IREN unveils plans for Texas data centre & GPU growth
IREN, previously known as Iris Energy, a leading name in next-generation data centres powered entirely by renewables, announced its financial results for the three and six-month period that ended on 31 December 2023. IREN has also revealed its plans to extend its name change to better mirror its ongoing growth in the next-generation data centre sector.
Daniel Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Iris Energy said, "The business has continued to strengthen its position and execute upon significant planned expansion in 2024." He added that their Bitcoin mining hashrate is expected to reach 10 EH/s in the coming months and 20 EH/s by end of year. The company's AI cloud services business has also achieved growth beyond their expectations, tripling following a considerable order for NVIDIA H100 GPUs. They also expressed anticipation over a new 1,400MW data centre development site in West Texas.
The second quarter of FY24 saw Bitcoin mining revenues rise to $42.0 million, marking an increase from the $34.4 million in the first financial quarter of 2024, primarily due to an uplift in the average Bitcoin price. However, Bitcoin production was slightly lower, mining 1,144 compared to 1,223 in the previous quarter, due mainly to the higher global hashrate rate during the given period.
Electricity costs remained consistently high, with an average operating hashrate of 5.6 EH/s across the periods causing them to reach $16.6 million. This compares with $16.4 million in the first quarter. Site and additional costs reached $11.9m, an increase of $0.5m from the first quarter. The net loss after income tax was $(5.2) million, a marginal improvement from the $(5.3) million loss in the first quarter.
However, the second quarter was not all losses for IREN. The adjusted EBITDA improved significantly to $14.0 million, compared to $6.8 million in the first quarter. Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023 were $90.3 million, and the company reported no debt facilities.
Operational highlight for Q2 FY24 include expansion of Bitcoin mining from 5.6 EH/s to 10 EH/s, with purchased Bitmain miners and increased operating capacities. By January 2024, plans were in place to secure a pathway to 20 EH/s. Another step in their growth was signing a cloud services contract with AI company, Poolside AI SAS. This, coupled with an additional purchase of 568 NVIDIA H100 GPUs expanded IREN's cloud services business threefold.
In the area of corporate and development, IREN announced a 1,400MW data centre development site in West Texas with an initial connection deposit of $4.7m and an expected in-service date in late 2026. The cash and cash equivalents as of February 9, 2024 amounted to $146.0 million.
