The NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price is in the green today on the back of the company's half-year results and upgraded guidance.
At the time of writing, NextDC's shares are swapping hands at $10.70 apiece, a 4.9% gain. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 2.21%.
Let's take a look at what the data operator reported today.
NextDC share price jumps as revenue, profit lifts
Highlights of the company's half-year (H1 FY22) results include:
- 19% increase in data centre services revenue on the prior corresponding half (pcp) to $144.5 million
- 29% boost in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $85 million
- Operating cash flow hiked 9% to $69.5 million
- Net profit after tax (NPAT) of $10.3 million, a 158% improvement on the $17.8 million net loss in the pcp
- Liquidity of $2.1 billion, including $1.4 billion of undrawn debt facilities.
What else happened in the half?
NextDC achieved this result due to a number of metrics including a 10% boost in customers on the pcp to 1,569. Interconnections also grew by 14% to 15,879, accounting for 7.3% of recurring revenue.
The company improved its contracted utilisation by 14% to 81 megawatts. Billing utilisation surged 25% to 71 megawatts.
In the first half of FY22, NextDC invested $260.7 million in capital development projects. The company also completed a $2.5 billion senior syndicated debt facility with better terms, extended tenor, and a lesser cost of debt.
NextDC continued to invest in its AXON customer connectivity platform. NextDC was named as one of just a few Amazon Web Services direct-connect high-capacity service delivery partners in the world.
The company reported a total of $2.9 billion in assets. This includes data centres in Melbourne, Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Darwin, Brisbane, Perth, and Canberra.
Management commentary
Commenting on the results boosting the NextDC share price, chief executive officer and managing director Craig Scroggie said:
We are pleased to deliver another record result in 1H22, with strong metrics across the business that now positions the company to provide upgraded earnings guidance for FY22.
NextDC's leading national digital infrastructure platform continues to demonstrate strong growth and critical resilience as it continues to mature.
What's next for NextDC?
NextDC has upgraded its guidance for FY22. The company predicts data services revenue between $290 and $295 million, up from $285 to $295 million.
Underlying EBITDA has also been upgraded to between $163 and $167 million, up from $160 to $165 million.
And capital expenditure has been upgraded to between $530 million and $580 million, up from $480 to $540 million.
Commenting on the future outlook, Scroggie added:
As a result of the strong 1H22 performance, the company is able to upgrade its FY22 guidance as well as accelerate project investments in 2H22.
With liquidity of over $2 billion, combined with record operating cash flow, NextDC is in an outstanding position to take advantage of current and future customer opportunities and to press its advantage into new regions and edge location.
NextDC share price summary
The NextDC share price has dived 5% in the past 12 months while it is down 17% year to date.
For perspective, the benchmark ASX 200 has returned around 4% over the past year.
NextDC has a market capitalisation of about $4.66 billion.
