Empired ups guidance following AU$65m in contracts

Perth-based IT services company Empired has secured six major contracts in the second half of the financial year, worth a total value of AU$65 million. This has seen the company bump up its expected FY2015 revenue by AU$20 million, to between AU$120 million and AU$130 million.

The company announced last week that it had secured a AU$15 million contract with Singapore-based InterOil Corporation. Over three years, Empired will provide the Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas company with managed services for its core information technology systems, including infrastructure and communications, as well as finance and corporate systems.

The Perth-based firm also secured a AU$10 million three-year deal with another global oil and gas organisation, which -- although unnamed -- also has its Australian headquarters in Perth.

"Our acquisitions, now consolidated under the Empired brand in Australia and integrated into our mature structures, systems, and processes, are demonstrating very pleasing performance," Empired managing director Russell Baskerville said.

Last year, Empired purchased New Zealand-based IT services firm Intergen for a price of NZ$19.5 million. As part of the acquisition, Empired saw the addition of 825 staff members across Australasia and North America. With this transaction, Empired landed a NZ$12 million "cohesion" contract in March this year, with Ministry for Primary Industries New Zealand (MPI). The MPI six-year contract will see the IT firm provide a cloud-based electronic document and records management system to the government department headquartered in Wellington.

Earlier this year, Empired landed a AU$20 million deal with global mining giant Rio Tinto. The three-year deal will see Empired managing the metals and mining company's extensive collection of enterprise software.

In addition, Empired signed a deal with Toyota Motor Corporation Australia to provide managed services to Toyota's core Microsoft platforms, as well as a contract with an unnamed Melbourne-based "professional services organisation" to provide managed cloud-based infrastructure as a service.

Empired remains confident on delivering a strong FY15 and FY16 financial result, with Baskerville saying that the company expects a high level of new contract success into the 2016 financial year.

"These contracts are all annuity-based managed services contracts that provide an exceptional platform for further growth into FY16 and enhance the defensible nature of our business model and revenue predictability," he said.