Business

NextDC revenue and EBIDTA up as loss narrows in FY2021

Revenue for the data centre company sat at AU$246 million for the 2021 financial year.

Written by Asha Barbaschow, Contributor Aug. 26, 2021 at 10:12 p.m. PT

Australian data centre company NextDC has reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of AU$134.5 million for 2021, up nearly AU$30 million from the AU$105 million it reported a year prior.

Once interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation were accounted for, however, the company walked away with a AU$20 million after-tax loss, a AU$25 million improvement over last year's result.

CEO and MD Craig Scroggie touted the result as coming in ahead of guidance.

"Today's results are a testament to the company's pursuit of excellence, against a more difficult economic backdrop due to the COVID-19 global pandemic," he declared.

Operating cash flow was up AU$79.5 million to AU$133.2 million and capital expenditure was down AU$116 million over last year to AU$301 million.

Data centre revenue for the financial year ended 30 June 2021 was AU$246 million, up 23% over the prior year. NSW and the ACT accounted for 47% of total revenue.

Total contracted utilisation grew 5.5MW -- 8% -- to 75.5MW, and the number of customers increased by 183 in the year to total 1,547. Interconnections also rose by 1,667 to 14,718, representing 7.7% of recurring revenue. 87% of contracted utilisation was billing at 30 June 2021.

Providing an update on development activity, NextDC told shareholders its S2 Sydney fitout was completed in the year, taking total installed capacity to 30MW. S3 Sydney, meanwhile, had building construction "well progressed", with practical completion of stage 1 on target for 2H22 with 12MW of initial capacity.

The company has also secured land for S4, which it hopes will provide long-term expansion capacity of 300MW in the state.

In Melbourne, its M2 fitout continued with 9MW of capacity added, with a further 9MW on its way. At M3, planned capacity has increased to 150MW following the acquisition of property surround the existing site, taking the total land size to approximately 100,000 sqm. The company said groundworks are well progressed and building construction has commenced, and is on target for practical completion in 1H23 with 13.5MW of initial capacity.

Over in the west, P1 in Perth now has plans in place to increase target capacity to 10MW.

Total power planned in NSW/ACT is 130.8MW, 225MW in Victoria, 14.3MW in Queensland, and for WA, 30MW.

Looking ahead, NextDC is expecting data centre services revenue to reach AU$285-AU$295 million in 2022, with underlying EBITDA guidance of AU$160-AU$165 million. It is predicting capital expenditure in the range of AU$480-AU$540 million.