The Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8) share price is surging higher on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing the digital audio-visual networking technologies provider's shares are up 6.5% to $6.35.
Why is the Audinate share price surging higher?
This morning Audinate released its annual general meeting presentation and an update on its performance during the first quarter of FY 2021.
According to the release, Audinate has experienced a steady improvement in trading conditions since May.
However, it does note that customer and market segments have been impacted differently.
For example, the company is seeing good momentum in corporate conferencing and higher education, but challenging conditions in live sound and large events because of the pandemic.
This led to Audinate recording unaudited revenue of US$5.2 million during the first quarter.
No sales figure is available for the prior corresponding period. However, for the first half of FY 2020, Audinate delivered revenue of A$16.1 million (US$11.5 million). So this appears to indicate that its revenue is starting to normalise to pre-pandemic levels.
Management advised that selected products are experiencing strong growth, relative to FY 2020. This includes Adaptors, Ultimo, Broadway, and Retail Software. Though, Brooklyn revenue is down on the prior corresponding period, which reflects its exposure to live sound.
In respect to earnings, Audinate reported first quarter unaudited earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of A$0.3 million. This compares to FY 2020 first half EBITDA of A$1.87 million.
What now?
Positively, the future is looking brighter for Audinate, with management noting that its sales backlog is now back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
The company is also intending to prudently return to investing for growth. It expects to add around 10 roles globally over FY 2021, with further incremental operating expenditure expected to amount to around A$1.5 million over FY 2020.
Given the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, no guidance has been given for FY 2021.
