Australian data centre operator NextDC has requested a trading halt of the Australian Stock Exchange after it warned of construction delays impacting its M3 Melbourne data centre.
The company made the request in an October 19 filing to the ASX, citing “a delay to the supply of power” to the contentious data centre, which has been at the centre of community action calling for local council intervention.
Electricity distributor Jemena was forced by the council to delay a vital power upgrade, leading to NextDC revising its Financial Year 2027 guidance.
The company had forecast net revenue of up to $640 million; however, it has now reduced that to no more than $500 million. Liquidity remains the same.
“Jemena has suspended parts of the network works required for the next increase in grid supply to M3 Melbourne,” Craig Scroggie, NextDC’s CEO and MD, said in the company's revised guidance announcement.
“Jemena has attributed the suspension to community and stakeholder opposition to the works and to the absence of local council consent pending further consultation. On Jemena’s current indicative estimate, we expect that increase during FY28.
“We have taken the affected M3 contracts out of FY27 guidance until we can reliably estimate their contribution. The August guidance included approximately A$140 million of each of net revenue and Underlying EBITDA from those contracts. The timing and scale of their contribution remain uncertain.
“The capacity remains under contract, subject to the customer’s rights, and construction of the data halls is continuing. We are working with our customer on a revised power ramp and with Jemena to bring power forward.
“With M3 revenue deferred, we have paused projects not backed by customer contracts and put that capital behind the capacity our customers have already contracted. We have approximately A$8.7 billion of liquidity at 30 September 2026 and we are in compliance with our covenants.”
NextDC’s shares were worth $9.16 at the close of trading on Friday, October 16. That value tumbled to just $5.23 by Monday the 21st.
The trading halt and share crash will likely be a sore point at NextDC’s next Annual General Meeting, which will take place on November 20.
NextDC is Australia’s largest data centre operator.
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