead of him a member may appoint more than one 
proxy provided each proxy is appointed to exercise rights 
attached to different shares so a member must have more than 
one share to be able to appoint more than one proxy a proxy 
need not be a member of the company but must attend the 
annual general meeting in order to represent you a proxy must 
vote in accordance with any instructions given by the member 
by who the proxy is appointed appointing a proxy will not 
prevent a member from attending in person and voting at the 
annual general meeting will terminate the proxy appointment a 
proxy for is enclosed the notes to the proxy form include 
instructions on how to appoint the chairman of the annual 
general meeting or another person as proxy you can only 
appoint a proxy using the procedures set out in these notes and 
in the notes to the proxy form
4 to be valid a proxy form and the original or duly certified copy 
of the power of attorney or other authority if any under which it 
is signed or authenticated should reach the company’s registrar 
neville registrars at neville house 18 laurel lane halesowen 
west midlands b63 3da by no later than 25 november 2014
5 the notes to the proxy form include instructions on how to 
appoint a proxy by using the crest proxy appointment service 
you may not use any electronic address provided either in this 
notice of annual general meeting or in any related documents 
including the proxy form to communicate with the company for 
any purposes other than those expressly stated
6 in the case of joint holders of shares the vote of the first named 
in the register of members who tenders a vote whether in 
person or by proxy shall be accepted to the exclusion of the 
votes of other joint holders
7  a member that is a company or other organisation not having a 
physical presence cannot attend in person but can appoint 
someone to represent it this can be done in one of two ways 
either by the appointment of a proxy described in notes 3 to 5 
above or of a corporate representative members considering 
the appointment of a corporate representative should check 
their own legal position the company’s articles of association 
and the relevant provision of the companies act 2006
8 copies of the executive directors’ service contracts with the 
company and any of its subsidiary undertakings and letters of 
appointment of the nonexecutive directors are available for 
inspection at the registered office of the company during the 
usual business hours on any weekday saturday sunday or 
public holidays excluded from the date of this notice until the 
conclusion of the annual general meeting and will also be 
available for inspection at the place of the annual general 
meeting from 900am on the day of the annual general meeting 
until its conclusion
notes to notice of annual general meeting 74
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
resolution 1 – report and accounts
all companies are required by law to lay their annual accounts  
and reports before a general meeting of the company together 
with the directors’ report and auditor’s report on the accounts  
at the annual general meeting the directors will present these 
documents to the shareholders for the financial year ended  
30 june 2014
resolution 2 – reelection of directors
these resolutions concern the reappointment of nigel fox  
and michael walker who are retiring at the meeting by rotation  
in accordance with the company’s articles of association
resolution 3 – appointment of auditor
this resolution concerns the reappointment of kpmg llp as 
auditor until the conclusion of the next general meeting at which 
accounts are laid that is the next annual general meeting
resolution 4 – auditor’s remuneration
this resolution authorises the directors to fix the auditor’s 
remuneration
resolution 5 – director’s authority to allot shares
this resolution grants the directors authority to allot shares in the 
capital of the company and other relevant securities up to an 
aggregate value of £376455 representing approximately 3333 
of the nominal value of the issued ordinary share capital as at 29 
october 2014 being the latest practicable date before publication 
of this notice the directors do not have any present intention of 
exercising the authorities conferred by this resolution but they 
consider it desirable that the specified amount of authorised but 
unissued share capital is available for issue so that they can more 
readily take advantage of possible opportunities unless revoked 
varied or extended this authority will expire at the conclusion of the 
next annual general meeting of the company or the date falling 18 
months from the passing of this resolution whichever is the earlier
notes to notice of annual general meeting continued
resolution 6 – director’s power to issue shares  
for cash
this resolution authorises the directors in certain circumstances  
to allot equity shares for cash other than in accordance with the 
statutory preemption rights which require the company to offer  
all allotments for cash first to existing shareholders in proportion  
to their holdings the relevant circumstances are either where  
