Xero positive despite net loss

The software company announced a net loss of NZ$82.5 million dollars for the 12 months to 31 March 2016, a jump of NZ$12.9 million from the loss recorded in the previous 12 months.

However, EBITDA margin FY16 did improve to -29 per cent in the year from -46 per cent in the previous year.

Xero now has more than 717,000 paying subscribers globally, an increase of 242,000 subscribers in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, and annualised committed monthly revenue of $257.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 62 per cent.

Despite the loss, Xero CEO Rod Drury was pleased with the performance of the software provider.

“Our revenue growth and improved operating metrics are a testament to the quality of our product and execution of our global growth strategy,” said Mr Drury.

“Innovation is accelerating. We’re not burdened by having to protect a legacy desktop position, so we are fully focused on unleashing the next wave of innovation – based on deep analytics – to drive better business outcomes. Underpinning this innovation and move to scale is our migration of Xero’s cloud platform to Amazon Web Services,” he added.

Mr Drury said he is confident the company is now positioned perfectly to capitalise on some exciting opportunities going forward.

“In a market of tens of millions of potential customers, we’re only just getting started. Our subscriber base continues to grow and we have remained focused on financial progress, and [are] taking further steps towards value-added growth. As our operating revenues and annualised committed monthly revenues grow, we will continue to strengthen our position with the goal of becoming a $1 billion-plus revenue generating business,” said Drury.