The Opticomm Ltd (ASX: OPC) share price ended 3.12% lower today after the ASX telco released its half-year results after the close of trade yesterday.
OptiComm is a national broadband fibre designer, builder, owner, and operator, and has a current market capitalisation of $453 million.
What did OptiComm announce?
For the six months to 31 December 2019, OptiComm announced it had recorded proforma revenue of $35.19 million which was an increase of 19% over the prior corresponding period (pcp).
Proforma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 12% on the pcp to reach $18.80 million. Meanwhile, proforma net profit after tax (NPAT) was recorded as $10.78 million, an increase of 7% over the pcp.
Operating cash flow for the half-year came in at $15.8 million, while normalised free cash flow before financing was 44% higher on the pcp at $5.6 million.
An interim dividend of 3.6 cents per share was announced, fully franked, with a record date of 24 March 2020.
Operational update on network rollout
In the half-year period, OptiComm contracted around 19,000 additional lots. The telecommunications provider's contracted pipeline of lots now exceeds 140,000. Of these, over 26,000 lots are currently in progress.
OptiComm's network continues to expand with constructed or passed lots in the 6-month period now tallying to approximately 7,500. This was reported to be in line with the pcp. With this, OptiComm has now passed over 114,000 lots with its network infrastructure.
The company's tally of 26,000 lots in progress is up 21% on the pcp and supports its current forecast of 18,000 completed lots for this financial year.
OptiComm's net new active service additions were just on 6,300 for the 6 months, which represents a 12% increase on the pcp.
Lifestyle village segment continues to grow
OptiComm's markets continue to expand with over 4 new clients added and 6,000 lots now contracted in the lifestyle village segment of the market.
The company noted it has a dedicated sales team for this growing sector and anticipates it will continue to expand its presence in this market with further contract signings in the second half of this financial year.
New housing segment now picking up
In the release, OptiComm commented that the first-half results are in line with company expectations.
The company went on to add that it had experienced strong revenue growth in its network operations, driven by the need for fast and reliable fibre broadband.
The new housing market, it noted, has come through a challenging period with credit availability and first home buyer incentives starting to now drive increased lot sales.
According to the company, OptiComm's contracted pipeline of over 140,000 lots will facilitate ongoing expansion of its network and believes this will further increase its recurring network revenue.
