HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP
8-K, EX-99.1, 2000-11-01
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, NEC
Previous: HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP, 8-K, 2000-11-01
Next: HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP, 8-K, 2000-11-01




<PAGE>




                                                                  Exhibit 99.1



[Introduction]
o Good morning.
o Thank you Bob for the introduction and thanks everyone for joining me today.

 [The new HUGHES brand]
o Last week, HUGHES launched a new and exciting branding program.
o From a strategic perspective, the sale of our satellite manufacturing business
  makes this the ideal moment in our corporate history to drive the HUGHES brand
  into the spotlight. The branding campaign will redefine who and what we are as
  a corporation.
o HUGHES  has  always  been a  trailblazer  and a  visionary  company.  Courage,
  commitment  and  imagination  have enabled HUGHES to build a storied legacy of
  achieving the near impossible.
o Today we are  enabling  the new economy  and  bringing  the world  closer to a
  future in which  human  thoughts  and images can be  transmitted  via  digital
  communications  from one  person to  another,  one  corporation  to  another -
  without  regard to time or distance,  often without wires or cables.  From our
  perspective,  this is what the Digital Age is all about - breaking the thought
  barrier - and HUGHES has the creative people,  innovative technology,  and the
  momentum and courage to deliver it.
o So let's take a closer look at HUGHES today

[HUGHES Today]
o HUGHES is comprised of four strategic business units;
o PanAmSat is the world's leading  provider of leading  provider of global video
  and data broadcasting  services via satellite.  We own 81 percent of PanAmSat,
  which is also a public company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker "SPOT."
o In 1999,  PanAmSat  generated  about $800  million in  revenues  and over $600
  million in EBITDA.
o Today,  PanAmSat has a backlog of long-term contracts with blue-chip customers
  valued  at  $5.8  billion  dollars;   and  generates  EBITDA  margins  in  the
  neighborhood of 70 percent.
o PanAmSat is expanding beyond its core business of video  distribution with its
  NET 36  Internet  delivery  service,  which I'll talk more about  later in the
  presentation.
o Next,  we have Hughes  Network  Systems,  or HNS.  HNS is the world's  leading
  provider of  satellite-based  private  business  networks  known as very small
  aperture terminals, or VSATs.
o HNS is also a leading supplier of DIRECTV receiving equipment, and the leading
  provider of Internet access via satellite.
o In 1999, HNS generated revenues of $1.4 billion.
o HNS is in the process of expanding its service-based businesses--with DirecWay
  for enterprises and DirecPC for consumers.
o Finally, and most significantly for investors, we have DIRECTV, in the U.S.
  and Latin America.
o As a segment,  these two businesses attained about $3.8 billion in revenues in
  1999, and generated positive EBITDA for the first time.
o In  the   United   States,   DIRECTV   is  the  third   largest   multichannel
  provider--behind  only AT&T and Time  Warner--and  serves  more than 9 million
  customers.
o In Latin America,  we own 78 percent of the Galaxy Latin America  partnership,
  which serves more than 1 million customers.
o Together,   these  four  entities  form  HUGHES--a   powerful  digital  media,
  entertainment and communications company.


[The HUGHES'Vision]
o As we leverage this unique and powerful  combination of assets,  our Vision is
  to be:
  o The number-one  provider of global satellite services with PanAmSat;
  o The  number-one provider of global satellite-based  broadband communications
    through HNS.
  o And, through our DIRECTV businesses, to be the leading provider of
    multichannel entertainment services
o As we achieve those goals,  HUGHES will become the premier global  provider of
  Integrated Entertainment and Information Products and Services.


[HUGHES' Strategy]
o Our strategy for achieving this Vision is simple:  To create superior  returns
  and value by leveraging the power of our two main competitive advantages:
  o Our market-leading, world-class customer bases at DIRECTV, HNS and PanAmSat,
  o And our unmatched broadband pipeline into homes and businesses.


[HUGHES Markets and Services]
o When you think of our business and our brands, it's useful to conceive of what
  we do in terms of our markets and services.
o HUGHES' businesses span from the Consumer to the Enterprise markets, providing
  both Entertainment and Information services.
  o We start with Consumer Entertainment--where we're talking about DIRECTV.
  o In Consumer Information, our primary brand is DirecPC, which delivers
    nationwide high-speed Internet access via satellite.
  o In the Enterprise Information market, we find HNS' DirecWay service.
  o And finally, we have wholesale Enterprise Entertainment--the core business
    of PanAmSat.
o This is, of course,  a  simplified  version of  HUGHES.  There is  significant
  overlap as the television and PC converge; and as satellites are used more and
  more to distribute Internet content.
o It is, in fact, this ability -- to Maximize Convergence  Opportunities -- that
  gives HUGHES a major  competitive  advantage...and  distinguishes  us from all
  other satellite and entertainment investment opportunities.


