Vianet Grp Regulatory News (VNET)

Vianet Group plc

AIM: VNET

Audited Final Results for the year ended 31 March 2026

Strong operational progress, growing recurring revenues, transition to net cash and clear leadership succession

9 June 2026

Vianet Group plc (AIM: VNET) ("Vianet", the "Company" or the "Group"), the international provider of actionable data, business insights and payment solutions delivered through an integrated ecosystem of hardware devices, software platforms and smart insight portals, is pleased to announce its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2026 ("FY2026").

Key Performance Indicators

The following table summarises the Group's key financial and operational performance indicators for FY2026, compared with the prior financial year.

Financial Highlights

• Group revenue increased by 1.5% to £15.50m (FY2025: £15.27m), supported by continued growth in higher-quality recurring income.

• Recurring revenue increased to £13.60m (FY2025: £13.17m), representing 88% of Group revenue (FY2025: 86%).

• Gross margin maintained at a robust 68% (FY2025: 68%), reflecting the resilience of the operating model and an enhanced recurring revenue mix.

• Adjusted EBITA (pre-exceptional items and share-based payments) increased to £3.61m (FY2025: £3.59m).

• Hospitality division revenue grew by 6.4% to £9.59m (FY2025: £9.02m).

• Hospitality division operating profit advanced by 7.7% to £4.51m (FY2025: £4.18m).

• Significant balance sheet improvement, with the Group moving from net debt of £0.38m at the prior year end to net cash of £0.44m at 31 March 2026.

• Year-end cash balances increased by 22% to £3.40m (FY2025: £2.78m).

• Strong cash conversion, with post-working capital cash generation representing 96% of EBITDA.

• Vianet Americas losses reduced materially to £243k (FY2025: loss of £385k), reflecting improving commercial traction and disciplined cost management.

• Interim dividend of 0.40p per share paid on 28 January 2026 (H1 2025: 0.30p), an increase of 33%.

• Proposed final dividend of 2.00p per share (FY2025: 1.00p), reflecting the Board's confidence in the Group's recurring revenue base, cash generation and medium-term prospects.

• Total dividend in respect of FY2026 of 2.40p per share (FY2025: 1.30p), representing an 84.6% increase year on year and a historical dividend yield of 3.93% based on a year-end share price of 61.00p on 31 March 2026.

• Board's medium-term ambition is to maintain a progressive dividend policy, while preserving appropriate dividend cover and balance sheet flexibility.

Operational Highlights

Smart Machines - Unattended Retail

• 99 new contracts secured, and 8 major contract renewals completed during the year, providing visibility over future recurring income.

• 4,637 new cashless devices including 2,520 3G upgrades deployed in FY2026, extending the Group's installed base to approximately 36,133 connected devices.

• Recurring revenue increased to 81% of divisional turnover (FY2025: 75%), further enhancing earnings quality.

• Continued expansion across the unattended retail, premium coffee and fuel forecourt verticals.

• The Group maintained its strong footprint in the UK vending and unattended retail market, notwithstanding customer estate rationalisation associated with the industry-wide 3G to 4G LTE migration.

• Advanced AI and data warehouse initiatives underway to unlock greater value from machine telemetry data, supporting improved operational efficiency and future product innovation.

Smart Zones - Hospitality

• Divisional revenue increased by 6.4% to £9.59m, with operating profit advancing 7.7% to £4.51m.

• 448 new site installations completed during the year.

• 8 new contracts and 4 long-term renewals secured, supporting future recurring revenue visibility.

• Recurring revenue held strong at 92% of divisional turnover (FY2025: 94%) with mix reflecting higher levels of new installation activity.

• UK and US pipelines expanded materially, supported by the integration of Beverage Metrics and the Group's advanced analytics capability.

• AI driven analytics capabilities are being embedded within the hospitality data platform to deliver deeper commercial insights, operational efficiencies and enhanced customer value.

• Encouraging commercial progress with enterprise hospitality operators in the United States.

USA Growth Momentum

• Vianet Americas ("VAI") secured a significant long-term enterprise agreement with a major US full-service restaurant operator.

• Commercial momentum continues to build with this customer and with other notable chains, including World of Beer and Margaritaville.

• The strategic partnership with Fintech Inc. provides access to more than 240,000 hospitality locations and approximately 90% of major US restaurant chains.

• VAI is now well-positioned within the world's largest hospitality technology market, with a substantial multi-year growth opportunity ahead.

