Performance Highlights

Please note: Datacom Group has adopted the NZ IFRS 15 accounting standard that has a material impact on the Group’s accounting policy. We have not restated prior year figures in the annual statements. The reported FY19 metrics are not directly comparable with the FY18 results.  
 
  • Total operating revenue of $1.29 billion, an improvement of 17% like for like over FY18
  • Profit before tax improved to $61.88 million
  • Profit after tax improved to $42.02 million
  • Full year operating cash inflow remains solid at $71.25 million
  • Capital expenditure increased to $67.82 million.  
 
Datacom delivered another year of growth, with total operating revenue of $1.29 billion, an improvement of 17% over the previous financial year, and profit after tax of $42.02 million. The lift in profit is attributed to Australia’s improving performance. 
 
Datacom CEO Greg Davidson says the FY19 Results are a pleasing trend with growing success in Australia and our international markets, and maintain Datacom’s record of more than 20 years of continuous revenue growth. 
 
“Our team at Datacom has worked very hard this year and the results reflect that. Our on-the-ground experience and deep domain expertise means we are starting to gain real traction as an active business partner with our customers, not just an outsourcing provider,” says Davidson.   
 
“Globally we’ve seen our first big wins in the United States, as well as pleasing results out of the Australian business. Our work on the Australian Organ Matching System, which is a world first in terms of innovation and delivery, and our relationship with regional governments is delivering great results across the Tasman.”
 
Capital expenditure increased over the prior year to $67.82m, in support of Datacom’s investment in its long-term business strategy including investments in Local Government solutions with Datascape, and in Payroll solutions for Australia and New Zealand. This also marks the culmination of the company’s expansion of its four New Zealand data centres to provide world-class facilities designed for cloud providers’ critical infrastructure and to meet growing local customer demand in manufacturing, banking and telecommunications sectors among others. 
 
The largest percentage of revenue for the Group was generated through the IT Outsourcing (ITO) business which is built on the back of customer feedback with five service offerings – Modern Workplace, Cloud Services, Modern Outsourcing, Application Resiliency and Networking and Security. 
 
“Our ITO business is the operational heart of our customers’ technology platforms across operations, networks and security. Our teams provide first-hand insight and give our customers the ability to flex and solve their business problems when the realities of an ever changing world demand it,” says Davidson.
 
The exploration and incubation of emerging technologies continues in Datacom’s Innovation Foundry. Using the ThinkSmash™ methodology with Silver Fern Farms the team produced a ‘mobile first’ experience for the critical tasks their farmers needed to help them run more efficiently and as a result is further developing the experience into its Digital Ecosystem. 
 
The implementation of new product offerings from Datacom in the last year has also resulted in several successes for Local Government and the Public Sector in their digital migration journeys, such as helping New Zealand Customs Service to modernise its border management system and enabling a range of councils including the Shire of Manjimup in Western Australia to deepen community engagement. 
 

New Appointments to the Datacom Group Board

 
Datacom is also pleased to announce two new directors, Tony Carter and Chris Day, are joining the Group Board from 1 August, 2019.
 
Tony Carter is the current chair of Air New Zealand and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited, and a director of Vector Limited, Fletcher Building Limited and ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited. Carter is a chartered fellow of the Institute of Directors. He has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from Canterbury University in addition to a Master of Engineering and Master of Philosophy.
 
Chris Day is a director at Landcorp and advisor to the executive committee at Silver Fern Farms. Day has held a number of senior financial roles at Z Energy, Contact Energy, AXA New Zealand, NZ Post and the Wool Board. He has a Bachelor of Business Studies from Massey University, is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Treasury Professional, and a member of the Institute of Directors.
 
Chairman Craig Boyce says the new board members will help shape Datacom’s vision for the next three years.
 
“As we look to the future and the changing environment our customers face, it’s essential we have the right team both within the business and at governance level. Datacom’s growth has been tremendous, and we want to ensure the company continues to grow in capability and talent and build our valued reputation among customers, in the years ahead. Tony and Chris will be valuable additions to the board and I look forward to working closely with them,” says Boyce. 
 

Snapshot of Key Initiatives

OrganMatch, Australia Red Cross Blood Service 

 
Working with the Australian Organ Tissue Authority (OTA) and the Red Cross Blood Service, Datacom has built the Australian Organ Matching System (AOMS). This world first project is a new platform that determines the most appropriate organ match for transplant patients. It will support all solid organ transplant programmes including living donor kidney transplants, Australian Kidney Exchange Program and the deceased organ donor programme. 
 

GovNext in West Australia 

 
The GovNext-ICT programme sees Datacom assist the Western Australia State Government in its transformation from an owner and operator of ICT infrastructure to a consumer of ICT services.
 
Datacom built a core network for the state in Perth and deployed first with the Western Australia Department of Finance in December 2017. Since then 11 agencies have joined the programme for a total of 137 physical sites around the state. 
 
Western Australia is the largest single jurisdiction for emergency services in the world. To put that in perspective, the United Kingdom can fit into WA more than 11 times over. This also means WA has some of the most remote network sites in the world – and they all require connectivity. The furthest site we manage is in Kununurra, 3319km away from Perth.
 

Emergency Caller Location Information System (ECLIS)

 
Each year, there are more than two million calls to New Zealand emergency services and more than 80% of calls to 111 were made from a mobile phone. In a number of cases, callers could not identify their location accurately, leaving emergency services unable to help.
 
Datacom worked with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to build the core Location Area Service (LAS) which provides the core functionality for ECLIS. It has undergone further development work to improve functionality and user experience and continues to be a core asset in the race to save lives.
 

Counties Power

 
Counties Power services over 42000 homes, farms and businesses between south Auckland and north Waikato. As one of the fastest-growing electricity distributors in New Zealand, Datacom helped Counties Power use their insight to manage and analyse millions of rows of their data to help highlight where Counties Power can help customers save money.
 

Silver Fern Farms

 
Using the ThinkSmash™ methodology with Silver Fern Farms the team produced a ‘mobile first’ experience for the critical tasks their farmers needed to help them run more efficiently and as a result is further developing the experience into its Digital Ecosystem.
 

Govt.Container service 

 
Datacom successfully migrated New Zealand Customs Service’s CusMod border management system onto our new Govt.Container service.  
 
Govt.Container is a new cloud service from Datacom that enables sizeable existing heritage applications to be evolved and updated more quickly and cost-effectively. This container service helps organisations that are looking to move their IT applications, platforms and infrastructure to the cloud make strong early progress across a wider range of their operations than before.
 

Datascape and Antenno

 
Six councils have already adopted Datascape, our new cloud-based software solution for Local Government. Aimed at bringing together a host of services and applications under one roof, Datascape has been adopted by local government bodies on both sides of the Tasman.
 
Antenno is a new Datacom-built app that enables councils and rate payers to engage more directly with each other. Community members can receive alerts and updates and can let council know about issues that need immediate action. 
 
“Public Sector and Local Government is a logical fit for us, both in Australia and New Zealand. Six councils have already adopted Datascape, our new cloud-based software solution for Local Government, and our Antenno product is proving popular among councils as they move to engage more directly with ratepayers and residents. Our new cloud Govt.Container service enables organisations with high volume and complex security requirements, like New Zealand Customs, to move their IT applications, platforms and infrastructure to the cloud,” says Davidson.