Staff at the Canon Oceania contact centre, working for Datacom, in Auckland. Photo / Janna Dixon
Datacom Group, the biggest New Zealand-owned IT firm, posted a 26 per cent decline in annual profit on one-time costs for depreciation and the closure of its Sydney-based software development business.
Profit fell to $22.3 million in the 12 months ended March 31, from $30.2 million a year earlier, the
company said in a statement. Sales rose 8.7 per cent to $725 million, split between $380 million from overseas operations and $345 million from New Zealand.
Chairman John Holdsworth, who owns more than half the company and made the NBR Rich List this year, said the result showed "a satisfactory trading year" though impairments eroded net income. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 6.5 per cent to $63.7 million.
Datacom will service its Australian software development business from Queensland and New Zealand after recognising $3.2 million of costs mainly to close its Sydney operation.
The decline in net profit also reflected a $4.5 million additional tax charge related mainly to the Inland Revenue Department's decision not to allow depreciation on its datacenters, the company said.
