Melbourne IT's revenue up by $154.4M

Melbourne IT has reported a 49 percent increase in revenue to $154.4 million and a 141 percent increase in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $20.1m year on year. Net profit after tax (NPAT) in 2007 increased 118 percent to $13.9m.

Theo Hnarakis, Melbourne IT CEO and managing director said the 2007 result reflects continuing organic growth from our five key divisions as well as the impact from a full year contribution from WebCentral.

“Another component of Melbourne IT’s ongoing success is our commitment to accelerating growth through mergers and acquisitions. In this respect we have been very pleased to be able to show that we can successfully manage a larger acquisition such as the WebCentral Group,” said Hnarakis.

Basic earnings per share grew 73 percent to 18.15 cents against the previous corresponding period. Operating cash was up 117 percent to $24.6 million and deferred gross margin was also up four percent year on year to $21.8 million. The strong operating cash flow has enabled the Melbourne IT Group to retire the final $3.0 million of debt ahead of schedule in the second half of 2007 – reducing debt from $12.0 million at December 2006 to nil at 31 December 2007.

The company’s net cash position is $17.9 million, which positions the company well for further M&A activity, said Hnarakis.

“As always, there are challenges ahead, including the strength of the Australian dollar against the US dollar, commoditisation of domain names and small business hosting, and competition for scarce IT resources. We are focused on the future and on maximising the opportunities that our global reach, our brand, our product range and our expertise in the Internet present,” he said.

According to Hnarakis, in 2007 Business & Consumer, Corporate & Government and Reseller results were particularly pleasing.

“The year on year results for Business & Consumer, Corporate & Government, Reseller and ForTheRecord include WebCentral Group’s contribution to Melbourne IT from 11 September 2006 onwards,” claimed Hnarakis.