Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (SXE) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved record half-year revenue of $397.4m (AUD 397.4 million), up 55.5% year-over-year, driven by strong growth in infrastructure and data centres, with infrastructure comprising up to 70% of revenue.

• EBITDA reached a record $27.1m, up 58.5%, and NPAT was $16.2m, up 67.8% year-over-year.

• Maintained a debt-free balance sheet with record cash of $114.8m, up 36.5% year-over-year, and declared a fully franked interim dividend of 2.5 cps, up 150% from prior year.

• Order book increased to $670m, up 21.8% year-over-year, reflecting a robust pipeline, especially in infrastructure and data centres.

• Recent MDE acquisition integrated successfully and performing to expectations.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit rose 34.2% to $50.6m, though gross margin declined by 2 percentage points to 12.7% due to legal costs and project mix.

• Overheads as a percentage of revenue fell to 6.0% from 8.2% year-over-year, despite a 14.8% increase in absolute terms.

• Record dividend payout of $12.7m–$13.2m and a large tax payment of $16.0m were made in the period.

• Basic EPS was 6.13 cents, up from 3.67 cents year-over-year.

• Included $1.1m of acquisition amortization in EBIT and NPAT.

Outlook and guidance

• Reiterated FY25 EBITDA guidance of at least $53m, with expectations for further growth in FY26 and beyond.

• Strong pipeline in data centres, infrastructure, and electrification, with over $500m in data centre tenders over the next two years.

• Actively exploring further acquisitions to drive geographic and capability diversification.