Superloop reports net loss of AU$4m

Asia-Pacific fibre infrastructure company Superloop has recorded a net loss of AU$3.98 million for the first half of the 2016 financial year on revenue of AU$1.94 million.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was negative AU$3.51 million.

Operating expenses amounted to AU$3.9 million, with AU$2 million of this arising from employee expenses and AU$1.1 million from professional services. The company also acquired broadcast media network Cinenet Systems for AU$3 million over the reporting period.

Cinenet, established in 2003, owns a high-speed broadband network specifically for use by the broadcast and media industry, which will provide Superloop with an avenue to enter the media industry and the US market.

Partially due to this acquisition, Superloop's net assets totalled AU$100.9 million as of the end of December 2015, almost double the AU$53.8 million reported at the end of June 2015, while the company reported cash and cash equivalents of AU$35.1 million.

Superloop expects to achieve revenue of AU$10 million by July.

At the end of December, Superloop announced raising AU$7.4 million through its share purchase plan (SPP) offer for the express purpose of building out a AU$45 million 110km fibre-optic telecommunications network in Hong Kong.

The 110km network, with two 1,000-core count fibre cables, will connect Hong Kong's primary datacentre campuses and enterprise buildings, and has an installation timeline of 12 to 14 months. It will initially connect 30 strategic sites and six key datacentres.

Superloop announced on Monday that the first cable segments are already being installed in Hong Kong, with the project due to be complete by Q1 of calendar 2017.

The Superloop (Hong Kong) subsidiary was granted a Unified Carrier Licence by the Hong Kong Office of the Communications Authority in August, with Superloop CEO Daniel Abrahams stating that this would enable the company to provide the Chinese territory with fixed-line telecommunications services.

Superloop also announced plans to build a direct submarine cable-crossing path between the datacentre campuses of Tseung Kwan O (TKO) -- Hong Kong's new major hub for technology, datacentre, financial, and media companies, as well as submarine cable landing stations -- and Chai Wan.

Superloop provided an update of the TKO project within its financial results, revealing that it has secured an environmental permit and is on track to complete by the end of 2016, once the board grants final approval.

In Singapore, the company has installed a 132km fibre network, with six datacentres and two cable landing stations connected to the network.

Superloop also announced in early December further investment into its Project Red Lion, dedicating between AU$1.5 million to AU$3.5 million from its funds raised through the SPP.

Superloop was founded by Australian technology entrepreneur Bevan Slattery in 2014, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in June 2015 after a successful initial public offering that raised AU$17.5 million through more than 2,300 investors.

The company was created when Megaport's fibre assets were spun off so that Megaport could return its focus to expanding its layer 2 elastic connectivity platform outside of Asia and Australia.

Megaport also announced results for the first half of FY16 on Monday, reporting a net loss of AU$9.9 million on revenue of AU$1 million.