Leadership Succession and Governance

The Board was pleased to announce the next phase of Vianet's leadership development and succession planning, which has been carefully prepared to ensure continuity of strategic direction alongside renewed operational leadership.

Following the successful stabilisation and growth of the Group after the COVID-19 period, James Dickson has transitioned from the combined Chair and Chief Executive Officer role and reverted to the position of Chairman with effect from 1 June 2026.

James combined the roles of Chair and Chief Executive Officer during and following the pandemic to provide continuity, strategic leadership and operational stability through a prolonged period of economic uncertainty, supply chain disruption and market transition. With the Group now firmly re-established on a stronger operational and financial footing, the Board considers it both timely and appropriate to return to a more conventional governance structure, fully aligned with the principles of the QCA Corporate Governance Code.

Craig Brocklehurst was appointed Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 June 2026. Craig has played a central role in driving the Group's operational execution, commercial development and strategic progress, and has been instrumental in strengthening customer engagement across both divisions.

Sarah Bentham has successfully transitioned into the role of Chief Financial Officer following Mark Foster's departure from the board and has already made a meaningful contribution to strengthening the Group's financial discipline, cash generation and operational reporting.

The Board believes this orderly internal succession process demonstrates the strength and depth of leadership within the Group and provides continuity alongside renewed operational focus to support the next phase of growth.

James Dickson, Chairman, commented:

- Ends -

James Dickson (Chairman), Craig Brocklehurst (Chief Executive Officer) and Sarah Bentham (Chief Financial Officer) will deliver a live presentation on the Group's financial results for the year ended 31 March 2026 via the Investor Meet Company platform on 9 June 2026 at 10:00 a.m. BST.

The presentation is open to all existing and prospective shareholders. Questions may be submitted in advance via the Investor Meet Company dashboard until 9:00 a.m. on the day before the meeting, or at any time during the live presentation.

Investors can register with Investor Meet Company free of charge and follow Vianet Group plc at:

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/vianet-group-plc/register-investor

Investors who already follow Vianet Group plc on the Investor Meet Company platform will be invited automatically.

Enquiries

Inside Information and Market Abuse Regulation

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

I am pleased to report another year of solid operational and financial progress for Vianet Group plc.

The Group has continued to grow its recurring revenue base, strengthen its balance sheet and expand its strategic position in both the UK and US markets, against a demanding macroeconomic backdrop. These results reflect the resilience of the Group's business model, the depth of its long-term customer relationships and the continued execution of our strategy.

The progress achieved over the last three years is particularly encouraging. During this period, the Group has:

• Grown recurring revenues from 86% to 88% of total Group revenues.

• Successfully transitioned from a net debt position to net cash.

• Increased year-end cash balances from £2.78m in FY2025 to £3.40m in FY2026.

• Increased Hospitality operating profit from £4.18m in FY2025 to £4.51m in FY2026.

• Expanded the connected device footprint across both unattended retail and hospitality.

• Established a materially enhanced commercial platform in the United States.

Taken together, these achievements demonstrate the strength of the Group's recurring revenue model and the quality of the customer relationships we continue to build.

Strategic Progress

The Smart Machines division remains a leading participant in the UK unattended retail market and continues to secure long-term contracts that underpin recurring revenue visibility.

The UK unattended retail market alone comprises more than 300,000 vending machines, while the wider European market is estimated to exceed 3 million machines. Connectivity penetration across these estates remains relatively low, presenting a substantial medium-term opportunity for telemetry, payment services and device management solutions.

Within Smart Zones, the Group's hospitality proposition continues to evolve meaningfully. The integration of Beverage Metrics with Vianet's draught monitoring and analytics capability has created a differentiated beverage management platform that is increasingly resonating with operators of all sizes.

The Group's growing US presence is particularly encouraging. Through Beverage Metrics and the strategic partnership with Fintech Inc., Vianet now has access to a highly scalable market opportunity across the US hospitality sector.

The US on-premise hospitality market comprises approximately 382,000 licensed venues, with the Group's initial focus directed at multi-site operators where Vianet's technology delivers measurable operational return on investment and rapid payback periods.

The Group continues to make encouraging progress with contracted enterprise customers such as Margaritaville, World of Beer, and the recently announced major customer win, together with several live pilot programmes underway. While the Board remains measured in its near-term outlook, it believes the commercial opportunity in the United States is substantial over the medium term.

Governance and Succession

I am pleased that the Board has been able to implement a carefully planned leadership transition from a position of strength.

