Trading Update (8391Q)

TIDMBRU

RNS Number : 8391Q

Brulines Group PLC

26 October 2011

 
 Press Release   26 October 2011 
 

Brulines Group plc

("Brulines" or "the Group")

Trading Update

Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the leisure and forecourt services sectors, provides the following trading update in advance of its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2011 which will be announced on 6 December 2011.

Trading in the Group's core beer monitoring business has been pleasing despite some initial delays to iDraughtTM installation programmes. The Group has secured several major customer contract extensions which include installation of iDraughtTM, the Group's bar management solution to drive Profit and Quality, which now accounts for almost nine percent of our total installation base. The launch of our Nucleus Smart TillTM EPOS system has been well received and has already gained good sales traction.

Although the Fuel Solutions Division's first quarter performance was held back by integration issues, these have now been resolved and the division is now trading positively and has made good progress in gaining new business as the market's only end-to-end solution for forecourt operators.

The Group continues to reduce losses associated with Vianet and the Board is encouraged by its ongoing success in developing existing contracts and in progressing significant new sales opportunities with several major international brand owners.

As announced on 26 October 2011, the acquisition of Lookout Solutions ("Lookout") was a significant step for the Group's Vending Telemetry business. Lookout's leading vending management software application, combined with Vianet's leading contactless payment processing and vending telemetry solutions, provides a compelling end-to-end solution for brand owners and vending operators as the Company aims to become the market leader in the provision of these solutions for the global vending market.

Whilst the Board fully expects the difficult economic environment and current challenging trading conditions to continue for some time yet, the future growth prospects across the Group's Leisure and Fuel Solutions divisions are very encouraging and management continues to view the future with confidence. The Board anticipates maintaining the current dividend policy as the Group continues to generate cash from its core business.

An analyst briefing to be given by James Dickson, Chief Executive, and Mark Foster, Finance Director, will be held at 9.30 am on Tuesday, 6 December 2011 at Abchurch Communications, 16th Floor, 125 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AR.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

 
 Brulines Group plc 
 James Dickson, Chief Executive   Tel: [phone] 
  Mark Foster, Finance Director                     800 
 [e-mail]            www.brulines.com 
 
 
 Cenkos Securities plc 
 Stephen Keys / Camilla Hume   Tel: [phone] 
                                               8900 
                                     www.cenkos.com 
 

Media enquiries:

 
 Abchurch Communications 
 Joanne Shears / Mark Dixon / Oliver      Tel: [phone] 
  Baxendale                                               7729 
  [e-mail]         www.abchurch-group.com 
 

About Brulines

Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's leisure and petrol forecourt sectors. Since its admission to AIM in 2006, the Group has grown both organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions to give the Group access to key vertical markets. The Group operates two divisions which comprise five key products:

LEISURE DIVISION

 
 Dispense Monitoring   The Group's core product, DMS, is widely used 
  (DMS)                 by owners and operators within the UK licensed 
                        on-trade, especially the tenanted / leased 
                        pub sector. Flow meters connected to draught 
                        beer dispense lines send data via an on-site 
                        communication panel to a secure central database. 
                        Liquid volumes by fount, draught wine or post 
                        mix are tracked as they are served, thereby 
                        helping customers to maximise sales, service 
                        and quality as well as managing their costs. 
                        DMS is installed in over 22,000 pubs and manages 
                        data for more than one in three UK pubs. 
 iDraught              A more recent and rapidly growing product offer is iDraughtTM, an extension of the Group's 
  (formerly BQM)       DMS, which scrutinises the quality of products running through beer lines in a bar; measuring 
                       volume, temperature, flow rate and liquid type (e.g. beer, cleaning fluid or water) at the 
                       point of dispense. iDraught is the first system to provide effective measurement of true yields 
                       on draught products. Actual dispense volumes are compared with till transactions to identify 
                       shrinkage from products given away, pilferage and wastage. i-draught measures the precise 
                       temperature of every pint as it is dispensed, the time taken to dispense each drink, and 
                       automatically 
                       identifies the liquid allowing customers to know exactly when lines are cleaned. Wherever 
                       they are, customers can stay in control through accessing their information on a secure web 
                       site. 
 Gaming                The acquisition of Coin Metrics in May 2007 was a strong strategic fit with Brulines' existing 
  Machine Data         Machine Insite business which already provides gaming machine data management and consultancy 
  Services             services to operators within the pub, club and leisure markets. Customers benefit from 
                       state-of-the-art 
                       real-time data capture and reporting systems that deliver improved machine profitability and 
                       operational security. 
 Vending               The Group's subsidiary Vianet is a pan-European provider of telemetry solutions and data 
  Telemetry            applications 
                       to the vending industry. Vianet provides services for all vending management needs; from 
                       operations, 
                       sales, field services, national accounts to senior management. 
 

FUEL SOLUTIONS DIVISION

 
 UK Petrol        The Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, Edensure, supplies 
  Forecourt        key management information to independent, multi branded 
  Data Services    owner, and supermarket petrol forecourt operators in 
                   the UK which helps reduce loss of fuel and improve profitability. 
                   Edensure provides petrol retailers with an unrivalled 
                   level of accuracy in the monitoring and management of 
                   their wet stock, using the most sophisticated analytical 
                   techniques available worldwide. 
 
                   This division has been further strengthened by the acquisitions 
                   of Energy Level Systems in March 2010, the UK distributor 
                   of OPW Fuel Management Systems tank gauging solutions, 
                   and Retail & Forecourt Solutions in June 2010, the market 
                   leader in fuel pump calibration, adjustment and legal 
                   verification, and also a leading provider of forecourt 
                   audit and compliance services. The acquisition of LBI 
                   Installations Ltd, also in June 2010, brought additional 
                   expertise in the area of web-based contract management 
                   solutions for forecourt operations. 
 

Headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, Brulines employs more than 240 people.

For further information, please visit www.brulines.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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