David Tudehope (Macquarie Telecom)
Macquarie Telecom Group’s pre-tax earnings were up for the 2021 financial year, which were bolstered by investment in data centre, cloud and cyber security.
For the year ending 30 June, Macquarie Telecom’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 13 per cent, to $73.8 million, while net profit after tax (NPAT) fell by 7.4 per cent, down to $12.5 million.
The increase in EBITDA was pegged to the group’s investment plans, chairman Peter James claimed, making it the seventh financial year in a row that Macquarie Telecom recorded EBITDA growth.
The FY21 hit to its profits, meanwhile, was due to its increase in depreciation and amortisation from increased capital expenditure in FY20 and FY21.
“The 2021 full year results delivered the seventh consecutive year of EBITDA growth underpinned by our strategy of investing in data centres, cloud and cyber security, including the recent announcement of our new IC3 Super West development, which will provide significant customer growth opportunities in the future,” he said.
In addition, the first phase of its IC3 East data centre was delivered on budget in FY21, after being delayed in June 2019, and, when completed and combined with the IC3 Super West data centre, the overall campus will reach up to 50 MW.
“This global scale data centre campus will attract new investment into Australia from multinationals looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region," said CEO David Tudehope said.
“We have decided to increase our investments in cyber security, people and technology to benefit from the increasing demand for business and government to uplift their security defences.
“Our outstanding customer experience as measured by a Net Promotor Score of over 75 has been even more important to our customers as they rely to a greater extent on telecom and cloud services as their staff are predominantly working from home as a result of COVID-19.”
Both the EBITDA and NPAT results continue the trend seen in FY20, which also saw its NPAT drop and its EBITDA rise.
Breaking down its individual business segments, consolidated revenue and other income for its Telecom subsidiary was down by 3.3 per cent, to $135.1 million, while its combined Cloud Services and Government businesses were up a considerable 21.6 per cent, to $130.1 million.
Meanwhile, its Data Centres business squeaked out a 1.6 per cent rise, to $19.9 million.
In FY22, the group expects continued growth within the second half of the year, with strong growth in particular expected for its Government and Cloud Services businesses.
Additionally, its Data Centres subsidiary will see increased investment from the first half of the new financial year in new staffing and technology.
As for its Telecom business, revenue and EBITDA are predicted to be impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns, which in turn will be partially offset by demand for new technologies.
