Destra Corporation Ltd (DES) is a burgeoning internet and e-commerce company delivering internet business and consumer entertainment solutions through its two arms - destra Media and destra Business. The company seems to have a lot of potential, particularly in its media division which distributes a vast amount of digital music to clients via Intel's Viiv technology PC/home. The value of this part of the business is about its prospects, reflected by the half year result showing the Media division sales up 543 per cent while the Business sales division rose 53 per cent. Yesterday Destra Corporation released its results for the December half year, reporting net profit surging 108 per cent above the same period in the previous year. Directors told shareholders that the first half of 2006 was one of continued growth for Destra, especially within the destra Media division. Net profit for the half year period to December 31 was $468,000 (2004: $225,000) on total revenue of $12.167 million against 2004's $6.985 million. Increased revenues reflect continued growth in both the Business and Media divisions and the impact of acquisitions. The latest December half saw an expansion in the range of services offered to Business customers and greater advertising and content sales in the Media division. Directors said "The half result was in line with expectations and we remain on target to achieve earnings before interest and tax of $1.2 million for the full year". The positive operating cash flow performance reflects underlying operating profits, seasonal factors associated with the Christmas trading period and favourable working capital movements. Cash at bank minus short-term bank borrowings was $2.2 million with total loan facilities approved to $3 million. Second-half earnings should be bolstered by a six-month contribution from the Rajon group (acquired in December) and also benefit from the increasing commercialisation of the destra Media assets through the partnerships formed with Intel, 3 Mobile, Harvey Norman and others. "We will continue to invest in these assets and make selective acquisitions of profitable and synergistic media businesses over the next year," directors declared.
SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS *********************
Shares of Destra yesterday edged up 1c to 26c. Rolling high for the year has been 30c and low 9.5c. The high price was struck in February after a news letter wrote them up but soon after they were back to 22c. The company has 119.5 million shares on issue with a market cap of $29.8 million. The key to the company's improvement has been the growth in revenue from $7 million to $12.2 million for the half. During the period Destra purchased the business of GPM Internet in July. In December Destra purchased music business Rajon, through the purchase of 100 per cent of the shares in Rajon Distribution Pty Ltd. At its AGM in November, Destra announced it was looking for further acquisitions in this financial year. Work is continuing on this and announcements will be made when an acquisition has been reached. Probably the most fortuitous acquisition has been an agreement with Intel to distribute and sell destramusic.com's 1.3 million digital music tracks via Intel's Viiv technology PC/home entertainment platform. Intel Viiv technology is focused on enhancing consumers' enjoyment, management and sharing of digital entertainment. Intel launched its Viiv technology at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Los Vegas in January and will be launching locally this month. "The Intel Viiv technology rollout is driving tremendous awareness for converged technologies in the home," said Domenic Carosa, Destra's CEO. "This agreement presents an outstanding opportunity for destra Media, as a digital integrator, to be a critical component within the growing number of households embracing digital entertainment," Mr Carosa declared. Devices based on the Intel Viiv technology platform are able to support surround sound, high-definition video and other enhanced features. "Our destra Media team is currently beta testing its destramusic.com and MP3.com.au Intel Viiv technology version and we are on track to have the service ready for the March 16 Australian launch of Viiv," said Mr Carosa. MP3.com.au's 100,000 tracks of independent musicians will be made available for free to users of the service while destramusic.com's 1.3 million tracks from major record companies, including EMI, Sony and FMR, will require a fee to be paid. Destra has consolidated its leadership position in the digital music space having made significant technology headway and announced a number of global agreements over the last eight months. "Our relationship with Intel and the integration of our digital music technology into its Viiv platform, will allow a number of our retail and media partners to launch an integrated service on the new Viiv home entertainment devices coming to market in April," Mr Carosa said. "We will be announcing a number of very significant retail and media partnerships over the next couple of months which will take these services to the mass market at a level never seen before in Australia." Destra Media and 3 mobile recently launched Australia's first mobile subscription based digital music download service, offering 3 mobile customers the country's largest digital music catalogue of independent artists. The $3 per month subscription service allows 3 mobile customers to download as many tracks as they want from MP3.com.au's extensive catalogue of songs as often as they want each month.
BACKGROUND **********
Destra Corporation is a leading internet and e-commerce company delivering internet business and consumer entertainment solutions through its two arms - destra Media and destra Business. The destra Business group comprises of two divisions - destra Business and TPP Internet. These divisions service the SME sector through mid-tier to large corporations delivering solutions and efficiencies in data connectivity, voice communications, managed and virtual hosting and domain name services. Destra Business is an established end-to-end managed service provider of comprehensive data, voice and hosting solutions to broad market segments. Destra Business services SMEs, large businesses, corporates and government Australia wide. The breadth and depth of destra Business services and products include voice and data communications, enterprise and co-located hosting, full managed hosting services for all platforms, domain registration, wireless and broadband connectivity, network integration and data centre facilities. TPP Internet is one of the top three domain registrars in Australia selling domain registrations directly and through its channel arm. TPP Internet registers domain names in many countries for its clients that include Telstra, News Interactive, NineMSN, Lend Lease Corporation and ANZ Banking Group. In addition, it is the exclusive international domain name registrar for the Solomon Islands.
DES Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held