+++++++++++++++++++++++++ * Profit turnaround of $2.8m delivers net profit of $440k for financial year ended 30 June 2002
* 30% increase in web hosting revenues to $22m in 2002
* EBTIDA increased from $253k in 2001 to $3.99m in 2002
* Significant investments in staff, new data center and high-end division WebCentral Complex
WebCentral, Australia's largest web hosting player, has achieved a $2.8m turnaround in profitability for the 2002 financial year posting a net profit of $440k, up from the $2.4m net loss experienced in 2001.
Lloyd Ernst, WebCentral's CEO, said "This is a tremendous result for WebCentral. The past 12 months has been a difficult period for the technology sector as a whole, but by focusing our attention on building and retaining our existing strong customer base and investing for the future we have been able to emerge a much more robust company with an enviable financial position."
WebCentral is a managed hosting specialist with a commitment to continuous product development, high reliability and high levels of customer responsiveness.
"Our customers are business-savvy. They see value in our offerings and we, in turn, are continually innovating to meet their changing needs. In a February 2002 AC Nielsen survey, 96% of our customers said they would recommend us, with 51% saying they already had." Mr Ernst said.
Web hosting revenues increased 30% to $22m from $17m in the previous year. EBITDA increased markedly from $253k in 2001 to $3.99m in 2002. A strong cash flow for the 2002 financial year has resulted in a 77% increase in cash reserves. Expenses to 30 June 2002 were maintained at the same level as 2001. More than 20 new products were launched in the 2002 financial year, including Asia Pacific's first 'dot net' offering, a hosted exchange product, a managed database product and a corporate intranet product, DeskControl.
Andrew Spicer, WebCentral's COO, said "The profit was attained by substantially increasing revenues while holding expenses - an outstanding effort considering we made significant investments in new products, high calibre additions to the management team, a new enterprise grade data center and the high-end corporate division, WebCentral Complex."
"One of the key factors in WebCentral being able to achieve this result is the attainment of a critical mass in customer numbers, which has allowed us to take advantage of scale economies," Mr Spicer said.
