22nd Apr 2015 08:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vianet Group PLC Wednesday said operating profit before exceptional costs for its recently-ended financial year will be broadly in line with market expectations and above last year's figure after a "satisfactory" second half of the year, and it expects to maintain its final dividend at 4.0 pence a share.
In a trading update, the provider of monitoring and data management products for the leisure, vending and petrol station forecourt sectors said its operating profit before goodwill, share options, and exceptional items for the year to March 31 will be above the GBP3.05 million it reported for the previous year.
It said its UK core beer flow monitoring business has maintained its contribution despite the uncertainty ahead of law changes that will significantly change the way the pub sector operates as well as the ongoing pub closures in the sector.
Its petrol stations forecourts business also made good progress in the second half, it said, helped by a reduced cost base, increased activity and improved margins, meaning this unit will report a small profit for the whole of the last financial year. It also gas a solid pipeline of business going into the current year.
Vianet is most excited about its vending telemetry business, where profits continued to grow in the second half. "The board believes that the prospects for this business remain excellent, particularly with telemetry solutions for the coffee vending market, where significant headway has been made in delivering new orders through 2014/15," it said.
"Given the group's prospects and continued investment, the board is confident that growth will continue through the remainder of the current financial year," Chairman James Dickson said of the overall outlook for the current year.
The company expects to publish its full-year results on June 4.
Vianet shares were down 0.2% at 89.80 pence Wednesday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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