Accounting software company Xero has announced it is delisting from the New Zealand stock exchange to focus on its listing on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) and to pursue further growth in overseas markets.
The New Zealand headquartered company, which says it will cease trading on the New Zealand exchange at the end of January next year, gets 80% of its revenue from outside New Zealand.
The announcement came as Xero released its first-half results showing that subscription revenues had risen 38% to NZ$183 million over the half, while annualised committed monthly revenue rose 38% to NZ$417 million.
And it reported a first ever EBITDA of NZ$5.4 million.
{loadposition peter}Xero chairman Rod Drury said consolidation of the listing on the ASX would support the company’s next phase of growth and the decision to delist in New Zealand was made following an extensive strategic process which “thoroughly canvassed” all available options.
“Xero is an ambitious New Zealand company. We will remain headquartered in Wellington and domiciled in New Zealand,” said Drury. “We thank the NZX for providing a valuable platform to support Xero’s first decade as a public company. Our success wouldn’t be possible without the support of the NZX and our shareholders.
“While more than half of Xero’s people live and work in New Zealand, 80% of our revenue now comes from outside New Zealand. Our strategy is to drive further growth in markets like UK, North America and Southeast Asia. As Xero continues to grow, gaining enhanced access to deeper capital markets, increased liquidity and a broader base of potential investors is critical to fulfilling our ambition to be the leading global small business platform serving millions of customers.”
Reporting 1,199,000 subscribers at 30 September, Xero says it added more than 160,000 net new subscribers in the half-year, with operating revenue growing 37% over the same period last year to $187.8 million - and more than $1 billion was added in total lifetime value in the past 12 months.
“Xero delivered another strong half-year result, achieving positive EBITDA for the first time, and is emerging as one of the largest and fastest growing listed technology companies in Australasia,”Drury said.
“We continue to cement our position as the cloud accounting leader in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with more than half a million subscribers in Australia, and quarter of a million subscribers in each of the New Zealand and UK markets.”