By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor
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Thursday 16th August 2001 |
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Operating profit for the period stood at $20.11 million, up from $15.73 million last year ,while net profit after tax has risen to $26.9 million.
The net profit figure includes gains arising from the revaluation of the group's investment in Data Advantage, offset by costs associated with overseas investments.
Since last year the company's 9.8 million shares in Australian partner Data Advantage have been revalued by $13.72 million to reflect the value of the recently announced proposed merger. Costs associated with overseas investment opportunities of $6.92 million have been expensed.
Baycorp's chairman, Rosanne Meo, says it's commendable that the company has delivered significant growth in a year when it has been firmly focused on building international platforms for growth in Australia and Asia .
"Indeed, this year's profit is not only another record result for us, it is also the seventh consecutive year that we have reported growth in after-tax earnings in excess of 20% from the core business. This represents an exceptional achievement."
Revenue for the year increased by 15% to $67.186 million, rising across all of the company's core divisions.
MD Keith McLaughlin says the business data division grew strongly during the year, firmly establishing the group as a leading business information portal for New Zealand companies. Revenue rose 15.5% to $21.05 million.
"Baycorp business data will remain a key growth driver of the New Zealand business, and is superbly positioned to expand the range of services offered through its technology and data capabilities."
Mr McLaughlin says collection services, which at $24.6 million in revenue remains the biggest earner for the company, benefited from rising market demand for outsourced debt recovery services.
"Increasingly, the market wants more sophisticated risk management solutions and so Baycorp has strengthened its position by continuously focusing upon performance, solution integration and service quality. Growth has therefore continued regardless of the intensified competition during the past year."
"This division performed strongly during the year, with debt load and revenues growing despite the reduction of the longstanding NZ On Air collection work following the phasing out of the television license fees. Cash collected has been particularly strong in the last few months."
The company's debt acquisition business also recorded a strong revenue gain, up 20% on last year to $13.1 million.
"While impacted by some one-off factors, the market for factored ledgers continues to expand. Debt acquisition has become an integral part of Baycorp's service offering and the group anticipates further opportunities as the market continues to develop," says Mr McLaughlin.
Baycorp says its joint venture in Australia, Alliance Group Holdings, is now a robust business and made a positive contribution to second half earnings.
"Baycorp is confident that Alliance, which is already the leading provider of services to Australia's telecommunications and banking industries, has established itself as a major force in the Australian debt management industry," says Mrs Meo.
"Certainly we see significant opportunities in Australia and these will be further enhanced once the merger between Baycorp and Data Advantage is completed."
Both companies are shareholders in Alliance along with Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Mrs Meo says the recently confirmed merger with Data Advantage cements the companies' combined position as a leading data solutions provider in New Zealand and Australia, and is also the key to developing a substantial presence in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
She says the company is looking for considerably cost and revenue synergies from the merger.
"Preliminary analysis indicates pre-tax synergies of $19 million per annum can be achieved within three years as a direct result of the merger. That is equivalent to around 30% of the current pre-tax earnings of the combined companies."
A final payout of 13.5 cents per share has been declared to bring the year's total to 22.5 cents against last year's total dividend of 19 cents.
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