BEIJING, June 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chindata Group, ("Chindata" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CD), an industry leader in carrier-neutral hyperscale data center solutions, released its unaudited financial report for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. To supplement the Company's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Chindata uses adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted net income margin as non-GAAP financial measures, which are described further below.
Under the wave of digital economy and the explosion of computing power, Chindata continues to consolidate its core competitiveness in the energy and technology end, and continues to take the lead in capturing the strategic opportunity of the new computing era.
Beating market consensus continuously, total capacity expected to exceed 1,000MW in the next twelve months
Chindata's revenue in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB1,443.5 million, representing 56.8% year over year ("YoY") growth. Net income in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB253.0 million, representing 167.5% YoY growth. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 64.6% YoY to RMB813.8 million, beating market consensus for eleven straight quarters, with a margin of 56.4%. The Company reiterated its 2023 revenue guidance in the range of RMB5,880 million to RMB6,080 million, with positive outlook, and raised its 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance to the range of RMB3,100 million to RMB3,220 million, a 3.6% increase at mid-point compared with the previous range.
Total capacity continued to grow at a steady pace. One new under-construction project added, total capacity increased by 27MW to 898MW by the end of the first quarter of 2023. In-service capacity increased by 26MW to 639MW. By end of the first quarter of 2023, the Company had 33 projects in total. And the total capacity is expected to exceed 1,000MW in the next twelve months.
Redefine the industry "First principle" to build a win-win model covering both supply and demand side
The company's business strategy is based on its understanding of the "First principle" of the industry. Following the fundamental logic of the industry, Chindata created a unique win-win model covering both supply and demand side, leading to a significant differentiated competition barrier, and continual improvement of profitability and return profile of the Company.
On the demand side, the major clients of the Company are leading players in internet, cloud computing and other high-tech business, whose growth far exceeds the average level of the industry.
Meanwhile, on top of healthy demand and differentiated client base, the Company's unique contract profile ensures long-term visibility. More than 95% of customer contracts are of 10 years or longer term, and the commitment ratio of the total capacity remained high at 91% by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
On the supply side, Chindata's unique hyperscale solution is characterized by having the majority of its data centers strategically located in energy-abundant region with significant cost advantages in terms of land and power. Together with such deployment that ensures power sufficiency, the low latency and scalability of its datacenter serve to accommodate the growing demand from its clients.
Chindata has been operating in the key nodes of "East Data, West Computation" in China and in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific for a long time, and a good trend of two "growth poles" at home and abroad has been formed. Chindata's overseas business has entered a period of rapid growth, with 69MW of the 78MW newly contracted capacity in the first quarter of 2023 coming from overseas. At the end of the first quarter of 2023, the overseas operation capacity was 75MW, representing an increase of 275% compared with the same period last year, and the overseas utilized capacity was 49MW, representing a year-on-year increase of 562%.
In China, Chindata's 220kV self-built substation went into operation in the first quarter of 2023. The construction of the substation took only six months, setting a new record in the data center industry. The substation is capable of providing 360MW of power supply for Chindata's Lingqiu campus in Shanxi Province, the largest single datacenter campus in Asia Pacific. In Gansu Province, Chindata also signed a framework agreement with the local government and planned to build a 150MW data center there in the next 2-4 years.
The launch of "East Data West Computation" and "Digital China" initiatives, as well as the development of AI technologies such as AI Generated Content ("AIGC"), machine learning and large language model, which requires large volumes of data storage and computing power, is expected to catalyze the iteration rate of digital infrastructure and bring huge strategic opportunities.
The existing clients of the Chindata are actively investing resources in AI related technologies and application, and the Company is among the early ones in seizing such opportunity and becoming a leading high power computing infrastructure solution provider. Chindata has secured a contract of high density cabinet deployment, a good demonstration of the appreciation of the Company's capability in accommodating such high power computing demand.
Management Quote
Mr. Huapeng Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Chindata Group, commented, "We started the year of 2023 with another strong quarterly business and financial performance. During the first quarter of 2023, the Company continued to advance with our highly-demanding project delivery schedule. Demand from existing clients was healthy and ramp up was as scheduled. As a result, we continued to grow our top and bottom line, with adjusted EBITDA beating market consensus for eleven consecutive quarters. Notably on the demand side, we hold a positive view on how AIGC related development should drive industry demand in the long term, while we've also noticed the recent effort of our existing client in incorporating such new technology into their current product lines. In the first quarter, we've secured certain contract for high-density cabinet deployment, and we believe our unique supply model is capable of accommodating such AIGC related demand in the future. Such model is characterized by energy-abundant region layout and in-house full stack capabilities as the fundamentals, and actual practical experience in deploying high-density cabinet in our existing campuses, with various cooling technologies suited tested and applied. In our overseas business, the delivery of phase 2 and 3 of the over 100MW MY06 Johor project remained the key focus, and we are devoting dedicated resources to ensure the timely delivery. We remained confident with the capacity expansion target in the year 2023, and the healthy momentum in our cornerstone hyperscale business continued to serve as solid fundamentals for our consideration on further business diversification."
About Chindata Group
Chindata is a leading carrier-neutral hyperscale data center solution provider in Asia-Pacific emerging markets and a first mover in building next-generation hyperscale data centers in China, India, and Southeast Asia markets, focusing on the whole life cycle of facility planning, investment, design, construction and operation of ecosystem infrastructure in the IT industry. Chindata provides its clients with business solutions in major countries and regions in Asia-Pacific emerging markets, including asset-heavy ecosystem chain services such as industrial bases, data centers and network services.
