Paratus Namibia Holdings Ltd will set aside N$280 million towards infrastructure investments in 2023.
Some of the targeted projects include the completion of the data centre in Windhoek and the Equiano cable landing station at Swakopmund, which landed on the Namibian coastline on 1 July 2022, Fibre-to-the-X (FTTx) rollout and expansion of network infrastructure.
“The capital expenditure is to be funded by a combination of own cash resources and the proceeds from the bond programme. The directors are of the opinion that the continued aggressive investment in infrastructure assets bodes well for both revenue growth and improved operating margins,” Paratus Board Chairman Hans-Bruno Gerdes said in a note accompanying the group’s financial results for the year ended 30 June 2022.
In the period under review, Paratus Namibia invested N$282 million in infrastructure and of this total investment, N$128 million was invested in the national fibre network. LTE networks in Windhoek, the coastal towns, and the north of Namibia took up an investment of N$23 million, while a total amount of N$35.2 million was invested in the cable landing station building at Swakopmund, which has now been completed and is ready for service.
To date, N$110 million was invested in the data centre with the total construction cost budgeted at N$123 million.
This comes as Paratus Namibia, with the assistance of Cirrus Capital as corporate and transactional advisor, raised a total of N$130 million from its second Namibian bond issuance, where three-year and five-year bonds were offered to interested asset managers and other institutional investors within Namibia and South Africa.
The final result of the auction saw N$30 million worth of three-year bonds, with an interest rate of 8.508% and N$100 million worth of five-year bonds, with an interest rate of 9.058% allocated.
In the period under review, the company delivered a strong revenue growth of N$343 million, a 13% increase from N$305 million recorded in 2021 against the backdrop of a weak local economy.
Paratus said its net profit before taxation closed the period at N$47 million, a 15.3% increase from N$40.8 million registered in 2021.
Additionally, the group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (“EBITDA”) came in at N$114.2 million, a 21% increase from N$94.4 million recorded the previous year.
“The growth in profitability is mainly attributable to the overall revenue growth of 15% and the moderate increase of 10.2% in operating expenses, despite the growth of the national network and the increase in distribution centres across Namibia. The operating margins for the period under review is slightly lower than the previous reporting period and is mainly due to the lower margins released from the higher non-recurring revenue,” Gerdes said.
Non-recurring revenue, which represents Local Area Network installations and sale of telecommunication equipment, amounted to N$43 million, a 41% increase from N$30.8 million last year.
“The growth is mainly attributable to a Local Area Network installation from a new property development project. The group remains well placed to grow revenues due to the continued demand for reliable internet coupled with the ongoing rollout of last-mile infrastructure,” the company said.
Paratus declared a final dividend of 10 cents per ordinary share amounting to N$9 744 625, and to be paid out on 11 November 2022.
