By NZPA
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Monday 2nd September 2002 |
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The result was weighed down by $A309.1 million in one-off items, including a writedown of goodwill on consolidation ($A228 million) and writedown of New Zealand databases ($A65.6 million).
Baycorp Advantage was created through the merger in December of New Zealand's Baycorp Holdings and Australian associate Data Advantage.
Managing director Keith McLaughlin said the company was 90 percent through the integration process.
He said Baycorp was on target to deliver a 20 percent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) in the present financial year, in addition to synergy benefits from the merger.
"We are now very well positioned as a united organisation to go forward to increase shareholder value," he told journalists in Sydney.
"We are certainly looking forward and not looking back, but when we look back over the last 12 months, we have grown our business effectively during the period under review."
Mr McLaughlin said it was difficult to comment on the fall in Baycorp's share price after the result was announced.
Baycorp shares closed in New Zealand down 9c at $4.26.
"But perhaps once the market has had time to digest the strong operational performance of the company, the underlying growth aspirations and our confidence in our ability to deliver growth, it will have a better understanding of what this announcement means," he said.
Baycorp said its revenues rose 60 percent to $A122.4 million, while net operating cash flows of $A21.3 million were up 23 percent on the previous year.
The statutory accounts included 12 months of Baycorp Advantage Australia, and six months and 18 days of New Zealand operations since the merger.
Baycorp also issued a set of pro forma accounts, which assumed that the merger was completed on July 1, 2001, and included a full 12 months of both Australian and New Zealand operations.
It showed revenue increasing 16 percent to $A155.3 million, ebitda up 17 percent to $A54.9 million, and all business units recording double-digit growth.
"A 17 percent growth in ebitda business is in our opinion very strong," Mr McLaughlin said.
"It meets market expectations and meets what we indicated to the market we would achieve."
He said synergy benefits -- identified at the time of the merger of $A15 million a year within three years -- were on track for being achieved.
While Baycorp will not pay a dividend for the 2002 financial year, it will pay an interim dividend in the first quarter of the current financial year of four cents per share on September 16.
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