Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (SXE) H2 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Revenue reached $551.9m for FY24, up 18.8% year-over-year, exceeding guidance of $500m.

• Record EBITDA of $40.1m (+5.0%), EBIT of $32.7m (+10.4%), and NPAT of $21.9m (+9.1%) compared to FY23.

• Record cash balance of $84.1m (up 8.3%) and order book of $720m (up 18%), both year-over-year.

• Final fully franked dividend of 5.0 cps declared, up 25% year-over-year.

• Major contract wins include the Collie Battery Energy Storage System and strong Data Centre pipeline.

Financial highlights

• Infrastructure revenue surged to $233.7m (+65.8%), becoming the largest sector; Commercial at $171.1m, Resources at $147.0m.

• Gross margin was 15.0% (down from 16.4%); overheads as a percentage of revenue improved to 7.8%.

• Record profits for all three Trivantage businesses.

• Total dividends for the year were 6.0 cps, up from 5.0 cps.

• Cash outflows included $7.3m for Trivantage earn-out, $4.9m for MDE acquisition, $12.7m in dividends, and $17.3m in tax.

Outlook and guidance

• FY25 EBITDA expected to be at least $53m, a 32% increase over FY24, with further growth anticipated in FY26 and beyond.

• Strong near-term pipeline in Data Centres and infrastructure, especially in NSW.

• Electrification and decarbonisation trends expected to drive significant future opportunities.

• Over $150m of the order book is data centre related, with at least $100m in annual revenue forecasted from this sector.

• Commercial sector activity expected to remain stable; resource sector volumes to stay lower near-term.