Macquarie stakes growth on data centre and sovereign capabilities

Macquarie Telecom Group’s data centre investments continue to underpin the carrier’s business with half year revenue up by 16 per cent to $172.5 million and earnings before tax of $51.3 million representing an increase of 26 per cent.

Macquarie chief executive David Tudehope said the company is “staying ahead of emerging trends in the technology sector and investing in the right solutions for our customers."

We pair the best technology with the best customer service and operate in markets that continue to have significant growth potential, such as digital infrastructure and cyber security,” Tudehope said.

Macquarie’s Government and Cloud services arms represented 50 per cent of revenue, with stalwart arm telecommunication services sitting at 32 per cent.

Government procurement remains the strong focus for the Group, boasting 42 per cent of Australian Government agencies as customers.

The carrier said it will continue to invest in its cyber security posture and has aligned with the Australian Government’s focus on ‘sovereign’ capabilities.

The company forecast continued growth cyber, cloud and security growth trends which drives its business.

The ATO recently extended its contract with the carrier which it says protects the ATO from over 3 million attacks a month.

According to the government's AusTender site, the contract value was originally just over $19 million when published in 2019 and has since been revised upwards to $87.2 million.

Hosting accounts for over 80 per cent of the group’s earnings before tax and the company states that it is the first to have both its cloud and data centres services certified to ‘strategic’ level by the Digital Transformation Agency.

The group continues to invest heavily in infrastructure with an anticipated increase of total IT load capacity of data centre IC3E by approximately 1 megawatt.

IC3E is slated for completion by June this year.

Macquarie is also pending approval for its Development Application submitted for IC3 Super West, its largest development to date, which is expected in calendar year 2023.

Site preparation works are underway to prepare the Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus in anticipation of obtaining the DA for IC3 Super West with construction on the data campus is expected to be completed 18 to 24 months later.

Full year EBITDA is expected to be between $102 and 104 million with cloud, government and data centre investment underpinning growth.

The company forecast that net debt would decrease for the full year with capex will be between $72 and 76 million, with depreciation in the $63 67 million range.

Macquarie Telecom yesterday announced that it had promoted Marika Fiorini to chief customer officer, she was previously the state manager for Victoria.

In this new role, Fiorini will focus on driving business, sales and marketing and nurturing internal career development as Macquarie prepares for its next stage of growth.