[HUGHES 1999 Financial Performance]
o With these strengths, HUGHES has attained significant financial returns.
o In 1999, HUGHES generated $5.6 billion dollars in revenue--nearly 60 percent
  more than in the previous year.
o As you can see from the graph,

[Graphic displays the following data in a bar chart format:

                              Revenues (Billions of $)
                        1995     1996     1997     1998     1999
HUGHES Consolidated     $1.6     $2.1     $2.8     $3.5     $5.6
DIRECTV Segment         $ 0.2    $0.6     $1.3     $1.8     $3.8
                             EBITDA (Billions of $)
                        1995     1996     1997     1998     1999
HUGHES Consolidated     $ 0.1    $ 0.1    $ 0.3    $ 0.3    $ 0.5*
DIRECTV Segment         $(0.1)   $(0.2)   $(0.2)   $(0.1)   $ 0.0
* excludes one-time write-off of $272M attributable to the discontinuation of
  narrowband wireless businesses]

o DIRECTV has been our primary  revenue driver for several years,  and we expect
  that to continue.  As a result,  we anticipate  HUGHES'  top-line average
  growth rate to be 20 percent or more per year over the next five years.
o EBITDA tells a similar story. As you can see, DIRECTV achieved positive EBITDA
  in 1999 after several years of investment.
o Even during those investment years, HUGHES  achieved solid EBITDA  growth--
  primarily  because of the strength of our PanAmSat business.
o Going  forward,  we expect to see  accelerating  EBITDA of at least 50 percent
  average annual growth over the next five years.
o Now let's look more closely at our businesses, beginning with DIRECTV in the
  U.S.


[Television Household Forecast]
o This year, according to analyts, we see that direct-to-home (or DBS) providers
  are serving about 15 percent of U.S. television households.
o Within the next five years, industry analysts expect that approximately 75% of
  all new  pay-TV  subscribers  will  choose  DBS over  cable  and that DBS will
  roughly  double its  current  number of  subscribers  as it reaches  nearly 30
  million subscribers in 2005.
o Given that most of our current subscribers are coming from cabled areas and we
  are now  offering  local  channels  in most of the  major  markets,  these DBS
  estimates may prove to be conservative.
o Let me show you why we believe that to be the case.

[Competitive Advantages]
o First  of  all,  DIRECTV  has  become  a  media  powerhouse--a  force  in  the
  entertainment   marketplace.   As  a  result,  we  enjoy  several  sustainable
  competitive advantages.
o By leveraging our  9-million-strong  customer  base,  we're able to create key
  strategic relationships with the top names in the industry.
  o We have relationships with the top manufacturers and distributors. In fact,
    DIRECTV has the most extensive distribution in the industry,  including our
    newest  addition,  Blockbuster.  [Chart lists logos from several  strategic
    partners,  such as Radio Shack,  Best Buy,  Circuit City,  America  Online,
    Thomson Multi Media, Verizon and Southwestern Bell]
o We also have a wealth of programming  that customers can't find anywhere else,
  including  exclusive  agreements  with the most popular sports leagues such as
  the NFL and NBA.
o And, we're launching powerful  interactive services this year, including Wink,
  TiVo, AOL TV and Ultimate TV, which I'll talk more about in a moment.
o We also have a major advantage in business fundamentals.
o This chart shows the  analysts'  consensus for DIRECTV and cable over the next
  five years.

[Chart shows the following information:
                          Analysts' 5 Year Projections
                                     DIRECTV            Cable
Subscriber growth rate              13 - 15%            1 - 2%
Revenue growth rate                 20 - 25%            ~15%
EBITDA growth rate                  50 - 75%            ~15%

Capital cost / subscriber             ~$200           ~$1,100
SAC / subscriber                      ~$525             ~$100
Total Investment / subscriber         ~$725           ~$1,200
Return on Investment                35 - 40%          18 - 23%

Valuation per subscriber            ~$2,700           ~$3,800     ]

  o As you can see,  our  subscriber  growth rate dwarf's that of cable and our
    revenue growth rate is also expected to be significantly greater.
  o But look at the EBITDA growth rate--there's virtually no comparison.
o In addition, our total investment per subscriber--the sum of our capital cost
  and our subscriber  acquisition cost, or SAC--is 40 percent less than cable's,
  giving us the potential for a substantially greater return on investment.
o Yet our current market valuation does not represent the true value of our
  subscribers.
  o You can see the significant upside we are determined to capture.
o We're also keeping a close eye on the roll-out of digital cable.  So far we
  have found no correlation between our growth and the presence of digital
  cable.
  o In fact, in many markets where digital cable is most advanced, we're seeing
    our greatest  growth. For example, in the third quarter, our growth rate in
    cities such as New York,  Los Angeles and San Francisco was over 50 percent
    higher than the previous year's period.
o One of the possible  reasons for this is simply that we offer  consumers  more
  value.
  o Our video  and audio  signal is  all-digital;  cable  companies  often
    provide an analog service with a digital  tier.  And in most  markets,
    we're still priced lower for comparable or better service.
  o The only  conclusive data we have seen so far is that our roll-out of local
    channels  more than offsets any impact from digital  cable.  Today we offer
    local  channels  in 35 markets and we expect to be in 41 markets by the end
    of the year.
o With  these  dynamics,  we feel we have a window  of  opportunity  to  capture
  high-quality  customers. As a result, we've decided to aggressively pursue new
  subscribers.

