Engineering firm Lycopodium disappointed the market with its interim results today whereas Southern Cross Electrical Engineering enjoyed strong gains after its profit report.
Engineering firm Lycopodium disappointed the market with its interim results today whereas Southern Cross Electrical Engineering enjoyed strong gains after its profit report.
SCEE announced record numbers for revenue, EBITDA and net profit and increased its interim dividend by 150 per cent to 2.5 cents.
EBITDA was up 58 per cent to $25.1 million and the company flagged an even stronger second half, reiterating its full-year EBITDA guidance of at least $53 million.
With a strong balance sheet, the company said further acquisitions were being actively explored.
The growth in revenue – up 55 per cent to $397 million for the half – came from its infrastructure business.
Key projects for the company include Synergy's battery energy storage system (BESS) being built at Collie, Western Sydney International Airport and a NEXTDC data centre in Sydney.
Its commercial business had steady revenue and its mining business had a small decline in revenue.
Managing director Graeme Dunn said he anticipated further growth in the years ahead driven by its exposure to the high levels of infrastructure spend, the increasing requirement for data centres and the electrification of the economy.
Revenue from data centre work is expected to hit $120 million in FY25, up from $50 million last financial year.
SCEE shares traded 13 per cent higher today to $1.75, still below its 12-month high of $1.96.
In contrast, Lycopodium shares were down 10.9 per cent to $10.19.
The company’ shares have enjoyed a solid rally over the past two months but those gains were lost after it reported a slide in revenue and earnings.
Revenue dipped to $167.4 million while net profit sank to $25.2 million, down from $30.0 million.
For the full year, the company expects a net profit of between $37 million and $43 million, implying a much weaker second-half result.
The company is working on a range of gold, lithium, copper, nickel and platinum projects in Australia and across Africa.
Managing director Peter de Leo did not directly address the weaker profit in the company’s results announcement, referring instead to the large volume of work underway and potential for more in future.
Early this month, Lycopodium finalised the purchase of a majority (60 per cent) interest in Argentinian headquartered engineering company, SAXUM.
