​Unisys Australia suffers AU$3.3m full-year loss

IT services firm Unisys has published the 2016 financial results of its Australian chapter, reporting an after-tax loss of AU$3.3 million, down from the AU$709,000 after-tax profit recorded a year prior.

Revenue for the 12-month period was AU$237.7 million, up from the AU$201.5 million in annual revenue reported for 2015.

As a result of the loss, Unisys Australia was handed a AU$1.3 million income tax benefit from the Australian Taxation Office.

During the year, the principal continuing activities of Unisys Australia consisted of the sale of IT solutions and outsourcing services, as well as third-party loan and payment processing services.

Unisys received AU$258 million in receipts from customers during the year, and paid suppliers and employees AU$244 million.

The New South Wales government transitioned its ServiceFirst portfolio into Unisys' Australian head office last March, where Unisys is providing a centralised IT support service to state government departments and agencies under GovConnectNSW.

The NSW government initially signed the contract with Unisys and Infosys in June, to outsource the functions of the state's shared service provider, ServiceFirst.

Under the six-year contract, Unisys will provide end-to-end outsourced IT services including mobile device, laptop, and desktop support; central computing infrastructure support including server, storage, networking, and data centres; IT service management including the centralised service desk in Western Sydney; desk-side support; and application services.

The Australian Department of Defence also extended its IT support services contract with Unisys in 2016 for another two years to October 2018, valued at approximately AU$74 million.

Under the contract, Unisys will provide IT support for 100,000 end users at approximately 450 Defence locations across the country. The contract will also include providing support for joint service and international military exercises such as Talisman Sabre, as well as emergency disaster responses including floods and bushfires.

Unisys won its first regional IT services agreement with Defence back in 2008 for an initial five years.

The IT firm also recently announced a partnership with Data61 that will see the development of an advanced data analytics solution for the automated security risk assessment of travellers and cargo.

Unisys will fund the joint research project as it works on the development of an advanced data analytics solution capable of detecting potential border security risks posed by travellers, visa applicants, cargo, and parcels at air, land, and sea borders.

Globally speaking, for the full year, Unisys reported a $47.7 million net loss, on revenue of $2.8 billion. Despite the loss, the company somewhat recovered from its loss of $109.9 million a year prior.

For the 12-month period, Unisys made $2.4 billion of its revenue from the provision of services and, its technology revenue, which represented 15 percent of total revenue, was up 1 percent year over year to $414 million.

In 2016, operating cash flow increased by $217 million year over year to $218 million.

During the year, the Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based company secured a $51.8 million contract from a civilian US government agency for support services and technology upgrades for the agency's ClearPath Forward hosting services. The base period of the contract is nine months, followed by four one-year options, Unisys said.