Document and storage management specialist Metrofile says revenue lifted almost a fifth in its half-year to end-December, with the group benefitting from its latest digital storage acquisition, as well as demand for its paper-based services as office activity increased.
Group revenue rose 19% to R564 million in the six months to end-December, it reported on Monday, but profit fell slightly to R67 million, weighed down a little from higher finance costs as debt picked up, as well as a R22-million hit from load shedding.
Valued at R1.42 billion on the JSE, Metrofile operates from 71 facilities at 36 locations, owning 118 595m2 of warehousing space - or almost 17 soccer fields. It helps customers of all sizes manage their information and storage, operating in, Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique and the Middle East.
Secure storage contributed 52% to group revenue and was up 5% due to increased paper services following additional requests from clients beginning a return to their offices.
Digital services contributed 27% to group revenue and was up 61%. Excluding acquisition-related growth from the full inclusion of IronTree, digital services increased by 32% following an increase in image processing.
Metrofile completed IronTree the acquisition in December 2021, for a consideration of between R80 million and R140 million, with a remaining 30% stake to be acquired in 2024.
IronTree provides data-management services including cloud backup, disaster recovery and specialised server hosting in a private cloud, as well as cybercrime and ransomware prevention.
Net finance costs were 16% higher at R27 million, the company said, following an increase in interest rates and net debt. Net debt rose by 10% to R493 million due to the first payment for IronTree.
Metrofile held its interim dividend steady at 9c per share (R39 million), and in morning trade the group's shares were down 1.22% to R3.23, having fallen 5% over the past one year.
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