Australia's Firmus expects $77 million first-half loss as it prepares $5 billion IPO

Australian data centre operator Firmus expects to lose $77 million in the current half and is preparing a $5 billion initial public offering to fund its growth, according to two people familiar with a draft prospectus.

The company is due to begin trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on October 22. Firmus is backed by investors including Blackstone and counts NVIDIA, Meta and OpenAI among its customers.

Second-largest listing in Australian history

The IPO would be the second largest ever in Australia, behind Telstra's $10 billion listing in 1997, according to Dealogic data. Local media reports suggest Firmus could be valued at up to $60 billion after the listing.

Analysts say the share sale will test investor appetite for companies building infrastructure to serve the computing power behind the artificial intelligence boom.

Losses on the road to growth

The draft prospectus circulated to prospective investors this week forecasts a loss after tax of $77 million for the first half of the financial year ending June 30, 2027, on a pro forma basis, the two people said. The document contains no further forecasts beyond that period.

The draft also describes Firmus, founded in 2019, as historically loss-making. Those losses were attributed to the cost of developing the business so it could enter substantial agreements with customers, with IPO proceeds earmarked to fund further capital spending. Firmus declined to comment.

Data centres and the $5 billion target

Firmus currently runs two operational data centres, in Australia and Singapore, with five more under development, mostly in early stages, across the Asia-Pacific region. A third person said the company estimates these facilities, once developed, will make combined annual earnings of $5 billion within five years.

According to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters, an institutional bookbuild begins on October 6, and the prospectus is due to be made public on October 8.