Checkout - XN CHECKOUT

Recently floated on AIM this company describes itself as -"a leading suppliers of EPOS systems, software and associated services to the bar, restaurant and leisure sectors"

Electronic tills to you and I basically.

On Dec 7 they posted this trading statement.

7 December 2004
XN Checkout Holdings Plc
Trading update
XN Checkout Holdings Plc ("XNC" or "the Company"), a market leader of Electronic
Point of Sale ("EPOS") solutions to the leisure, retail and hospitality markets,
is pleased to issue a positive trading update prior to the Company's year ending
31 December 2004.
The Board is confident of exceeding market expectations for profitability of
#1.4 million on slightly lower turnover than had been forecast.
In line with its strategy, XNC has successfully extended its reach beyond
managed pub groups into a number of new sectors within a broader spectrum of
hospitality business segments.
The Company has also achieved a highly successful entry into the growing Casino
equipment and systems market in the UK and overseas with its innovative, leading
edge gaming solutions. Furthermore, following a number of notable successes in
Asia selling and implementing its new retail software system, XNC will be
entering the UK retail systems market during 2005.
The full results of these initiatives will be seen in 2005 and details of these
successes are listed below.
Hospitality
* Mitchells and Butlers (MAB): During the course of this year we have
successfully delivered a number of software development projects and
technology refresh hardware solutions into the MAB estate, and are
actively working on a number of new projects for delivery in 2005.
* Punch Taverns: We have been working with Punch Taverns, the operator of
8,500 leased pubs, to develop a technology and commercial model that will
bring a new generation of business benefits to certain parts of their
growing leased pub estate. The technology includes a fully integrated end
to end point of sale solution based on our dotPOS web based application
suite which provides fast deployment and low maintenance combined with
ease of use, while overcoming the traditional issue of managing dispersed
data bases.
During the summer we completed a successful pilot of the technology in a
representative sample of outlets within the Punch Taverns estate.
The next stage will be an initial roll out phase commencing in January 2005.
* The Night Club Company: The implementation into the large premier night
club venues, including the Works and Creation brands is ahead of
schedule and will be completed by Easter next year. The systems supplied
have built on our traditional EPoS core competences to provide complete
integrated IT solutions for the outlets. These solutions include hand-held
terminals in the VIP lounges, integrated admissions and cloakroom systems
and point of purchase media promotions subsystems.
* Tragus Holdings: Tragus is the largest independently owned Restaurant
Operator in the UK. We have recently successfully completed the roll out
into the Tragus Holdings Cafe Rouge, Mamma Amalfi and Abbaye brands.
* Stena Line: The software development to meet the needs of the
International Ferry market have been completed along
with successful pilots on Stena Line's Scandinavian and Polish routes.
The roll out has now commenced across the fleet and will take 18 months to
complete. The systems encompass retail shops, bars and restaurants while
meeting the exacting requirements of customs reporting, international tax
and multi-currency applications. This success represents an important
opportunity for XNC within a large market sector.
* Irish Greyhound Board: The Irish Greyhound Board (IGB), owned by the
Irish Government, operates 28 stadia across Eire. XNC's systems have been
successfully implemented across IGB owned sites and the rollout will
continue into the sites managed by the IGB next year. In addition to the
core bar and restaurant systems, XNC has been deploying hand-held
terminals and admissions systems.
* Leisure Parcs Limited: We have commenced roll out with the Blackpool
based bar and leisure operator, Leisure Parcs. The initial roll out
is into their Herald Inn division and will be followed by the Brannigans
bar chain.
* Ladher Leisure: Ladher Leisure operate late night entertainment venues
and bars across the UK including the FYEO (For Your Eyes Only) brand.
XNC's roll out has commenced successfully into this expanding group, and
will continue in the New Year.
* NUSSL: XNC has installed a number of systems into student unions. In the
last year we have installed a new system at Cardiff University, the