[Compelling  Subscriber  Economics]
o This  approach  also makes good  economic sense.
  o With our  subscriber  acquisition  cost of  $525,  ARPU --  that's  average
    revenue  per user per month -- of about $59  dollars,  gross  margins of 50
    percent and low churn,  the average  payback  period for a new  customer is
    only 17 months--and the pre-tax  internal rate of return on this subscriber
    is roughly 70 percent!
  o In addition, the customer we invest $525 dollars to attain is valued by the
    market at $2,000 to $4,000 dollars--again  representing the opportunity for
    significant value creation.
  o Going forward, we believe the subscriber economics will continue to be
    strong.
  o Average revenue per subscriber should increase due to the continued
    introduction of local channels in new markets,  new interactive services and
    periodic price increases;
  o We see our  subscriber  acquisition  cost  (or  SAC) on our  basic
    systems staying flat at roughly  $525.  We do expect to see SAC  increase
    an  additional  25 to 50 dollars next year as we roll-out our new advanced
    set-top boxes.  However, the  payback  and IRR remain intact  because of the
    incremental  revenues expected from these new services.
  o And we believe  that we can keep churn at its  current  rate of between 1.5
    and 1.7%--which, I might add, is still well below cable's churn rate. We're
    implementing new customer retention initiatives,  such as an in-home repair
    warranty program,  longer-term programming commitments from customers,  and
    our current free professional installation offer.

[Advanced Platform Rollout]
o Now I'd  like to give  you a  closer  look  at the  exciting  new  interactive
  services we're launching on DIRECTV.
  o The Wink  service is now  available,  and the Wink  capability  will become
    standard  on all of our basic  boxes.  Two  weeks  ago,  we began  offering
    enhanced  services from leading  networks,  including CBS, CNBC,  ESPN, and
    TBS. We'll also have dedicated  interactive virtual channels with ESPN, NBC
    and the Weather  Channel,  as well as a  dedicated  shopping  channel  with
    Barnes and Noble.
  o With the launch of this service, simple and valuable interactive television
    has now become a reality.
o The other three platforms offer more advanced services.
  o The  DIRECTV/TiVo  combo  box--which  is now in  stores--has  a 30-gig hard
    drive,  allowing  customers  to  personalize  their TV  viewing  while also
    pausing live TV.
  o Ultimate  TV is the  Swiss  Army  Knife  of our  set-tops--it  does it all:
    enhanced TV, digital video recording and full online capabilities.
  o Finally,  the  DIRECTV/AOL  TV box will offer similar  capabilities  with a
    focus on AOL's popular  community  services such as e-mail,  chat,  instant
    messaging and Internet access.
o We  feel  these  new  products  will  further  extend  DIRECTV's  lead  in the
  multichannel industry because most cable systems are still months if not years
  away from offering these types of interactive services.

[DIRECTV: The Next Step]
o As we look at our overall interactive services strategy, we see DIRECTV moving
  into the role of a whole-house services provider--the one-stop shop for a wide
  variety of services.
o Beginning  late this year,  we'll be  bundling  DIRECTV  with our new  DirecPC
  two-way broadband Internet service.
  o Using a single small dish,  customers  will receive  DIRECTV's  programming
    along with an "always on" broadband connection.
  o This broadband service will offer inbound speed of about 400 kilobits, with
    outbound speeds between 100 and 200 kilobits.
  o We will have one bill, one customer service number, and we'll integrate our
    sales and marketing efforts.
o We'll be  consolidating  into a gateway  platform--one  that would allow us to
  essentially become a media-manager for the home.
  o As such, we would  provide the equipment and service to distribute  various
    forms of media from different sources to different display devices--whether
    it's the TV, the PC or some other device.
o The benefits of this are obvious--we  believe we will get more subscribers and
  stickier  subscribers.  In  addition,  there will be  significant  new revenue
  opportunities  - perhaps  adding as much as $7 - $12 to our ARPU. And finally,
  we'll have even greater leverage with content and service providers.