the allotment takes place in connection with a rights issue or the 
allotment is limited to a maximum nominal amount of £112936 
representing approximately 10 of the nominal value of the issued 
ordinary share capital of the company as at 29 october 2014 
being the latest practicable before publication of this notice  
unless revoked varied or extended this authority will expire at  
the conclusion of the next agm of the company or 18 months after 
the passing of the resolution whichever is the earlier the directors 
consider that the power proposed to be granted by resolution 6 is 
necessary to retain flexibility although they do not have any 
intention at the present time of exercising such power 75
strategic  
report
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review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
introduction
after his opening remarks the chairman will explain in detail the procedures for the conduct of the meeting particularly for asking 
questions the resolutions which are set out in the notice of meeting will then be put to the meeting
how to ask questions
at the meeting shareholders will be given the opportunity to ask questions please explain the nature of your question and give your name 
and address you may be asked to wait until called upon to speak please remember to state your name before asking your question
time
the doors will open at 830am and the meeting will start promptly at 900am
cameras tape recorders etc
no cameras video recorders tape recorders or mobile phones will be allowed into the meeting
registration
to ensure your entrance to the meeting is dealt with promptly please bring your attendance card with you and register at the registration 
desk inside the building
shareholder information
if you have any questions concerning your shareholding please speak to avanti communications group plc
important
if you have questions about the meeting or if you need any assistance please telephone georgina newell at avanti communications 
group plc on 0207 749 1600 during normal working hours
analysis of shareholders
range of holdings number of shares number of shareholders
less than 10001 3109895 1686
10000 – 20000 1387 593 105
20001 – 50000 2159042 73
50001 – 100000 1755889 25
100001 – 150000 1771597 14
150001 – 300000 6498875 29
300001 – 500000 7337726 19
500001 – 1000000 6470189 9
1000000  81246043 20
further notes to the annual general meeting 76
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
financial calendar 
• november 2014 annual general meeting
• november 2014 quarterly earnings release
• february 2015 interim results for the six months ended 31 december 2014
• may 2015 quarterly earnings release
• september 2015 preliminary results for the year ended 30 june 2015
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting will be held at the bridewell suite crowne plaza london – the city 19 new bridge street london  
ec4v 6db
details of the resolutions to be proposed at the annual general meeting are contained in the notice of annual general meeting  
on page 71 
dividend
the directors have not recommended the payment of a dividend for the year ended 30 june 2014
listing
ordinary shares of avanti communications group plc are traded on aim
the share price is available from the avanti website at wwwavantiplccom and in the financial times and the times
registrars
all administrative enquiries relating to shareholdings should be directed to the registrar neville registrars limited neville house  
18 laurel lane halesowen west midlands b63 3da
avanti’s services
information about avanti’s services can be found at wwwavantiplccom
further notes to the annual general meeting continued 77
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
form of proxy
for avanti communications group plc
incorporated and registered in england and wales under number 6133927 the ‘company’
proxy form for use at the annual general meeting of avanti communications group plc the “company” to be held at the bridewell suite 
crowne plaza london – the city 19 new bridge street london ec4v 6db on 27 november 2014 at 900 am “agm” or “meeting”
iwe
of
iwe
being a membermembers of the company entitled to receive notice attend and vote at general meetings of the company hereby appoint 
the chairman of the meeting note 1
iwe
as myour proxy to attend speak and vote for meus and on myour behalf at the agm and at any adjournment thereof in relation to the 
resolutions specified in the notice of agm dated 29 october 2014 the “resolutions” and the “notice” respectively and any other business 
including adjournments and amendments to the resolutions which may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment thereof
iwe direct myour proxy to vote as follows in respect of the resolutions note 2
ordinary business for against
vote withheld 
note 2
1  to receive the report and accounts for the year ended 30 june 2014 ordinary resolution
21 to reelect nigel fox as a director ordinary resolution
22 to reelect michael walker as a director ordinary resolution
3  to reappoint kpmg llp as auditors ordinary resolution
