Xero adds 36k customers... predicts 80% sales rise

Xero, the cloud-based accounting software firm, added 36,000 customers since the end of March and is predicting an 80 percent pickup in annual sales as it continues its drive for global growth, which will widen the loss at the end of the year.

Chief executive Rod Drury told shareholders in Wellington today the company has 193,000 customers, that's up from 157,000 at the end of the March financial year, according to slides published on the NZX.

Xero's annualised monthly revenue has climbed to $64 million from $51.5 million at March 31.

The company's sees sales rising 80 percent in the 12 months ending March 31, 2014, from $39 million in 2013, implying revenue of some $70 million. The push for growth is expected to lead to a wider loss than the $14.4 million it reported for 2013, though it has sufficient cash on hand to deal with that.

Xero's cash flow statement published yesterday showed it was sitting on $68.8 million of cash as at June 30, down $9.4 million from three months earlier. It used $6.57 million in the first quarter of the year.

The shares fell 1.9 percent to $16.98 today, having surged some 128 percent this year, valuing the firm at about $2 billion.

BusinessDesk