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Accesso Technology forging ahead as it unveils strong revenue growth

Published: 22:19 10 Sep 2014 AEST

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--adds CEO and broker comment---

Accesso Technology's (LON:ACSO) offering continues to grow as it unveiled a more than 23% increase in revenues in its first half to end June.

The virtual queuing specialist, which provides solutions to theme parks, said it had been focused on investment and improving products and that the second half will be where most revenue is generated.

The firm said Europe enjoyed strong guest attendance in contrast to more muted weather-related attendance in North America.

The period saw the first win for accesso Passport in Europe with the signing of a three year contract with Compagnie des Alpes to install the solution at five parks in Holland and Belgium, while there was also momentum in new markets and geographies with new and existing customers for the LoQueue offering.

Revenue came in at US$25.88mln compared to US$20.99mln in the same period in 2013, while adjusted operating profit was up 9.4% to US$1.29mln (2013: US$1.17mln).

Broker Canaccord, which rates the shares a 'buy', said it was confident on its current year estimates and highlighted the weather in the USA had improved in the important months of July and August.

Longer term, the broker is also optimistic on accesso’s new queueless product and the company’s potential in Asia.

In July, the group launched its latest version of the accesso Passport eCommerce solution and has been trialling this queueless product with a theme park in the UK with great success.

Speaking to Proactive Investors, chief executive Tom Burnet highlighted his excitement at this new product and the interesting evolution of the firm's technology.

When the group first founded in the late 1990s, he explained, the hope was that every person who came to a park would get their hands on the technology, but that proved difficult and expensive.

Now, the proliferation of smartphones means the queueless technology can be promoted far more easily.

"This means we can talk to bigger audiences," said Burnet, citing an example of a guest who can make the reservation and buy a ticket for a ride while en route to the attraction.

On the first half numbers, he said growth had come from both the ticketing and queuing businesses but also from the acquisition late last year of Siriusware - the ski and leisure tech specialist.

He also noted: "The first half, in headline terms is probably about 35% of our revenue year.

"We start to make our money in the summer months as attendees at theme parks start to show up."

Canaccord said: "accesso is now a broad, diversified technology provider to the leisure and attractions industry, exposed to multiple growing product lines and geographies.

"It is deepening customer relationships through cross-selling, winning new customers, expanding into new geographies and building high potential new products.

"We believe the recent decline in accesso’s share price offers a rare opportunity to invest in a well-managed business with disruptive technology and untapped geographic expansion potential."

Accesso Technology Group sees 'enormous' opportunities for growth in 2018

Tom Burnet, chairman of accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO), tells Proactive's Andrew Scott they enjoyed a strong year and remain confident on the outlook for 2018. Revenues for the 12 months ended December 31 grew just over 30% to US$133.4mln, while underlying earnings (EBITDA) were...

on 29/3/18