Xero posts $29m loss, remains on growth path

Xero has moved slightly deeper into the red despite strong sales growth. The cloud software firm, which remains headquartered in Wellington despite now being solely listed on the ASX, posted a loss of $29 million for the six months to the end of September. That was up 46 per cent on its loss during the same period last year. Revenues for the half-year rose 37 per cent to $257m. Subscriber numbers rose 193,000 to almost 1.6 million, taking into account the effect of its acquisition of Canadian company Hubdoc in August. Xero’s Australian chief executive, Steve Vamos, pictured, described the result as ‘‘strong’’ and said the US$300 million (NZ$450m) Xero raised in October through the issue of convertible notes would give it the ‘‘flexibility’’ to make more acquisitions and investments. Vamos would not forecast when Xero would finally break into profit, but said it was ‘‘on that track’’.