Following the COVID-19 period, combining the Chair and Chief Executive Officer roles was necessary to provide continuity and stability through a highly uncertain operating environment. Having successfully guided the Group through that period and positioned the business for the next phase of growth, I have reverted to the role of Chairman with effect from 1 June 2026.

Craig Brocklehurst has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Sarah Bentham continues in her role as Chief Financial Officer following her promotion in August 2025.

This transition reflects a well-planned internal succession process, evidences the depth of talent within the Group and provides continuity for customers, employees and shareholders alike.

Dividend

The Board recognises the importance of shareholder returns and remains committed to a progressive dividend policy, underpinned by recurring revenues, strong cash generation and a robust balance sheet.

During the year, an interim dividend of 0.40p per share was paid on 28 January 2026 (H1 2025: 0.30p), an increase of 33% on the prior year interim.

In addition, the Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.00p per share (FY2025: 1.00p), payable on 31 July 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 19 June 2026. The ex-dividend date will be 18 June 2026.

The total dividend in respect of FY2026 is therefore 2.40p per share (FY2025: 1.30p), an increase of 84.6% on the prior year. Based on the year-end share price of 61.00p on 31 March 2026, this represents a historical dividend yield of 3.93%.

It remains the Board's intention to pursue a progressive dividend policy, with the medium-term ambition of progressing the historical dividend yield, while preserving appropriate dividend cover and the balance sheet flexibility required to support the Group's continued investment and growth.

Outlook

The Group enters FY2027 with:

• A growing base of high-quality recurring revenues.

• A net cash position and a strong balance sheet.

• High levels of customer retention across both divisions.

• Expanding UK and US commercial pipelines.

• Growing opportunities across adjacent verticals.

• Strengthened operational leadership following the planned succession process.

While the wider economic environment remains uncertain, and the Board is careful not to overstate near-term expectations, Vianet is increasingly well-positioned to deliver sustainable medium-term growth.

The Group has strong foundations, differentiated technology, long-term customer relationships and growing strategic relevance across both the hospitality and unattended retail markets. The Board looks forward to the year ahead with confidence.

James Dickson

Chairman

9 June 2026

Smart Machines - Unattended Retail

The Smart Machines division performed resiliently during the year, notwithstanding customers' estate rationalisation associated with the UK-wide migration from 3G to 4G LTE connectivity.

The division's strategic focus on cashless payment, device management, telemetry and recurring revenues has continued to strengthen the quality of earnings, with high-margin subscription income now accounting for an increased proportion of divisional turnover.

Divisional revenue was £5.90m (FY2025: £6.25m), with adjusted operating profit of £2.03m (FY2025: £2.13m which included £0.24m of discontinued ERP revenue). Importantly, recurring revenues increased materially, reaching 81% of divisional revenues, compared with 75% in FY2025.

During the year, the Group secured 99 new contracts and completed 8 major customer renewals, providing a healthy pipeline of future deployments and underpinning long-term recurring income visibility.

The medium-term market opportunity remains substantial:

• The UK market is estimated at over 300,000 vending machines.

• The wider European market is estimated at over 3 million devices.

Connectivity penetration remains below 50% across these estates.

The Board believes that growing demand for telemetry, asset management, payment services and operational analytics for increased productivity will continue to support attractive long-term growth prospects for the division.

The Group's established commercial relationships with Elavon, Worldpay, NMI and Attenda continue to strengthen the competitiveness of its unattended payment proposition.

Smart Zones - Hospitality

The Hospitality division delivered another year of strong progress, with growth across both revenue and operating profit.

Combined UK and US revenues increased by 6.4% to £9.59m, while operating profit advanced by 7.7% to £4.51m, reflecting both top-line growth and disciplined operational management.

The integration of Beverage Metrics continues to strengthen Vianet's strategic positioning in hospitality analytics, beverage management and operational insight, broadening the addressable market and enhancing the Group's competitive differentiation.

The Group completed 448 new site installations during the year, while maintaining a stable estate notwithstanding continued UK pub closures.

Importantly, the Group's enhanced analytics and insight capability is generating broader engagement with hospitality operators beyond the traditional leased and tenanted market, including with managed estate and enterprise operators in both the UK and the US.

Vianet Americas

Vianet Americas ("VAI") made continued strategic and operational progress during the year.

Losses reduced materially to £243k (FY2025: loss of £385k) as the business continues its transition from investment phase towards commercial scale, with growing revenues and an enhanced operating leverage profile.