[DIRECTV - Latin America]
o Now  let's  move on to  DIRECTV  in  Latin  America,  where  we are  the  only
  multichannel provider serving the entire region.
o Galaxy Latin America does business in 27  countries,  and we're  continuing to
  see outstanding growth.
  o Year-to-date, subscriber growth is up 81 percent over last year's net adds.
o GLA generated an average programming revenue per subscriber of $36 dollars per
  month  in the third quarter.
o In addition,  it has exclusive  agreements with programmers such as Disney and
  HBO,  and offers  exclusive  sports  entertainment.  GLA also  offers the most
  extensive  pay-per-view and special events,  and offers local channels in many
  of its major markets.
o Later this year, GLA will launch  interactive  services on the OpenTV platform
  including weather, games, and banking applications,  and next year we will add
  e-mail, e-commerce, chat, and instant messaging.
o So that  wraps up our  DIRECTV  businesses.  Now  let's  move on to our  other
  business units.

[PanAmSat]
o At PanAmSat, we continue to enjoy a healthy, profitable, and growing business.
o The core business remains the distribution of video programming, and PanAmSat
  is continuing to grow that business.
  o In mid-October,  they brought home a hard-fought  victory with the addition
    of a  15-year-commitment  from the Walt  Disney  Company's  family of cable
    programming.
o PanAmSat is continuing to expand its fleet to meet  demand--its  21 satellites
  today will grow to 24 satellites  in 2001. In addition,  PanAmSat has attained
  licenses for significantly more spectrum in the new Ka-band.
o Net-36 is the most exciting growth opportunity PanAmSat is pursuing today.
  o This global satellite overlay to the terrestrial network brings high-
    bandwidth Internet services to the edge of the net.
  o PanAmSat has already  begun to leverage its core  business into success for
    Net-36 as customers  including ABC, ESPN,  Bloomberg and Disney have signed
    on for streaming services.
  o And PanAmSat just  announced  that Net-36 will be providing  rich,  dynamic
    entertainment, news and sports content to Excite@Home's 2 million broadband
    subscribers.  PanAmSat  has a  similar  agreement  with  Qwest  for its DSL
    customers.

[Hughes Network Systems]
o Finally, let's take a look at Hughes Network Systems.
o HNS leads the market in  satellite-based  private business networks  popularly
  known as the VSAT market.
o It's also a leading provider of DIRECTV systems,  as well as equipment for use
  in terrestrial wireless broadband businesses.
o HNS'   primary   growth  is  coming   from  the   expansion   of  its  service
  operations--for both the consumer and enterprise markets.
  o With DirecPC,  HNS has  alliances  with AOL,  Pegasus,  and Juno to provide
    Internet  services  "Powered  By  DirecPC,"  and HNS is  actively  pursuing
    additional relationships.
    o We've begun  shipping  the AOL Plus  Powered by DirecPC  equipment,  and
      we're on  schedule  to  introduce  our  two-way  via  satellite  DirecPC
      broadband service by the end of the year.
  o On the enterprise side, HNS has its DirecWay  services--which are really an
    extension of its VSAT capability. Now, when you buy a VSAT network, you can
    add new services such as in-store music, email, or even a company intranet.
    It's a simple, elegant, one-stop solution.
o Finally, HNS is leading the development of our new Spaceway system.
  o Spaceway is a high-speed, low-cost, two-way communications system that
    will be the next generation platform for both DirecPC and DirecWay.
  o Spaceway will provide  high-speed  point-to-point  communications--what  we
    refer to as "full-mesh" connectivity.  With this capability, Internet users
    will be able to  communicate  with each  other via our  satellites  without
    using the terrestrial network.
  o We're working with Boeing to build the Spaceway  satellites,  and we expect
    to launch the service in 2003.

[Investment Highlights]
o In closing,  I'd like to recap why I believe  HUGHES is a powerful  investment
  opportunity.
  o HUGHES is a company that is focused on high-value  service  businesses that
    operate in rapidly growing markets.
  o We are the market leader in each of our core businesses
  o We have DIRECTV,  the world's leading digital  multichannel  provider.  And
    both  subscriber  numbers  and  revenue per  subscriber  have  demonstrated
    significant growth.
  o We're just  beginning to tap the power of our  broadband  pipeline.
    o We have alliances   with   Microsoft   and   AOL;
    o We're   transforming   television entertainment--again
    o And  we're   building   the   future  of   high-speed, high-bandwidth
      services.
  o In short, our satellite-based  platforms are becoming the portal of choice--
    a key gateway, if you will, into homes and businesses.
  o Finally, our management team is incented to build value in the
    H-class   stock.   I   feel   it  is   important   for   all   of   you  to
    understand--especially   as  rumors   abound   relating  to  the  potential
    separation of GM and HUGHES--that  the top executives at HUGHES,  including
    myself, are compensated primarily in GM Class H stock.
o   With that, I'll conclude my remarks. Thank you for your time and attention.
o   I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.






© 2022 IncJournal is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission