LONDON (Alliance News) - Vianet Group PLC Thursday said trading in the first half of its financial year was ahead of the same period of last year and in line with its expectations, and it said it will maintain its interim dividend at 1.7 pence due to the strength of its recurring income and prospects for the second half.
In a trading update, the provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the leisure, vending, and forecourt services sectors, said the pub sector remained under pressure in the six months to end-September, but it was encouraged by several new orders for its waste-reducing beer flow measurement product iDraught. It said these orders and further cost cutting were helping offset the impact of pub closures.
It said it made strong progress and profit grew in the vending telemetry market, particularly with its products for the coffee market. It said it is ahead of plan in installing its existing orders in this sector, and it's confident of further growth in the second half of the year.
It said its "fuel solutions" division made "reasonable" progress in the fiscal first half thanks to cost cutting and higher-margin activity. It expects the unit to breakeven, even though some significant projects were delayed into the second half of the year.
"Whilst trading in the pub sector has been challenging, Vianet has nevertheless made good progress and prospects, particularly for telemetry solutions for the coffee vending market, are encouraging. The benefits of the actions taken to reduce costs are being steadily realised and further cost reduction initiatives are being implemented," Chairman James Dickson said in a statement.
The company will put out its interim results on December 2.
Vianet shares were up 2.8% at 87.40 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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