NEXTDC's Craig Scroggie
Datacentre-as-a-Service provider, NEXTDC Limited (ASX: NXT), recorded substantial growth in datacentre services and EBITDA, and delivered a statutory net profit for the half-year ended December 31, 2015 (1H16).
In announcing its financial results for the period, NEXTDC pointed to the following highlights from 1H16
- Revenue up 51 per cent to $42.1 million (1H15: $28.0 million)
- EBITDA up 279 per cent to $11.4 million (1H15: $3.0 million)
- Statutory net profit of $0.6 million, compared to net loss of $5.8 million in 1H15
- Liquidity of $275 million at 31 December 2015, comprising cash of $225 million and undrawn senior debt facility of $50 million
The company also underscored achievements in several other areas:
Sales and operational milestones
- Contracted utilisation up 59 per cent to 22.8MW at December 31, 2015 (December 31, 2014: 14.3MW)
- Interconnection (cross connects) up 75 per cent to 3,843 at December 31, 2015 (December 31, 2014: 2,198)
- Annualised unweighted pipeline up 18 per cent to $203 million at December 31, 2015 (December 31, 2014: $172 million)
- The Company announced on 23 November 2015 its intention to pursue the development of new data centres in Brisbane (B2) and Melbourne (M2), adding up to 31MW of IT load capacity to its national network over time. B2 is expected to have an initial capacity of 1MW+ with a target total capacity of approximately 6MW. M2 is expected to have an initial capacity of 2MW+ with a target total capacity of approximately 25MW
- NEXTDC is currently in advanced discussions in relation to short-listed sites for B2 and M2
- FY16 capital investment in new facilities is expected to be between $20 million and $40 million (guidance - dated November 23, 2015: $60 million to $80 million), with the variance largely reflecting timing differences (i.e. more spend is expected to fall into FY17)
Based on 1H16 performance, current utilisation levels and expected new client contracts in 2H16, NEXTDC now expects the following outcomes for FY16:
- Revenues trending towards top end of the guidance range of $85 million to $90 million (FY15: $60.9 million)
- EBITDA trending towards top end of the guidance range of $25 million to $28 million (FY15: $8 million)
- Capital investment at existing sites of between $100 million and $120 million (guidance3: $75 million to $85 million, with a further $40 million to $50 million subject to securing large customer opportunities)
