Vianet Group PLC Trading Update and Notice of Interim Results (9812C)

TIDMVNET

RNS Number : 9812C

Vianet Group PLC

23 October 2020

 
    23 October 2020 
 

Vianet Group plc

("Vianet" or the "Group")

Trading Update and Notice of Interim Results

Vianet Group plc (AIM: VNET), the international provider of actionable data and business insight through devices connected to its Internet of Things ("IOT") platform, today announces the following trading update and notifies that it will release its results for the half year ended 30 September 2020 on Tuesday, 8 December 2020.

The Group is pleased to report that trading for the first half of the current financial year has been ahead of our COVID-19-revised ("C-19") management forecasts. There has been month-on-month improvement in operating profit and cash since the start of the financial year with September moving into profit.

Whilst the C-19 situation remains difficult to predict, the Group is in a robust financial and operating position to navigate FY2021 and continue the solid momentum that was building prior to C-19 and deliver on the exciting growth opportunities that we see ahead of us.

James Dickson, Chairman of Vianet, commented:

"Having seen a month-on-month improvement in operating profit and cash since the start of the financial year,

Vianet remains   in good shape to come through the C-19 crisis and emerge strongly. 

"However, we once again find ourselves in uncharted waters alongside our hospitality sector customers following the government's announcement of further new measures over the past two weeks.

"The new restrictions on hospitality are extremely frustrating for the pub industry. Whilst a few instances of non-compliance inevitably gain high media exposure, the overwhelming story of compliance is not viewed as newsworthy. Recent evidence supplied by Public Health England (Fig. 20, p19 in link below) paints a very different picture of an industry that has focused on safeguarding its customers and staff, whilst also creating a valuable environment for community and social interaction .

"Nevertheless, we continue to closely monitor the C-19 situation and proactively manage the measures imposed by the government."

- Ends -

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921561/Weekly_COVID19_Surveillance_Report_week_39_FINAL.pdf

Enquiries:

 
 Vianet Group plc 
 James Dickson, Chairman       Tel: [phone] 
                                                 800 
 [e-mail]       www.vianetplc.com 
 
 
 Cenkos Securities plc 
 Stephen Keys / Cameron MacRitchie   Tel: [phone] 
                                                     8900 
                                           www.cenkos.com 
 

Media enquiries:

 
 Yellow Jersey PR 
 Sarah Hollins                             Tel: [phone] 
  Henry Wilkinson                                           137 
  [e-mail]                Tel: [phone] 
                                                            336 
                                         www.yellowjerseypr.com 
 

About Vianet

Vianet Group is a leading provider of actionable management information and business insight created through combining data from our smart Internet of Things ('IOT') solutions and external information sources.

Since Admission to AIM in 2006, the Group has grown from its core beer monitoring business both organically and through strategic acquisitions to widen its offering and also develop new businesses, especially in vending telemetry and contactless payment solutions particularly for the premium coffee sector.

Servicing over 300 customers across the world and rendering live data to our IOT platform from over 250,000 connected machines daily, Vianet is one of the largest business to business (b2b) connected solutions providers in Europe with established long term relationships with blue chip customers and growing recurring revenues which are over 85% of our total revenues.

In our Smart Machines Division we connect a single data gathering device with its own on-board communication capability to a customer's asset or system. The device then sends data back via our IOT platform to cloud based servers. The technology was originally developed for automated retailing machines, however the flexibility and functionality of the device means the technology can be applied to practically any machine which has the capability to output data. The device is also used to connect our contactless payment solution and communicate payment terms to our cloud based payment services providers where that application is also required.

The Smart Zones Division is where we connect multiple data gathering devices into one or more systems or assets with the data from those devices being communicated back to our IOT platform and cloud based servers via a single 3G communications hub. The technology was originally developed for flow monitoring devices, temperature sensors, and asset management in drinks retailing but practically any data gathering device with a digital output could be connected to the communications hub where required such as gaming machines, utilities management and EPOS.

For further information, please visit www.vianetplc.com

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October 23, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)