largest of the student unions in the UK, plus others that include
Glamorgan and Chichester, adding to the growing number of universities
using our web based solution.
* Noble Leisure: Noble Leisure operates a number of branded hospitality
chains and we are pleased to report a successful implementation of our web
based system across the iconic Angus Steak House Chain. We continue in the
New Year with a roll out into their Tuscany Restaurant Brands.
Hotels
Following the creation of a Hotels division in 2002, the division has focused on
building an initial client-base in the UK and in Asia-Pacific regions. Marketing
a fully integrated, related product-line aimed specifically at the global hotel
market, initial implementations have seen the hotels division successfully
install the Protel Hotel Management System, XNC's dotPOS Enterprise and Loyalty/
Membership products in 5 countries, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand,
Malaysia and Singapore.
Following completion of currently contracted rollout programmes by Q2 2005, the
division will have created new sales and recurring maintenance revenues from
some 80 plus hotel based installations, globally. Due to the benefits of
integration and cost savings, a growing number of sites are opting for the
installation of multiple XN hotel products within each property.
UK based clients include the Paramount Hotel Group, Quintessential Hotel Group,
Morvan Family Hotels, Huggler Hotels in the Channel Islands and in Basingstoke,
The Westbury Hotel, Mayfair. In Asia-Pacific, XN is rolling Protel and dotPOS
systems into 26 sites for the largest service apartment operators in Australia -
the Toga Hospitality Group. Our CRM/Loyalty solution has been selected by
Millennium & Copthorne International hotels in Singapore to manage the
memberships of some 7,000 patrons of M&C's 'A La Carte' F&B club across five
Singapore hotels.
XNC is planning to use its hotel product-line to enter new international
territories during 2005.
Gaming
XNE (XN Entertainment) has successfully developed and installed Europe's first
cashless touch screen roulette system into Gala's Casino in Birmingham.
Following a successful period of operation, Gala have placed further orders for
the system to be installed into four more of their casinos using XNE's Ticket in
Ticket out solution, this order is also to include the new dual screen cabinet
which was released in November.
XN South Africa successfully tendered and installed a XNE solution for Winning
Number Displays hardware and software for Sun International's new Casino in
Durban. Since this install further orders have been received for two more Sun
sites.
XNE are installing in a Moscow Casino 14 cabinets incorporating their Touch
Control Roulette (TCR) solution and 32 of their displays. This install will
coincide with a 14 terminal installation of TCR in Goa, India.
UK pilots are scheduled for January 2005 with both Stanley Leisure and Rank
Leisure.
XNE will have a significant presence at the annual International Casino
Exhibition (ICE) being held in London at Earls Court which starts on 25th
January 2005.
Retail
XNC's operations in Asia have successfully sold and implemented XNC's new retail
system into a number of diverse retail environments, including Shopping Malls
(over 100 diverse outlets at Parco Bugis Junction in Singapore), fashion stores
(G2000, Nyan Kid and F J Jonathan in Singapore), Toy/Gift stores (Mini Toons in
Singapore), health/skin care stores (Leonard Drake and Prima Health in
Malaysia), High Tech retail (Nokia Teleshop in Thailand, Hannspree in Taiwan)
and Speciality stores (Muji in Taiwan).
XNC's retail system software has been adopted by Fujitsu in Taiwan to resell to
a number of its customers in Taiwan and China which include Muji, Hannspree, Mr.
Donuts and Cosmed.
Outlook
Overall the Board is pleased to report that 2004 has seen a successful Listing
on AIM and a return to profitability after a period of consolidation and product
development. We have a strong pipeline of projects ahead of us across a wide
range of hospitality and leisure sectors and we remain optimistic on our
prospects for 2005.

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Current broker forecasts from Daniel Stewart (upgraded this week) are

EPS for year to December:
2004 8.3p
2005 13.0p
2006 18.6p


At today's price of 142p that's a PE of 17 for the year just completed, PE of 11 for 2005 and a PE of 7.6 for 2006

A forward PE of 11 for a company growing earnings at an average of around 50% PA looks rather cheap imo, especially on the back of the above trading statement.

Worth taking deeper a look at perhaps