Khalid Ahmed Balkheyour, Chief Executive Officer, Arabsat, has been named Via Satellite’s Satellite Executive of the Year for 2013. In his role as CEO, Balkheyour has developed and directed the Middle East satellite operator which continues to gain ground as the regional industry leader.
The past 12 months resulted in another banner year for the company, the centrepiece of which was a deal to acquire Greek satellite operator Hellas-Sat, enabling the operator to become more of a presence in Europe. Crucially, Arabsat will now be able to offer Middle East broadcasters more of a gateway into Europe, and the deal takes the company outside of its Middle East home turf and creates a more multi-faceted regional operator. The acquisition accelerates top line growth of Arabsat by more than ten percent, and new satellites, Hellas-sat-3 and Hellas-sat-4, will boost top line growth still further. It is a deal that underlines Balkheyour’s ambition to grow one of the most powerful regional operators — globally.
What is most impressive about Balkheyour’s tenure is his creative deal-making, which has pioneered hosted payload deals in the region, including a contract with Emerging Market Communications (EMC) for a Ka-band hosted payload. In 2013, Arabsat signed a number of significant contracts, including agreements with Qatari satellite operator, Es’hailSat, which will see the Es’hailSat 2 satellite join Arabsat’s BADR fleet at 26 degrees East. Another major contract was signed with ‘My HD’ which plans to bring around 50 HD channels to households across the Middle East. Arabsat also signed an MoU agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information to build a new media platform in Saudi Arabia.
Arabsat’s numbers are also highly impressive, with the company set to achieve double-digit growth in both revenues and profits in 2013. It has the stated ambition of becoming the fifth ranked global FSS operator by 2020, which given its impressive growth in recent years seems well within reach.
The Arabsat story once again showcases the power of regional operators, and in this area, Arabsat has few peers. From strong financial performance, innovative deals, as well as a potential game-changing acquisition for the company, Arabsat continues to tick every box for a regional operator, and it is of little surprise that Arabsat CEO Khalid Balkheyour has once again been nominated to be the 2013 Satellite Executive of the Year.
“Khalid Balkheyour has built Arabsat into a regional powerhouse in the MENA region,” said Mark Holmes, Editorial Director, Aerospace. “Over the last few years, Balkheyour has been a perennial nominee for this award, and it is not hard to understand why. The company has shown fantastic revenue and profit growth, is a leader in terms of HD/DTH in the Middle East, and is fast becoming one of the top regional operators around. 2013 was another great year for the company with the acquisition of Hellas-Sat in Greece and a new partnership deal with fellow Middle East operator, Es’hailSat, as two of the highlights. Arabsat is just continually excellent in everything it does, and we are delighted that finally Khalid Balkheyour is our Satellite Executive of the Year for 2013. It is richly deserved.”
“We are extremely grateful for this wonderful award from Via Satellite, and for the recognition of our accomplishments,” said Khalid Balkheyour. “This recognition comes at a time of great success for the company, as we continue to position ourselves as a regional and global leader in this dynamic industry. Naturally, this success could not happen without the support of our loyal customers, dedicated employees and shareholders, and we would like to thank them for helping us to become the fastest growing satellite operator in the region.”
For more than 20 years, Via Satellite magazine has been honoring the satellite executives who made a lasting business impact on the global satellite market during the previous calendar year.
Via Satellite magazine will showcase Balkheyour in its “Satellite Executive of the Year” cover feature in the March issue. Balkheyour will be presented with his award at the Satellite Executive of the Year award luncheon on Wednesday, March 12, and a reception that will be held that evening. Both events take place during the SATELLITE 2014 Conference and Exhibition, which runs March 10-13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC. For more information or to register, visit www.SATELLITE2014.com. (Source: Arabsat press release)