4  to authorise the directors to fix the remuneration of the auditors ordinary resolution
special business
5  to authorise the directors to allot relevant securities ordinary resolution
6   to enable the directors to allot shares for cash without first offering them to existing 
shareholders special resolution
note 3 number of shares in relation to which proxy is authorised to act
 this proxy appointment is one of a multiple proxy appointment note 4
 this proxy appointment is signed on behalf of the member under power of attorney or other authority notes 5 and 6
signed
dated
tear along perforation 78
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
form of proxy notes
1 a member who is entitled to attend speak and vote may appoint a proxy to attend speak 
and vote instead of him a proxy need not be a member of the company but must attend 
the agm in order to represent you a member wishing to appoint someone other than the 
chairman of the meeting as his or her proxy should insert that person’s name in the space 
provided in substitution for the reference to “the chairman of the meeting” and delete that 
reference and initial the alteration
2 please indicate by inserting an “x” in the appropriate box how you wish your vote to be 
cast on the resolutions your proxy must vote in accordance with any instructions given 
by you if you mark the box “vote withheld” it will mean that your proxy will abstain from 
voting a “vote withheld” is not a vote in law and will not be counted in the calculation of 
the proportion of the votes “for” and “against” a resolution if you fail to select any of the 
given options the proxy can vote as he or she chooses or can decide not to vote at all
3 if the proxy is being appointed in relation to less than your full voting entitlement please 
indicate on the line provided the number of shares in relation to which that person is 
authorised to act as your proxy if left blank your proxy will be deemed to be authorised in 
respect of your full voting entitlement or if this proxy form has been issued in respect of a 
designated account for a shareholder the full voting entitlement for that designated 
account
4 a member may appoint more than one proxy provided each proxy is appointed 
to exercise rights attached to different shares so a member must have more than one 
share to be able to appoint more than one proxy a separate proxy form must be 
deposited for each proxy appointed further copies of this form may be obtained from 
neville registrars limited between 900am and 500pm london time monday to friday 
on 0121 585 1131 from within the uk or 44 121 585 1131 if calling from outside the uk 
or you may photocopy this form if you appoint multiple proxies please indicate on the line 
provided the number of shares in relation to which the person named on this form is 
authorised to act as your proxy and also indicate by ticking the box provided that the 
proxy instruction is one of multiple instructions being given all forms must be signed and 
returned to neville registrars limited the company’s registrars at the address below 
together in the same envelope where multiple proxies are appointed failure to specify 
the number of shares to which this proxy appointment relates or specifying a number 
which exceeds the number held by the member when totalled with the number specified 
on other proxy appointments by the same member will render all the appointments 
invalid
5 to be valid this proxy form and the original or duly certified copy of the power of attorney 
or other authority if any under which it is signed or authenticated must be received by 
post or during normal business hours only by hand at the offices of the company’s 
registrars neville registrars limited neville house 18 laurel lane halesowen west 
midlands b63 3da by 900 am on 25 november 2014 alternatively a member may 
appoint a proxy or proxies by using the crest proxy appointment service by following 
the procedure set out in note 11 below you can only appoint a proxy using the 
procedures set out in these notes and in the notes to the notice
6 an individual member or his attorney must sign this form if the member is a company this 
proxy form must be executed under the company’s common seal or signed on the 
company’s behalf by a duly authorised officer or attorney of the company stating their 
capacity eg director secretary
7 the appointment of a proxy will not preclude a member from attending the meeting and 
voting in person if the member appointing the proxy does so attend and vote any proxy 
appointment will terminate automatically
8 in the case of joint holders the proxy appointment of the most senior holder will be 
accepted to the exclusion of any appointments by the other joint holders for this 
purpose seniority is determined by the order in which the names are stated in the register 
of members of the company in respect of the joint holding
9 a member wishing to change his or her proxy instructions should submit a new proxy 
appointment using the methods set out and by the time limit specified in note 5 any 
changes to proxy instructions received after that time will be disregarded a member who 
