Shares in Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) have jumped more than 10% after the company reported a return to profit, a major acquisition, and a guidance upgrade.
The broadband provider said in a statement to the ASX that revenue for the half had jumped 23% to $317.6 million, "driven by strong customer and market share gains in consumer and wholesale''.
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Back in the black
Underlying EBITDA jumped 46% to $55.8 million while net profit was $5.1 million compared with a loss of $7.8 million for the same period last year.
The company added 74,000 new customers for the half, a gain of 21%, with total customer numbers now sitting at 805,000.
Superloop also upgraded its underlying EBITDA outlook for the full year to $112 to $120 million, up from $109 to $117 million.
Managing Director Paul Tyler said regarding the results:
Superloop has delivered fantastic results for the first of half of FY26, including record organic Consumer customer growth, an increase in revenue of 23%, and an increase of 46% in underlying EBITDA to $55.8 million, leading to net profit after tax of $5.1 million for the half. Both the Consumer segment and the Wholesale segment achieved strong revenue growth, 29% and 28% respectively. Consumer added a record 49,000 customers during the half, and Wholesale experienced accelerated growth in the last two months, setting the business up for a strong second half.
Major deal announced
In a separate statement to the ASX, Superloop said it had struck a deal to acquire Lightning Broadband for $165 million in cash.
The deal would bring with it Lightning Broadband's fibre to the premises network of 24,000 built lots nationally and a further 30,000 contracted lots.
Supleroop said Lightning was also the default last mile service provider across more than 400 multi and single-dwelling units nationally.
Superloop said it expected synergies of $5 million to be achieved within three years, and the buyout was priced at 15 times Lightning's estimated 2027 earnings.
Mr Tyler said the deal was a crucial step in building out Superloop's "smart communities'' asset base.
He added:
The combination of Lightning Broadband with Superloop's existing Smart Communities portfolio, including the acquisition of Frontier Networks during the first half, creates a serious challenger to incumbents. With a combined built and contracted book of approximately 170,000 lots, we have clear visibility of long-term sustainable growth." "Lightning Broadband's strength in multi-dwelling units complements our expertise in broadacre, build-to-rent and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation. Our existing fibre network, including 2,500km of metropolitan footprint, enables direct connection to Lightning Broadband buildings, driving cost synergies and increasing network resilience.
The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of FY26.
Superloop shares rallied hard on the news, hitting a high of $2.86 before settling back to be 12.8% higher at $2.73.
Supleroop was valued at $1.25 billion at the close of trade on Tuesday.
