Matt Sullivan (Cirrus Networks)
The federal government’s JobKeeper payment scheme has played a part in boosting Cirrus Networks’ half yearly after-tax profit by 514 per cent, year-on-year, to $1 million.
The JobKeeper payment, which came to $1.6 million, came during the the publicly listed IT services provider’s half-year ending 31 December 2020 and boosted its pre-option expense earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.1 million.
This, however, was offset by increased share based payments expenses, an increase in one-off interest cost from by large funded deals and a downturn in its Melbourne office performance due to COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a statement posted to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
It's quite the turn around from the same period last year, when Cirrus posted a loss of $234,666.
The IT services provider’s CEO Matt Sullivan said the company delivered “solid” revenue for the half year, which, excluding the JobKeeper payment, was up a record 13 per cent to $53.8 million — something he said was “very pleasing in an environment of continued uncertainty”.
“To deliver consistent revenue growth while improving profitability is a credit to our quality staff and their ability to meet and exceed the client expectations,” he said.
“Of particular note is the 122 per cent growth in revenue from our key Canberra market.”
Compared to the same period last year, its services revenue was up an overall 5 per cent in H1, with its professional services arm rising 8 per cent, to $8.4 million. However, its managed services segment stalled, with revenue slightly dropping by 0.2 per cent, to $5.5 million.
Meanwhile, the provider’s product revenue was up 15.6 per cent, to just shy of $40 million.
Looking ahead, Cirrus’ focus in the short-to-medium term is on annuity and outsource services, which Sullivan claims there is “a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities”, with the provider predicting a pre-options adjusted EBITDA for the full financial year in the range of $4.2 million to $4.6 million.
Some of those opportunities, according to a statement from the provider, are expected to come from federal government departments and the Western Australian resources sector.
Following its downturn, Cirrus’ Melbourne office is also showing signs of improvement for the year ahead due to the appointment of Justin Bock as national sales manager.
