Trading update 29.11.1630 Nov 2016 07:49
Trading and acquisitions update
29 November 2016
Trading ahead of expectations
Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group plc (AIM: SAT), the global communications company specialising in rural and last mile broadband, provides a trading update for the financial year ended 30 November 2016.
Due to the strong performance of the combined existing and acquired businesses, the financial results for the year to 30 November 2016 are expected to be ahead of current market expectations.
During the year, the Company completed six acquisitions, secured £12m of new unsecured convertible debt funding from the Business Growth Fund and completed a successful equity placing, raising £12.1m to fund acquisitions.
Acquisition update
The on-boarding and integration of Avonline, Breiband and SkyMesh, which were acquired in July and August 2016, is on track. Organic growth is strong, particularly in Australia, where c.1,000 net new connections are now being added per month. Additionally, distribution partnership opportunities have been identified in both Scandinavia and Australia, which will be pursued in 2017.
Outlook
The Company enters 2017 with tremendous scope for both organic and acquisitive growth, both within existing markets and new territories. High levels of recurring revenue, increasing economies of scale and largely fixed overheads mean the Company is now structured to deliver significant revenue growth, high levels of operational gearing and strong cash generation over the next twelve months.
The Company is on track to exceed its previously stated strategy of achieving 100,000 customers by the end of the 2017 financial period.
Andrew Walwyn, CEO at SSW commented, "The rapid and successful integration of the acquisitions which we have completed around the world, both big and small, show the robustness of our systems and management's ability to control growth. Our focus on increasing revenues, cost control and, most importantly, cash generation, is already starting to be shown in these results.
"We have enjoyed a tremendous 2016: customer numbers have more than trebled, new products have increased the scale of the opportunity, and we have started to create a truly global operating footprint. Given the plans that we have in place, I look forward to an even better 2017."