Commentary

Key developments

Overall, most listed Digital Infrastructure stocks in the region are up over the last year, but with wide spreads in performance among the group. Economic growth is expected to be sluggish relative to previous years, creating uncertain performance for Digital Infrastructure equities.

DigitalBridge

DigitalBridge’s stock fell nearly 12% over the last month as the company released its 1Q24 results, which showed that the company’s net income declined by $144m when compared to the prior quarter. Additionally, the company’s fee revenue marginally declined when compared to the prior quarter.

Chorus

Chorus’ stock fell around 5% over the past month, after the company released an announcement that the Commerce Commission (of New Zealand) reduced Chorus’ proposed expenditure between the 2025-2028 ‘second price-quality period’. The limits imposed were $691m of operational expenditure (from $840m planned) and $1.12b of capital expenditure (from $1.3b planned). A Chorus spokesperson admitted to being “disappointed by the decision”

NEXTDC

NEXTDC’s fell around 6% in the last month, cutting back some of the recent gains. During April, the company announced that it is undertaking a $1.32b capital raise to ‘accelerate the development and fit out of NEXTDC’s leading digital infrastructure platform in its core Sydney and Melbourne markets to meet unprecedented growth in customer demand’. The proceeds will primarily be raised from institutional investors.