PART II.
OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
We are not currently subject to any legal proceedings that, if decided adversely, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. In the future, however, we may become subject to legal proceedings and claims, either asserted or unasserted, that may arise in the ordinary course of business or otherwise.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business and operations are subject to a significant number of risks. The most significant of these risks are summarized in, and the reader’s attention is directed to, the section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 in “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
In that Annual Report under “Financial and Telesat Investment Risk Factors,” “Risk Factors Associated with Satellite Services” and “Other Risks” the risks we identify include:
“Telesat’s profitability may be adversely affected by swings in the global financial markets, such as those that have occurred and are occurring as a result of uncertainty relating to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Swings in the global financial markets may have a material adverse effect on Telesat’s customers and suppliers.”;
“Telesat derives a substantial amount of its revenues from only a few of its customers. A loss of, or default by, one or more of these major customers, or a material adverse change in any such customer’s business or financial condition, could materially reduce Telesat’s future revenues and contracted backlog.”;
“Telesat’s dependence on outside contractors could result in delays related to the design, manufacture and launch of its new satellites, or could limit its ability to sell its services to the U.S. Department of Defense, which could adversely affect Telesat’s operating results and prospects.”;
“Telesat may experience a failure of ground operations infrastructure or interference with its satellite signals that impairs the commercial performance of, or the services delivered over, its satellites or the satellites of other operators for whom its provides ground services, which could result in a material loss of revenue.”; and
“Interruption or failure of, or cyber-attacks on, Telesat’s or our information technology and communication systems could hurt Telesat’s or our ability to operate our respective businesses effectively, which could harm Telesat’s or our business and operating results.”
The risk factor set forth below updates, and should be read together with, the aforementioned and other risk factors described in our Annual Report.
Threats to public health, and measures taken in response to them, may have an adverse effect on Telesat’s or our business and results of operations.
Telesat’s or our business and results of operations have been and may continue to be adversely affected by the current outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”), and by measures taken to prevent its spread, including restrictions on travel, imposition of quarantines, cancellation of events, remote working, and closure of workplaces and other businesses. Telesat’s or our business and results of operations may also be negatively impacted by the adverse effect that COVID-19 has had and may continue to have on global economic activity, which may include a period of prolonged global or regional economic slowdowns or recessions. The extent of the impact of COVID-19 is subject to change and dependent on many factors, including, among others, the duration of the pandemic and the measures that may be implemented by, or that may be imposed upon, us, Telesat and Telesat’s customers and suppliers in response to the pandemic, and is therefore difficult to predict. The COVID-19 impact on capital markets could also impact Telesat’s or our ability to attract capital to finance business strategies, such as the development of Telesat’s LEO constellation and related network, and also could increase Telesat’s cost of borrowing.