Telecity Group plc (‘TelecityGroup’ or the ‘Group’), Europe’s industry leading provider of premium network-independent data centres, today issues the following Interim Management Statement.
Highlights:
- TelecityGroup has enjoyed a strong start to 2011 and management confirms the positive outlook for the full year
- The pan-European expansion programme is making good progress and the Group announces that it has secured a further 3MW of capacity in the key Docklands market in London
- There are significant opportunities for TelecityGroup to expand its footprint in Europe further, both through new builds and acquisition. To facilitate this, the Group has secured an additional £100m of debt financing, taking its total credit facility to £300m
- The Group has appointed two additional independent non-executive Directors, bringing the Board and its committees into full compliance with the new UK Corporate Governance Code
Current trading and outlook
Demand for premium highly-connected data centre capacity is strong in Europe and TelecityGroup confirms its positive outlook for another year of substantial growth in 2011.
Due to a combination of the recurring revenue growth achieved to date, an encouraging orderbook pipeline and strong operating margins, management is confident that the Group will deliver a full year performance that is in line with market expectations.
Secured capacity expansion programme
TelecityGroup aims to achieve controlled, sustainable and value-creating growth by increasing its capacity across Europe, in response to customer demand.
The Group’s previously announced capacity expansions across its European markets are being implemented and today the Group announces that it has secured an additional 3MW of customer capacity at its key facilities in the highly connected Docklands area of London.
Together with previously announced expansion, this takes the total capacity expansion in Docklands to 6MW.
In total, TelecityGroup now has 110MW of announced capacity, versus the 58MW that is currently operational.
£300m credit facility
TelecityGroup’s financial position remains strong as its operations are highly cash generative. Net debt at the end of the first quarter was some £60m.
The Board sees significant opportunities for the Group to expand its footprint in Europe, both through organic growth in new markets and bolt-on acquisitions. In accordance with this, an additional £100m of debt availability has been secured from the Group’s existing lenders.
This additional capacity takes the Group’s total facility to £300m, with the whole amount refreshed to a five-year term. The overall interest rate on the expanded and refreshed facility will be significantly lower than that of the previous facility.
Appointment of non-executive Directors
Two additional independent non-executive Directors, Sahar Elhabashi and Maurizio Carli have been appointed to TelecityGroup’s Board. They bring a wealth of experience to the Group in the respective areas of media and cloud computing, which are currently among the most significant drivers of new business for TelecityGroup.
Sahar Elhabashi has held senior roles at Discovery and MTV, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer of Discovery Networks’ international business. She has played a key role in helping build international media organisations and brings valuable experience of the media sector to TelecityGroup.
Maurizio Carli has held senior roles at IBM, Google and VMware, where he is currently Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMEA. He has significant experience of managing high growth European organisations and brings direct insight into cloud computing related businesses to TelecityGroup.
Michael Tobin, CEO of TelecityGroup, commented:
“We have enjoyed a strong start to 2011. I continue to be delighted with TelecityGroup’s trading performance and I am excited about the outlook for the business.
By investing in growth in response to customer demand and using long-term planning and our leading industry position to provide new capacity in the highly connected European internet hubs, we have transformed Telecity in terms of scale since it came to the market, while retaining its differentiated, highly-connected business model.
Looking forward, there is still significant growth for us to capture, both in our existing markets and in new markets in Europe, as the internet continues to grow and the cloud increases in significance.”
John Hughes, Chairman of TelecityGroup, added:
“We are pleased to be welcoming Sahar Elhabashi and Maurizio Carli to the Board as independent non-executive Directors.
The breadth of their combined strategic, commercial and industry insight and experience makes them excellent additions to the Board at an exciting time for TelecityGroup, as it continues to enhance its leading position in the European network-independent data centre market.”
For further information please contact:
TelecityGroup:
Investors: Matthew Springett +44 (0)20 7005 6337
Media: James Tyler +44 (0)20 7001 0076
Brunswick: Sarah West/James Olley +44 (0)20 7404 5959
Notes to Editors
Telecity Group plc TelecityGroup is Europe’s industry-leading provider of premium network independent data centres. TelecityGroup specialises in the design, build and management of highly connected, resilient and secure environments in which customers can house their telecoms, internet and IT infrastructure. Headquartered in London, TelecityGroup’s data centres are located in the key European connectivity hubs. A TelecityGroup data centre is a thriving, connected, digital ecosystem providing direct access to a wide choice of telecoms and content distribution networks, key internet exchange points, and cloud hubs, all of which facilitate the sharing, distribution and storage of data, content, applications and media. Telecity Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: TCY).
The content of the Telecity Group plc web site should not be considered to form a part of or be incorporated into this announcement.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
This announcement includes statements that are forward-looking in nature. All statements other than statements of historical facts could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. By their nature, these forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, uncertainties and opportunities, both general and specific. Accordingly, the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Except as required by the Listing Rules and applicable law, Telecity Group plc undertakes no obligation to update or change any forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring after the date such statements are published. This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction. The Company’s shares have not been registered in any U.S. jurisdiction, and, in particular, will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any applicable state securities laws.
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