At the start of this week Eutelsat’s share were stuck in the doldrums, and valued at just €1.23 per share. By close of business on March 5th they were trading at a spectacular €7.84 (and had reached €8.74 at one point). This is a 119.7 per cent rise on the day and 550 per cent over 3 days.

The move is also represented in Eutelsat’s market capitalisation. The company’s capitalization reached €3.7 billion (at the end of last week it barely exceeded €0.6 billion).

The share performance was helped by reports that Eutelsat was in talks with Italy’s government to provide systems for secure satellite communications. Italy is reportedly aiming to guarantee encrypted communications between the government, diplomats and defence officials operating in risky areas, and Eutelsat is among the contenders, along with Elon Musk’s Starlink, the officials said.

In the current political climate, it is highly questionable whether any contract could be warded to Elon Musk’s Starlink system. Discussions between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government and Musk’s Starlink have met sharp criticism from opposition parties in Italy, which question the wisdom of handing a national security contract to a foreign businessman, according to a Reuters report.

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Tags: eutelsat, starlink