Burn baby burn… 'No surprises' as Xero growth continues

Xero burned through $17.3 million during the last quarter, yet remains on-track with the company’s ambitious growth plans.

Revealed via a statement on NZX, the cloud company announced net operating and investing cash outflows of $17.3 million compared with $11.8 million for the March 2014 quarter.

As a result, Xero had cash balances of $192.7 million at 30 June 2014 - compared to $210 million on March 31.

"From our perspective, there are no surprises," Darryl Robinson, Xero's general manager group finance told Business Desk.

"The quarterly cashflow results are in line with our targets and are reflective of our growth plans."

The increase in staff costs is in line with headcount growth, with Robinson reporting the company doubled staff numbers during the past year - rising to 758 as of the end of March.

“The 103% increase in payments for other operating costs is higher than growth in actual expenditure due to cash flow timings,” the report states.

“Overall the increase in receipts from customers reflects the continuation of strong growth in revenue while the increase in costs reflects the ongoing investment in building the business for the future.”