Strong financial results for the fourth quarter of 2010 have been announced by Iridium (News - Alert) Communications. These results have also affirmed the company’s outlook for the full-year 2011. Till October 2009, Iridium Communications was a part of Iridium Holdings.

As compared to a net loss of $5 million for the comparable period of 2009, the fourth quarter of 2010 saw a net income of $10.1 million. $11.9 million of non-cash expenses for purchase accounting have been included in the net income for the fourth quarter of 2010. For the same comparable period of 2009, purchase accounting expenses were $17.4 million.

Compared to $30.2 million for the prior-year period, Operational EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $42.3 million. Along with an OEBITDA margin of 48 percent, this represents a 40 percent year-over-year growth.

Total revenue of $87.9 million has been reported by Iridium for the fourth-quarter. Service revenue of $60.1 million along with equipment and engineering and support revenue of $27.8 million have been included in the total revenue. As compared to the comparable period of 2009, total revenue recorded a 16 percent growth.

During the same periods, the service revenue has increased by 13 percent. Primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base is represented by service revenue. The fourth quarter of 2010 saw service revenue accounting for 68 percent of total revenue.

As compared to 342,000 for the year-ago period, the fourth quarter of 2010 had 427,000 total billable subscribers. This represents a 25 percent year-over-year growth of total billable subscribers. The ongoing strength in machine-to-machine data, handheld voice and Netted Iridium customers have been responsible for this growth.

In a release, Matt Desch (News - Alert), CEO of Iridium said, "Our success in 2010 showed once again that we have a high-growth subscriber base that drives long-term, sustainable revenue and cash flow. With strong contributions from our commercial M2M business, which grew subscribers 60 percent year-over-year, and one of our best years ever in the government sector, we're entering 2011 on a strong competitive footing in each of our vertical markets.”