Vianet Grp Regulatory News (VNET)

9 Apr 2009 07:00



Brulines Group plc

("Brulines" or "the Group")

Trading Update

Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the market leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK leisure sector, provides the following trading update in advance of its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2009 which will be announced on 9 June 2009.

The Board is pleased to report that its preliminary results for the full year ended 31 March 2009 are expected to be in line with market expectations. Trading in the Group's core beer monitoring business over the second half of the financial year has remained robust and the Group has successfully managed to significantly reduce losses associated with the acquisitions of Vianet and Edensure.

Trading Environment 

Despite the significant burden resulting from beer duty, legislation, and the distraction of parliamentary enquiries, all within an environment of unprecedented economic and banking pressure, the pub sector is demonstrating resilience and the impact on Group performance has been neutral.

The core beer monitoring operation has continued to generate demand with year-on-year growth in recurring revenue although the Group is expending significantly more effort as it is impacted by delays in installations due to organisational change as customers realign their businesses. There has been wider customer interest in the Group's rental model as an alternative to the capital purchase model currently being used. 

There has been a positive change to the customer mix for new installations with increased penetration in medium sized pub companies and regional brewers.

Successful Integration of Subsidiaries and Business Development

The integration of Nucleus Data, purchased in January 2008, has delivered expected synergies and has consolidated Brulines' market leadership in the UK leisure sector.

Good progress has been made on the commercial development of i-draught TM, the Group's beer quality and EPOS variance monitoring product with new regional brewer contracts and commercial evaluation in the managed house sector. The Group continues to progress investment conservatively in its strategy to expand into the US market.

In the period the Group increased its stake from 66% to 83% in Coin Metrics, its gaming machine remote monitoring business, which has now achieved break even on a monthly basis and is anticipated to move into profit in the current financial year.

The acquisition of Edensure Ltd, the Intelligent Forecourt Solution provider, was completed at the end of October 2008 and the business is now fully integrated. Significant new business secured in Q4 has taken Edensure close to break even on a monthly basis going into 2009/10. The Group is evaluating opportunities to expand its footprint in the petrol forecourt market.

Vianet Ltd was acquired from administration on 11 December 2008 and the integration is ongoing. In addition to the expected synergies, new contracts and increased vending market penetration have been achieved in Q4 and, as a result, the Vianet losses will be materially lower than anticipated. The Group expects Vianet to achieve monthly breakeven during H1 2009/10. 

Edensure and Vianet have leading globally scalable products and operate in markets with no dominant competitor and where there is an opportunity to achieve market leadership.

Placing

On 30 December 2008 the Group successfully completed the placing of 3,786,641 ordinary shares with various institutional investors at a price of £1.25 per share to raise approximately £4.4 million after expenses. The Group is exploring a number of potential acquisitions which would enable the Group to exploit its core capabilities.  

Outlook

The Group's strategic intent is to profitably extend its data handling penetration and footprint in the leisure, vending and petrol forecourt sectors where there is considerable overlap, and to achieve market leading positions using its core capabilities and market leading products.

The Group is performing well in a difficult environment. As its markets become increasingly focused on profitability and cash generation from core operations, the Group's products will become more important to its customers than ever before.

Despite the more difficult trading environment future growth prospects are encouraging and management continue to view the future with confidence. Subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting, the Board anticipates maintaining a progressive final dividend.

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, 9 June 2009 at Abchurch Communications, 5th Floor, 100 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6EU.

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About Brulines

Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's pub, leisure, gaming and petrol sectors. The Group has four core divisions:

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

For further information, please visit www.brulines.com