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- Audio visual (AV) company Audinate (AD8) is expecting to report unaudited revenue of A$30.3 million for FY20 which is slightly higher than last years A$28 million
- EBITDA is expected to be A$2 million, down from A$2.8 million
- Audinate said it was financially impacted by government restrictions surrounding COVID-19
- The company’s staff has also felt the effects of the pandemic with eight staff being stood down
- On market close, Audinate is down 1.49 per cent and is trading for $5.30 per share
Audio visual (AV) company Audinate (AD8) has given a glimpse of its COVID-19 2020 financial year results.
The company is expecting to report unaudited revenue of US$20.4 million (around A$30.3 million), retaining a gross margin of approximately 77 per cent for the 2020 financial year. This revenue figure is slightly higher than last year’s A$28.3 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) is expected to be A$2 million, down from A$2.8 million in the prior corresponding period.
Audinate is the developer of Dante media network solutions. The product replaces traditional analogue audio cables by transmitting synchronised audio signals across large distances to multiple locations at once, using nothing but ethernet cables.
Dante is used by the professional live sound, commercial installation, broadcast, public address, and recording industries.
Fourth quarter
The company said the $8 million revenue drop was from the impacts of COVID-19.
Sales for the fourth quarter were impacted by manufacturing customers’ exposure to various sectors that were directly affected by government restrictions. These include live sound, venues small and large, theatres and more.
However, other sectors such as communication and conferencing, held up well during the pandemic. Revenue for the quarter was approximately US$4 million (around A$5.7 million).
The worst of the pandemic for Audinate was towards the end of April and throughout May.
Once June hit, the company felt slightly more encouraged by the recovery of revenue and sales orders. Although, they have not yet returned to levels prior to the pandemic.
How did the company respond to COVID-19?
Audinate said the additional manufacturing in Malaysia and internal auditing of component suppliers have made its supply chain stronger and has minimised the impacts caused by distributions to the Chinese manufacturing due to lockdown measures.
Due to the uncertainty and challenging trading conditions over the next six months or so, the company has let go of eight staff members. The cost of these redundancies will be made in the FY20 results.
For the remaining staff, the company has frozen their salary until trading conditions improve.
Medium-term priorities
Last month, the U.S. tradeshow, InfoComm, took place virtually but allowed the company to launch new products. This resulted in the number of Dante enabled products increasing to 2804, which is a 31 per cent increase to FY19.
Audinate is expanding its range of Dante AVIO adapters, with the launch of a new Bluetooth and USB-C adaptors.
“Whilst we have faced headwinds associated with COVID-19 and recovery timing is uncertain, our confidence in the strength of our technology and business model remains high,” CEO Aidan Williams said.
“Delivering our medium-term strategic priorities will ensure that Audinate is well placed to benefit from economic recovery as it occurs in our markets around the
world,” he added.
On market close, Audinate is down 1.49 per cent and is trading for $5.30 per share.