requires another form should contact neville registrars limited between 900am and 
500pm london time monday to friday on 0121 585 1131 from within the uk or 44 121 
585 1131 if calling from outside the uk subject to note 4 if a member submits more than 
one valid proxy appointment the appointment received last before the time limit in note 5 
will take precedence
10 a member wishing to revoke his or her proxy appointment should do so by sending a notice 
to that effect to the company’s registrars to the address set out in note 5 or electronically by 
means of the facilities described in note 11 below the revocation notice must be received 
by neville registrars limited by the time limit set out in note 5 any revocation notice 
received after this time will not have effect
11 crest members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the crest proxy 
appointment service may do so for the meeting and any adjournment thereof by 
following the procedures described in the crest manual crest personal members or 
other crest sponsored members and those crest members who have appointed a 
voting service provider should refer to their crest sponsor or voting service provider 
who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf
 in order for a proxy appointment or instruction made by means of crest to be valid the 
appropriate crest message a “crest proxy instruction” must be properly 
authenticated in accordance with euroclear uk  ireland limited’s “euroclear” 
specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions as 
described in the crest manual the message regardless of whether it relates to the 
appointment of a proxy the revocation of a proxy appointment or to an amendment to the 
instruction given to a previously appointed proxy must in order to be valid be transmitted 
so as to be received by neville registrars limited id 7ra11 by the latest times for 
receipt of proxy appointments specified in note 5 above for this purpose the time of 
receipt will be taken to be the time as determined by the timestamp applied to the 
message by the crest applications host from which neville registrars limited is able to 
retrieve the message by enquiry to crest in the manner prescribed by crest after this 
time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through crest should be 
communicated to the appointee through other means
 crest members and where applicable their crest sponsors or voting service 
providers should note that euroclear does not make available special procedures in 
crest for any particular messages normal system timings and limitations will therefore 
apply in relation to the input of crest proxy instructions it is the responsibility of the 
crest member concerned to take or if the crest member is a crest personal 
member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider to procure 
that his crest sponsor or voting service provider takes such action as shall be 
necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the crest system by any 
particular time in this connection crest members and where applicable their crest 
sponsors or voting service providers are referred in particular to those sections of the 
crest manual available at wwweuroclearcomcrest concerning practical limitations 
of the crest system and timings
 the company may treat as invalid a crest proxy instruction in the circumstances set out 
in regulation 355a of the uncertificated securities regulations 2001 as amended 79
strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
notes 80
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
notes officers and professional advisors
directors
p walsh
chairman
d j williams
chief executive
d j bestwick
technical director
n a d fox
group finance director
m j o’connor
chief operating officer
d a foster
non‑executive director
w p wyatt
non‑executive director
c r vos
non‑executive director
m walker obe
non‑executive director
f e j g brackenbury cbe
non‑executive director
p r johnson
non‑executive director
secretary
p willcocks
registered office
cobham house
20 black friars lane
london
ec4v 6eb
company number
6133927
bankers
hsbc bank plc
70 pall mall
london
sw1y 5ez
solicitors
osborne clark
1 london wall
london
ec2y 5eb
registered auditor
kpmg llp
15 canada square
london
e14 5gl avanti 
communications 
group plc
cobham house
20 black friars lane
london ec4v 6eb
wwwavantiplccom
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014


Summary:
 strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
3
chief executive’s  
review
the size of customers  
we have been signing and  
the scale of deployments 
they are planning gives  
us confidence
david williams
chief executive
2014 was the first full year of hylas 2 revenues and the first of a 
carefully planned five year programme to sell its extensive capacity 
this helped us to increase revenues by 104 to 656 million and 
to generate ebitda of 17 million before the noncash share based 
payment charge transitioning to ebitda positive and signing 
contracts with some of the biggest telcos and media companies in 
our region is a powerful indicator that we have superior well priced 
products and are able to sell to the most demanding customers 
over the course of the year we saw increasing numbers of large 
customers moving from framework contracts to fixed term 
capacities the rate at which existing customers increased their 
contract values “repeat rate” was an encouraging 52 and the 
number of days from initial enquiry to signing “pipeline” was 98 
which demonstrates that the sales cycle is shortening considerably 
as our products become more firmly established in the market  
we signed 92 new contracts in the year a continuation of our 
9999 sla is a strong reason why new customers are coming  
to our network and existing customers are buying more
there are two important elements to the story of our year the 
growth in the customer base and the financing of hylas 4
customers
revenue growth remains the most important focus for us this is 
being achieved via a customer acquisition strategy that has been 
consistent and successful since the outset
our products have been designed to provide a cloud of data capacity 
that has maximum quality and flexibility and broad coverage of 
emea with a particular focus on subsaharan africa which  
now accounts for more than 80 of our capacity we are able to 
support our large telecommunications company customers in the 
widest possible range of applications they seek greatly exceeding 
the quality and flexibility that they have seen from legacy satellite 
fleets customers access the fleet through proprietary software 
called avanti oss and this enables them to scale and change their 
business with unparalleled flexibility we have a number of patents 
and are pursuing others to protect our innovations
we achieved early success in selling to specialist service providers 
referred to in the industry as “vsat providers” vsat providers have 
used our product for enterprise and government networks media 
services and some regional broadband deployments nine of the 
top 20 vsat providers in our regions now buy avanti capacity  
so we know we have generated a loyal and committed customer 
base in this market and continue to work hard to help them to grow 
as a result much of our new business this year has been won away 
from legacy technology as old capacity leases matured  4
avanti communications group plc annual report and accounts 2014
we have a lot of capacity to fill – a kaband satellite typically has 
around 5–10 times more available megabits than a kuband 
satellite per tonne and this drives its price down to levels that are 
attractive to customers in order to fill that capacity we need to 
access the large scale international distribution that only major 
telecommunication companies and mobile network operators 
“mnos” can offer the products of interest here are broadband  
for consumers and smes and cellular backhaul for mnos
we have had success this year in finally penetrating these markets 
we created a world first in providing 3g backhaul to mnos  
and have also successfully deployed 4g backhaul for the uk 
government with vodafone and smart launching our backhaul 
products on long term contracts several other large mnos  
now piloting the technology at an advanced stage and some 
proceeding to issue rfps this market is maturing for us
we began deployments in the year for a number of national 
incumbent telco operators telone in zimbabwe has grown its 
usage quickly and we recently announced a contract with orange 
kenya telecom we also signed contracts with some of the largest 
alternative service providers in the regions like wananchi the 
largest media provider in east africa and internet solutions 
dimension data the largest pan african isp  
the progress of large contracts from pilot through business  
case evaluation to negotiation and closure has often been slow 
however we have maintained firm discipline in our pricing model 
with our average price remaining above the 2000 per mhz per 
month that we set in 2008 and we continue to focus on promoting 
our quality and flexibility advantages 
hylas 4 rationale
there were four elements in our decision to finance hylas 4
1 continuity of capacity
we have demonstrated an ability to access the large latent demand 
for our services through some of the contracts we signed in the 
year it will take perhaps another three years for those contracts to 
fully saturate our in orbit capacities but at that point we would risk 
becoming an exgrowth business unless we build further capacity
one of the challenges of the space business is that it takes three to 
four years to design build launch and commission a new satellite 
so it is important that we continue to look far ahead current rates 
of repeat business and new customer acquisition suggest that by 
2017 there is a realistic probability that existing capacities will be 
substantially full the relatively small hylas 3 payload we are flying 
on an esa satellite gives us some ability to expand but without 
expansion capacity across territories there is a risk that the 
business at that point would be waiting several years for its next 
major growth inflection we also need to assure our customers  
of continuity and security of service over the longer term
