Megaport share slip worsens

TECH services firm Megaport suffered a second consecutive day of substantial losses on Friday on the ASX following a disappointing third-quarter trading update.

Shares in the Brisbanebased telco and IT infrastructure company shed nearly 10 per cent to close at $9.04, making it one of the ASX 200’s worstperforming stocks for a second straight day. That followed a 22 per cent plunge on Thursday after Megaport reported its revenue growth remained stalled in the March quarter. The shares have halved in value since the start of the year.

The latest setback for Megaport follows the disposal of three million shares by multimillionaire founder and chairman Bevan Slattery (pictured) in mid-March to finance “ongoing investment opportunities’’. He pocketed $39.2m from the sale. Mr Slattery retains a 5.1 per cent stake in Megaport and vowed he would make no further selldowns in the next six months. This most recent share dive translates to a $32m loss for him on paper.

Megaport reported monthly recurring revenue of $9.5m this week. Factoring out the impact of currency movements, that represented lowerthan-expected growth of just 6 per cent. But some analysts remain upbeat about the company. “We remain positive on the medium to long-term opportunity for Megaport,’’ UBS analyst Tim Plumbe said.