Last mile and rural broadband specialist Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group PLC (LON:SSW) saw revenues and customer numbers treble in a busy 2016.
The company – which completed six acquisitions in five countries last year – posted revenues of £21.5mln for the year to 30 November 2016; a 190% increase compared to the previous year (2015: £7.4mln).
Pleasingly for the company, recurring revenues rose by 219% to £18.1mln (2015: £5.7mln) which should provide good visibility for the coming year.
The significant increase in revenues helped underlying earnings turn positive at £1.24mln compared to a loss of £770,000 in 2015.
The acquisitions certainly helped to build Satellite’s customer base in the period, which grew to 79,000 from 25,000 a year earlier.
That should leave the firm well-positioned to hit its long-term target of 100,000 users by the end of this year.
To say that the growth in revenues and customers was solely down to inorganic growth would be doing Satellite Solutions a disservice.
The company saw like-for-like organic revenues grow almost 12% during the period, which has continued into 2017, the firm said.
Encouragingly for Satellite, 2016 saw it bolster its capital base with new investors coming on board to support the firm. It raised £12.1mln and also secured another £12mln debt facility back in the summer.
Even after its spending spree, which has continued into the new fiscal year, the company had £3.3mln cash in the bank at the end of November (2015: £1.7mln).
Cash in the bank, revenues and underlying earnings all came in ahead of market expectations, Satellite told investors.
“2016 saw turnover and customer numbers almost increased three-fold during the period, making SSW the world's largest satellite broadband provider, outside of North America,” said chief executive Andrew Walwyn.
“I believe that this transformational growth is just the start, as in 2017 we will continue our consolidation strategy.
“However, we are not just about an industry consolidation; like for like organic sales growth of 11.7% during the year highlights our core business is robust and thriving, and this has continued into FY2017.”
Satellite turned a gross profit of £7.3mln for the year (2015: £1.8mln), although losses widened slightly to £6.04mln (2016: £6.01mln).
As Walwyn notes, SSW has enjoyed a “good” start to the new year so far and expects the “inherent demand” for internet access to drive growth going forward.
Shares closed at 9.15p on Monday.