Credit: Dreamstime
Publicly-listed telecommunications services provider Vonex has shrunk its net loss from $2.79 million last year to $596,000 in FY20, ending June 30.
Revenue grew 67 per cent, from $9.2 million to $15.4 million, while underlying earnings before tax returned to the black, to $25,237 from $454,332 in the red in FY19, and $4.8 million cash at bank. Annualised recurring revenue grew 89 per cent to $16.4 million.
In a letter to shareholders, Vonex non-executive chairman Nicholas Ong said its achievements during the year were incredible considering the challenges faced by many businesses in the wake of COVID-19, particularly highlighting its June quarter as its “best quarter since becoming a listed company.”
“We have continued to accelerate our growth and generate revenue that is largely recurring, which provides a strong foundation to build on in the years ahead,” Ong said. “As we commence FY21, we are excited to build on our strongest quarter to date, and I’m confident the strategies and targets we have in place will drive Vonex to hit new milestones as we continue to execute on a range of growth initiatives.”
Despite the economic effects of COVID-19, sales for its retail business saw an increase of 65 per cent year-on-year. This was further boosted by the integration of 2SG Wholesale, following the completion of the acquisition in February.
The acquisition itself increased Vonex’s wholesale customer base, along with the value provided to its wholesale and customer base through 2SG’s long-term partnerships with Optus, NBN Co and iseek Communications.
The acquisition also expanded Vonex’s reach into the small and medium enterprise customer play through new products such as fleet mobile, mobile broadband, and NBN with 4G backup.
Five new mobile broadband supply contracts were also signed towards the end of FY20, including a deal with Data#3 subsidiary, Discovery Technology.
As a result, Vonex has experienced a 75 per cent increase in mobile broadband orders in June, with momentum growing into FY21. Ramping up its channel partnerships and further wholesale acquisition opportunities were also on the cards for the year ahead.
“We can attribute our most recent wholesale wins to the flexibility we have developed with the NBN active points of interconnect that we recently enabled, and the imminent launch of 5G mobile broadband solutions by 2SG, while will provide customers with internet speeds of up to 600 Mbps,” Ong said.
Another important strategy that Vonex rolled out during the year was Qantas Business Rewards, which Vonex said contributed to growth in average length of new contracts as well as higher average total contract value. Despite the onset of COVID-19, Ong said it was continuing to see increase in sales and brand awareness due its involvement in the program.
Ong also said its Oper8tor app, which aims to connect conference, voice, message and video functionality across multiple platforms and devices, has overcome a range of technical challenges, and will continue to progress the apps development in FY21, particularly after engaging with London-based Ragnar Capital Partners to assist in navigating Oper8tor through its rollout and commercialisation phases.