The Board believes VAI is now firmly positioned within a substantial and underpenetrated addressable market, with several key elements supporting future growth:

• Access to approximately 382,000 licensed hospitality venues in the United States.

• A strategic partnership with Fintech Inc., providing access to more than 240,000 hospitality businesses including approximately 90% of major US chain operators.

• Active enterprise relationships with Brinker, Margaritaville, World of Beer, and recently announced major national chain.

• An integrated solution combining beverage inventory, draught monitoring and analytics capabilities.

The Board remains appropriately measured regarding the pace of large-scale deployment cycles within the US hospitality sector. However, customer engagement, pilot activity and commercial discussions continue to progress positively, and the pipeline of opportunities has strengthened.

The Board believes the US opportunity represents a significant medium-term strategic growth driver for the Group and remains committed to disciplined investment and prudent financial management as the business scales.

Revenue and Recurring Revenue

Group revenue increased to £15.50m (FY2025: £15.27m), reflecting continued growth in higher-quality recurring income across both divisions.

Recurring revenues increased to £13.60m and now represent 88% of Group revenues (FY2025: 86%), further demonstrating the increasing quality, predictability and visibility of the Group's earnings.

Profitability

Adjusted EBITA increased to £3.61m (FY2025: £3.59m), while Group EBITDA increased to £4.22m.

The Hospitality division continued to offset softer near-term conditions in unattended retail, where a number of customers completed estate reviews associated with the industry-wide 3G to 4G LTE migration. Group gross margin remained robust at 68%, reflecting the resilience of the operating model.

Cash Generation and Balance Sheet

The Group delivered another year of strong cash generation, with post-working capital cash generation representing 96% of EBITDA.

Year-end cash balances increased by 22% to £3.40m (FY2025: £2.78m), and the Group moved into a net cash position of £0.44m at 31 March 2026, compared with net debt of £0.38m at the prior year-end.

This balance sheet strength provides the Group with flexibility to:

• Continue to invest in product innovation and platform development.

• Support the ongoing expansion of Vianet Americas.

• Pursue selective opportunities in adjacent markets and verticals.

• Maintain a progressive shareholder return policy.

Dividend

During the year an interim dividend of 0.40p per share was paid on 28 January 2026 (H1 2025: 0.30p). The Board has additionally proposed a final dividend of 2.00p per share (FY2025: 1.00p), bringing the total dividend in respect of FY2026 to 2.40p per share (FY2025: 1.30p), an increase of 84.6% on the prior year.

Based on the year-end share price of 61.00p on 31 March 2026, the total dividend represents a historical dividend yield of 3.93%, reflecting the Board's confidence in the Group's recurring revenue base, strong cash generation and positive medium-term prospects.

It remains the Board's intention to pursue a progressive dividend policy, with the medium-term ambition of progressing the historical dividend yield towards 5% based on the year-end closing share price, while maintaining appropriate dividend cover and balance sheet flexibility to support continued investment in the Group's growth strategy.

Sarah Bentham

Chief Financial Officer

The Board believes Vianet enters FY2027 in a materially stronger position than in previous years.

The Group now benefits from:

• A growing base of high-quality recurring revenues.

• A net cash position and a robust balance sheet.

• Improved operational leverage across both divisions.

• Strengthened governance arrangements aligned with best market practice.

• A successfully completed internal leadership succession.

• Growing commercial traction in the United States.

• Long-term, blue-chip customer relationships.

• Established and defensible positions in resilient specialist markets.

While macroeconomic conditions remain uncertain, and deployment cycles can be variable, particularly within larger hospitality groups, the Board believes the Group's medium-term prospects remain strong.

The combination of expanding recurring revenues, a differentiated data and analytics proposition, strong UK market positions, a scalable US opportunity, disciplined financial management and strengthened operational leadership provides a solid platform for continued progress.

The Board remains focused on delivering sustainable, profitable growth while maintaining a measured approach to communication with shareholders - continuing to under-promise and over-deliver.

Forward-looking Statements

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of Vianet Group plc (the "Company") and the industry in which the Company and its subsidiaries (together, the "Group") operate. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "may", "will", "should", "targets", "aim", "projects", "outlook", and similar expressions, or by their context.

Forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, assumptions and expectations of the Directors and on information currently available to them. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Group to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to: general economic, business and political conditions in the United Kingdom, the United States and other markets in which the Group operates; changes in customer demand and behaviour; the actions of competitors; technological change and the pace of product innovation; the availability and cost of key components and connectivity services; changes in regulation, taxation and accounting standards; foreign exchange and interest rate fluctuations; the ability to recruit and retain key personnel; and the outcome of pilot and enterprise programmes, particularly those at an early stage of development.

Forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by the AIM Rules for Companies, the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, the UK Market Abuse Regulation, or other applicable law or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast, profit estimate, or an offer or invitation to subscribe for, underwrite, purchase or otherwise acquire any securities of the Company.

Use of Alternative Performance Measures

This announcement contains certain Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs") which are not defined or specified under the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). These include adjusted EBITA, adjusted EBITDA, recurring revenue, cash conversion and net cash. The Directors believe that these APMs provide additional useful information about the underlying performance of the Group and assist comparability between reporting periods. APMs are not a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures and should be considered together with the audited financial statements of the Group.

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 March 2026

Consolidated Balance Sheet at 31 March 2026

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity for the year ended 31 March 2026

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2026

Notes to the financial statements

1. Taxation

Analysis of tax charge in year

Reconciliation of effective tax rate

The tax for the 2026 year is the higher (2025: was lower) than the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK 25% (2025: 25%). The differences are explained below:

2. Ordinary dividends

In addition, the directors are proposing a final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 March 2026 of 2.00p per share payable on 31 July 2026 to shareholders on the register on 19 June 2026. Total dividend payable 2.40p (2025: 1.40p).

3. Earnings per share

Earnings per share for the year ended 31 March 2026 was 1.43p (2025: 2.92p).

Basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders being a profit of £410k (2024: £857k) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year.

Diluted earnings per share are calculated on the basis of profit for the year after tax divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue in the year plus the weighted average number of shares which would be issued if all the options granted were exercised.

4. Exceptional items

Corporate activity costs relate to fees paid to corporate advisors in respect of prospective corporate evaluations.

Staff transitional costs relate to the transition of people and management to ensure we have to succession and calibre of people on board to deliver the strategic aims and aspirations of the Group.

5. Basis of preparation

In accordance with the Companies Act 2006, this preliminary report based on the unaudited financial statements has been prepared and approved by the Directors in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards, and in accordance with the AIM rules and is not therefore in full compliance with IFRS. The company prepares its parent company financial statements in accordance with FRS 101.

The financial information for the year ended 31 March 2026 does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. A copy of the statutory accounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The independent auditors' report on the full financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026 was unqualified and did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph or any statement under section 498 of the Companies Act 2006. This preliminary announcement does not constitute the Group's full financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.

The Group's full financial statements will be approved by the Board of Directors and reported on by the auditors on 8 June 2026. Accordingly, the financial information for the year ended 31 March 2026 is presented unaudited in the preliminary announcement.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on an historical cost basis, except for derivative financial instruments that have been measured at fair value. The consolidated financial statements are presented in pounds sterling, and all values are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, expressed in millions to one decimal point, except when otherwise indicated.  

The Directors have prepared this financial information on the fundamental assumption that the Group is a going concern and will continue to trade for at least 12 months following the date of approval of the financial information. In determining whether the Group's accounts should be prepared on a going concern basis the Directors have considered the factors likely to affect future performance.

6. Notes supporting statement of cashflows

Cash and cash equivalents for the purpose of the statement of cash flows comprises

Non- cash transactions from financing activities are shown in the reconciliation of liabilities from financing transactions in Note 6.

7. Alternative Performance Measures

In the reporting of financial information, the Directors have adopted the APMs "Adjusted operating (loss)/profit", "Adjusted operating cash generation", and "Adjusted net cash generation", (APMs were previously termed 'Non-GAAP measures'), which is not defined or specified under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

These measures are not defined by IFRS and therefore may not be directly comparable with other companies' APMS, including those in the Group's industry. APMs should be considered in addition to, and are not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measurements.

Purpose

The Directors believe that these APMs assist in providing additional useful information on the underlying trends, performance and position of the Group. These APMs are also used to enhance the comparability of information between reporting periods and business units, by adjusting for non-recurring or uncontrollable factors which affect IFRS measures, to aid the user in understanding the Group's performance.

Consequently, APMs are used by the Directors and management for performance analysis, planning, reporting and incentive setting purposes and this remains consistent with the prior year. Adjusted APMs are used by the Group in order to understand underlying performance and exclude items which distort compatibility, as well as being consistent with public broker forecasts and measures.