Melbourne It Rides The Internet To Riches
The Age
Thursday August 24, 2006
THE internet's surging power is reflected in the half-yearly results posted by domain name registry and web services company Melbourne IT.
Revenue in the half-year to June 30 rose 19.5 per cent to $41.9 million. Earnings before interest and tax rose 29.1 per cent to $3.4 million. Net profit was $2.6 million, up 21.8 per cent. It did not include the $5 million realised from the sale of Melbourne IT's share in Neulevel, the international registry for .biz names.Operating cash was up 58.8 per cent to $5.6 million and cash at the bank rose 54 per cent to $35 million. A fully franked interim dividend of 3.5? a share was declared, an increase over the first-half dividend last year of 16.7 per cent. "All the key performance indicators we set are up by a minimum of 20 per cent," chief executive Theo Hnarakis said. "We are now forecasting for the second half of this year our eighth consecutive half-year of growth." Melbourne IT, originally a University of Melbourne spin-off, is one of the world's leading domain name registries. It draws more than 70 per cent of its revenue from overseas.Melbourne IT shares finished at $1.83, up 2?.
© 2006 The Age