Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (ASX:SXE) shares closed 13.6% higher at A$4.02 on Tuesday 27 October 2026, the biggest gain among ASX 300 stocks, according to Market Index. At its AGM, the electrical contractor, known as SCEE, backed its outlook for at least 40% earnings growth and said data centre work is set to more than triple.
What SCEE told shareholders
According to SCEE’s AGM presentation and Chair’s address:
- FY27 EBITDA: at least A$110 million, more than 40% above FY26 underlying EBITDA of A$77.0 million, with further growth expected beyond that
- Data centres: about A$400 million of revenue expected in FY27, up from A$120 million in FY26
- September: expected to be a record month for revenue, beating June
- Order book: a record A$810 million at 30 June
- Balance sheet: A$261.5 million in cash and no debt at 30 June
SCEE said it worked inside ten data centres for six hyperscale cloud providers in FY26. It also paid record FY26 dividends of 10.0 cents a share, fully franked, up 33% on the prior year.
A rebound after the data centre sell-off
Tuesday’s jump followed a sharp fall. SCEE shares closed at A$4.99 on 12 October after it agreed to buy fire and HVAC group Entire, but had slid to A$3.54 by Monday’s close, a fall of about 29%.
The sell-off hit ASX data centre contractors after an AI data centre developer cancelled its planned listing and other sector listings were delayed, according to Kalkine. The fall also came in the same week as NextDC’s 42% crash on a Melbourne power delay.
The Entire deal is still expected to complete in November, subject to ACCC clearance.
The insider angle
SCEE’s directors have mostly been adding to their holdings this year, according to Market Index records:
- 30 June: Chair Karl Paganin sold 30,643 shares at A$4.86
- 14 July: Paganin, Paul Chisholm, Simon Buchhorn and Louise Daw bought shares at A$4.00
- 7 October: Paganin, Buchhorn and Daw took up shares through the dividend reinvestment plan at A$4.87
Even after Tuesday’s jump, the shares are about 17% below that A$4.87 price.
Managing director Graeme Dunn holds 3,687,372 shares, worth about A$14.8 million at A$4.02, according to a director’s notice lodged on Tuesday. He was also issued 162,237 FY27 performance rights, approved at the AGM. Our Megaport insider trading analysis explains how to read these notices.
What SXE investors should watch
- Completion of the Entire deal in November
- Data centre contract wins, given the A$400 million FY27 forecast
- Director trades in Appendix 3Y notices after the rally
- Sector sentiment after the recent data centre sell-off
Bottom line
SCEE used its AGM to remind investors that its earnings and data centre pipeline are still growing fast, sparking a strong rebound. But the shares remain well below their early October level, showing the market is still cautious on data centre stocks.
