Vocus delivers record profit

Vocus Communications has met its earnings guidance thanks to the positive impact of acquisitions.

Vocus CEO Geoff Horth. Pic: Hollie Adams

Telecommunications group Vocus Communications has met guidance in delivering a record profit, thanks to the positive impact of acquisitions.

For the year to June 30, Vocus logged underlying earnings of $101.7 million, up 461 per cent, as it integrated the July 2015 purchase of Amcom and the February acquisition of M2 Group.

The figure came in just above market expectations for a reading of $96.1m.

The ASX-listed group (VOC) also booked a 455 per cent jump in revenue to $830.8m and 318 per cent lift in underlying pre-tax earnings to $215.6m.

Ahead of the results, Vocus had told shareholders it would deliver revenue in a range of $820m-$835m and pre-tax earnings between $213m-$218m.

The meeting of its own guidance coincided with the matching of analyst forecasts.

The company said the consumer broadband space continued to be a strong driver of growth, with its NBN market share rising from 5.1 per cent to 6.4 per cent.

“We are very pleased to have delivered in a year of significant transformation for shareholders and to be able to demonstrate strong organic growth across our corporate and consumer divisions,” Vocus chief executive Geoff Horth said.

Mr Horth added the integration with Amcom was nearly complete with $13m-$15m worth of synergies to be realised in FY2017, while the merger with M2 was “on schedule” with synergy targets of $40m expected by the end of FY2018.

Vocus delivered a fully franked final dividend of 8c a share, up 300 per cent on the corresponding payout last year.