LONDON (Alliance News) - Vianet Group PLC will hold its annual dividend flat, it said Tuesday, with profit set to come in ahead year-on-year.
Vianet expects to return 4 pence per share to shareholders for its year ending March 31, with profit set to be ahead of the year before's GBP3.6 million.
The company, which makes data recording technology for items such as beer taps, said its Smart Machines business has continued to achieve strong growth, though the contribution from Smart Zones will be slightly lower year-on-year as cost savings partially offset pub closures.
Chair James Dixon said: "We are pleased to deliver good year-on-year profit growth again and it is notable this has been achieved whilst shifting the focus within Smart Machines from capital to recurring annuity based sales."
"The successful integration of Vendman has boosted momentum and we have seen good growth in connections for telemetry and contactless payment solutions for both the coffee vending, and snack and can vending markets."
Vianet bought software developer Vendman Systems Ltd for GBP4.3 million in October 2017.
Vianet Grp (VNET)