The NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price will be on the spotlight on Friday after the company released its FY21 results.
NextDC share price in focus following 23% revenue lift
The NextDC share price could be on the move today after the company reported another year of strategic capital investment and set new benchmarks for financial performance. Key highlights included:
- Data centre services revenue increased 23% to $246.1 million.
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 29% to $134.5 million.
- Operating cash flow surged 148% to $133.2 million.
- The number of customers increased by 13% to 1,547.
- Liquidity of $1.7 billion, including undrawn debt facilities of $1.05 billion, at the end of FY21.
What happened for NextDC in FY21?
The NextDC share price is up 8.97% year to date and 13.2% in the past 12 months, underperforming the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Despite the company's slow-moving share price, NextDC achieved a number of significant milestones and enjoyed a period of strong growth in FY21.
NextDC continued to experience significant growth in the number of customers, customer orders and data centre revenue.
Data centre services revenue for the year increased 23% to $246.1 million, driven by the increased utilisation of data centre services across the business. As at 30 June, the company was billing for 65.3MW of capacity.
NextDC continues to take strides towards profitability, delivering a net loss after tax of $20.7 million compared to a $45.0 million loss in FY20.
NextDC has a strong pipeline of development work to drive its facility capacity and contracted utilisation.
The company cited record development activity in Victoria with 9MW of new capacity built and commissioned on time and on budget at the M2 site. Construction work has now begun for an additional 9MW of capacity, scheduled for delivery during the fourth quarter of FY22.
NextDC said that during FY21, strong demand from customers in NSW and ACT saw the company reach contracted utilisation of 41MW in this region. With its S2 site approaching full capacity, it expects to transition further demand across to S3, which is scheduled to come online during the second half of FY22.
According to NextDC, the company secured critical expansion capacity during FY21 to support the next decade of growth. NextDC secured its single largest landholding to date in Western Sydney for S4 Sydney, targeting a capacity of 300MW. The company also received development approval for M3 Melbourne, securing expansion land for the 150MW campus in West Footscray.
It will be interesting to see how the NextDC share price performs on Friday as investors digest the company's latest results.
Management commentary
NextDC CEO and managing director Craig Scroggie commented on the FY21 results:
We are pleased to deliver on market expectations, with the Company's FY21 results coming in ahead of the upgraded guidance provided at the time of NEXTDC's 1H21 results in February. 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
What's next for NextDC?
Another driver for the NextDC share price today could be the company's forward-looking guidance for FY22.
NextDC said that, based on current operating metrics and expected new customer contracts, it forecasts FY22 to deliver:
- Data centre services revenue between $285 million to $295 million (up 16% to 20% on FY21).
- Underlying EBITDA between $160 million and $165 million (up 19% to 23%).
- Capital expenditure in the range of $480 million to $540 million.
NextDC share price snapshot
The NextDC share price closed Thursday's session 1.82% lower at $13.48. The company's shares reached a 52-week high of $14.10 during intraday trading on 9 November last year.
Based on the current NextDC share price, the company has a market capitalisation of around $6.1 billion.
