In morning trade the NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price has sunk lower following the release of its full year results.
At the time of writing the data centre operator's shares are down 9% to $5.95.
How did NEXTDC perform in FY 2019?
For the 12 months ended June 30, NEXTDC reported a 15% increase in revenue to $179.3 million and a 13% lift in underlying EBITDA to $85.1 million. This compares to its guidance of revenue of $180 million to $184 million and underlying EBITDA guidance of $83 million to $87 million. NEXTDC posted a statutory net loss after tax of $9.8 million.
And although the company revealed a 32.5% jump in capital expenditure during the 12 months to $378 million, this was well short of its guidance range of $430 million to $470 million.
This left the company with cash and cash equivalents of $399 million at the end of the period, thanks largely to the $500 million of senior unsecured debt it raised during the year.
What were the drivers of its growth?
The company's CEO, Craig Scroggie, commented: "NEXTDC continues to experience strong demand for its premium data centre services, with the Company achieving its biggest sales year to date as well as continued robust growth in customer and interconnection numbers."
During the 12 months the company reported a 22% lift in customer numbers to 1,184, a 31% lift in contracted utilisation to 52.5MW, and a 27% jump in interconnections to 10,972. The latter now represents 7.7% of recurring revenue, up from 6.5% of recurring revenue in FY 2018.
Outlook.
According to the release, the company has its eyes on the Asian market and has opened up offices in both Singapore and Japan. It has been evaluating opportunities in both markets, though activities are on hold in Singapore pending a government review into the data centre industry.
Excluding any potential developments overseas and based on current utilisation levels and internal forecasts, the company expects to generate revenue of $200 million to $206 million in FY 2020. This represents year on year growth of 11.5% to 15%.
Underlying EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $100 million to $105 million, which will be growth of 17.5% to 23.5% on FY 2019's result.
And finally, capital expenditure is forecast to reduce from $378 million in FY 2019 to be in the range of $280 million to $300 million in FY 2020.
Also on the move in the tech sector today have been the shares of Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) following the release of their respective results. The Appen share price is up 2% and the Link share price is 7% higher in early trade.