hylas 4 provides the solution with new capacity over new countries 
in africa as well as new capacity over existing territories in africa 
and europe that can be used for back up and expansion we 
believe that the announcement of our provision of expansion and 
back up capacity on hylas 4 has already had an impact in some 
new customers signing with us
2 opportunities from multinational customers
almost all of our customers in subsaharan africa are multinational 
within that region we conducted a survey to ask them in which 
countries they are active or for which they would like to see avanti 
launch capacity and designed hylas 4 coverage accordingly  
our fleet now covers 13 of the world’s 20 fastest growing 
economies and 27 of the global population the subsaharan 
region includes 1 billion people but currently has internet 
penetration of just 16 mckinsey predicts that gdp from internet 
business in africa will rise from 18 billion to 300 billion 2025 
considerably outstripping the global trend of 33 cagr in data 
usage we see it as strategically important to make sure that we  
are in a position to capitalise on all of the demand in subsaharan 
africa not just part of it given that this is the most exciting high 
growth region in the world it is likely that our focus on africa will 
remain the limit of our geographic ambition for the time being
3 limited competition
there is very little competition for our products because the 
incumbent satellite operators remain broadly conservative about 
moving out of their traditional tv markets and into high quality 
telecoms and where they are beginning to move in a small way 
they are using different business models which we believe 
preserves our quality and flexibility advantage in our target 
markets this means that we have prime mover advantage  
the unmet demand for data across africa is very large and our 
customers want service in additional countries therefore the 
opportunity to drive forward our prime mover advantage is 
strategically appealing
4 efficient financing
as a result of the bond refinancing we completed in 2013 we were 
able to approach the bond market for an addition to the existing 
facility in a very efficient way we were also fortunate to come to  
the bond market at a moment in time when investors were very 
supportive finally we were able to launch the hylas 4 project 
with no equity capital thereby protecting shareholders from dilution 
 
when choosing to finance hylas 4 we used base case 
assumptions that would generate an irr of 29 the financing  
and procurement strategies were carefully designed to manage 
risk match capital to liabilities and most importantly to maximise 
value for shareholders 
chief executive’s  
review continued strategic  
report
operational 
review 14–21
corporate 
governance 
  
 22–37
financial 
statements 
  
 38–78
strategic  
report  
business  
model  2–13
5
hylas 4 financing strategy
the “tapon” bond that we issued in june is sufficient to cover  
our capital commitments because in procurement we achieved a 
limitation of liability of 81 million thus if the capital markets were 
not open around october 2015 we could pause the project for as 
long as necessary that downside protection was important in our 
structuring but the intention remains to complete the financing  
on time as part of the tapon we gained consent to issue up to  
125 million in additional bonds which can therefore be done very 
quickly when the time is right the only variable being the price the 
market will apply at the time in order to access the third tranche of 
bonds of up to 125 million we will also issue up to 100 million of 
junior capital this is defined as any form of capital which has a 
maturity date beyond the bonds does not pay cash interest and is 
unsecured and structurally subordinated to the bonds
the success we achieved in procuring hylas 4 efficiently means 
that the remaining capital requirement is likely to be 10–20 
lower than originally contemplated
other achievements
during the year we acquired the artemis satellite and associated 
spectrum and concluded the first significant new sale of capacity 
artemis’ primary function is to communicate with other 
spacecraft in orbit artemis revenues are by their nature derived 
from short term projects and are unpredictable but we expect the 
satellite to yield a good return
outlook
whilst revenue growth this year was strong there were delays  
to projects from the first half that slipped into the second half of  
the year and some large up front elements of both revenues and 
costs were therefore taken in the second half as we grow we 
expect the susceptibility of the business to the effects of oneoff  
set up costs and our dependence on a small number of large 
contracts will diminish
the size of the customers we have been signing and the scale  
of the deployments they are planning gives us confidence that 
utilisation will continue to grow towards our long term target during 
the coming year revenues for the first quarter are expected to be 
around the average of the last year with new contracts driving into 
growth in subsequent quarters
david williams
chief executive