Inmarsat still overvalued, despite the share price falling.

(CercleFinance.com) - Inmarsat, the British satellite operator, will publish its results on 6 March.
Overall, analysts' consensus is not optimistic. In addition, despite the stock's 9% fall since the beginning of the year, it still seems to be significantly overvalued on the London Stock Exchange.

According to Société Générale and Exane BNP Paribas, Inmarsat's sales are expected to fall by around 7% in 2013, while those of the French group Eutelsat and SES Luxembourg, which are larger, are expected to increase by around 6%.

Indeed, the British group has begun to make savings, which should help it maintain its operating margin at around 33%. However, over the medium term, cost reductions will be insufficient to offset the lack of growth prospects.

In addition, the margins of Inmarsat's two continental competitors are close to 50%.

In this context, it is understandable why the Insmarsat stock has fallen by 9% since the beginning of the year, while Eutelsat and SES have increased by 3.5% and 6% respectively.

However, this decline may not yet be over: Inmarsat's 2013 earnings are expected to be down 14%, as was the case in 2014, with minimal growth of 2% not expected until after 2015.

These discouraging forecasts mean that the Inmarsat share is trading at a 2014 P/E of 27x, the same as in 2015: in comparison, its two competitors, which have a better growth outlook, are trading at P/Es of around 15.5x.

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