Impairment charge cuts Superloop result

A hefty impairment charge has led to connectivity company Superloop (ASX: SLC) to post a $72 million loss for FY19.

The $50.7 million impairment charge was for the retiring of non-core, non-bandwidth services segment and is the main contributing factor to the drop in the group's fortunes.

Superloop's revenue was $117.3 million, up $1.8 million from the previous corresponding period, and earnings were $8.5 million during FY19.

The group's core connectivity revenues were up 89 per cent year-on-year to $35.2 million.

Superloop's broadband segment, which includes NuSkope's retail wireless broadband services, GX2 Technology's managed WiFi, campus broadband solutions and the fixed line NBN subscriber base acquired from SkyMesh in 2018 contributed $35 million in revenue.

While the loss might prove disheartening, the company's core APAC loop is now live and connected with the momentous launch of the INDIGO subsea cable.

The Australian national backbone is now complete with 392 buildings across key markets in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia now connected by 894km of fibre and approximately 9,000km of subsea cable.

The company expects things to improve in FY20, with an estimated $14 to $16 million in earnings set to come in.

Superloop founder Bevan Slattery is optimistic about the position the company is in to tackle the needs of society in the coming years.

"Over the next two years I believe the 'clouds' will be coming out of the data centre and directly to where we live, work, and play," says Slattery.

"In a cloud world the 'last mile' is now becoming the 'first mile' of connection."

"At Superloop we believe we have built the only network that can deliver a seamless cloud-first experience to the major traffic hubs and enterprise buildings in Asia Pacific."

Shares in Superloop are up 5.62 per cent to $0.94 per share at 11.40am AEST.

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Business News Australia