Rene Sugo (MNF Group)
Credit: MNF Strong market demand for MNF Group products saw revenue and profit climb during the 2020 financial year for the publicly-listed voice communications software provider.
Revenue increased seven percent to $230.9 million as it set a new record in net profit, growing 20 per cent to $11.95 million for the 2020 financial year ending June 30.
“After a strong first-half , some products performed particularly well as a result of the structural and behavioural changes to voice and collaborative technology caused by the pandemic,” MNF Group CEO Rene Sugo said.
“As people transitioned from workplaces and school to homes, seeking new ways to stay connected and adjust to new ways of working, we experienced a surge in traffic volumes across all customer segments in March and April. While traffic patterns have settled since the highs of March, we have seen new trends emerge, many of which are here to stay."
Sugo said in a matter of a few weeks, customers across unified communications as-a-service (UCaaS), communications platform as-a-service (CPaaS) and collaboration use case areas experienced rapid growth in demand, equivalent to more than three years of normal growth.
On the flip side, demand for mobile roaming and small business phone systems have stagnated due to travel restrictions or economic uncertainty, he added.
“We are seeing a new normal in the use of collaboration technology, with the pandemic accelerating the adoption of new ways of communicating, which will support the growth of MNF," Sugo said. "However, areas such mobile roaming and small business products are experiencing some challenges, while we expect these to make a full recovery post-COVID, they are providing short-term headwinds into FY21.
"Similarly, while traditional audio conferencing benefited during the lock-down, it is now declining as a result of the shift to the newer, online collaboration tools.”
Some of MNF’s key business priorities include building a direct channel partner business, focus on 20 per cent year-on-year growth of phone numbers on its network within domestic markets, improve and adopt new technologies such as high-definition voice, automate and scale core platforms for long term growth, including automating processes through APIs and robotics.
Read more MNF sees boost in profit for H1FY20 MNF domestic wholesale customers include Vodafone, 2Degrees, Aussie Broadband and Southern Phone, while global wholesale customers include Microsoft, Twilio, Google, Zoom and RingCentral.
A key growth area for MNF includes expanding its voice network into Singapore and gradually building up its South East Asia expansion.
MNF said local interoperability testing was impacted by the pandemic, but the project was still on track, as it undertakes a technical trial with key customers and other stakeholders in December, with a full product launch taking place in March next year.
“We remain committed to our strategic pillars to grow market share, expand our footprint across APAC region, build long-term strategic relationships with our customers and invest in products to build resilience, scale and automation,” he said.
Read more MNF Enterprise signs first customer onto Cisco Webex Calling “Through the pandemic our priority has been the health and safety of our people and the reliable continuity of business operations. The response of the MNF team to the pandemic has been admirable with the global team transitioning to working from home seamlessly, while continuing to maintain our high standard of service for customers and develop software that underpins and enables critical communication services across the globe.
“Supported by a strong balance sheet and strong cash position, I am pleased to report our results were at the top-end of guidance and we were not reliant on Australian Government COVID-19 assistance schemes for this result.”
Read more: MNF adds cloud call services to Microsoft Teams
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