Trading Update
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Press Release |
4 March 2011 |
Brulines Group plc
("Brulines" or "the Group")
Trading Update
Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the leisure and forecourt services sectors, provides the following H2 trading update in advance of its financial year ending 31 March 2011, the results of which will be announced on 7 June 2011.
Trading performance
Despite good progress with i-draught™, Vianet and the Fuel Solutions division, the Group's trading for H2 is likely to be lower than anticipated resulting in the full year profits expected to be around £4.0 million*. However, the Board anticipates maintaining its progressive dividend policy given the Group's continuing positive cash generation from its core business.
The Group has experienced a continuation of the well-documented economic conditions and commercial pressures affecting some core leisure customers, resulting in pub sell-offs and delayed commitment to new activity. At the same time, customers have delayed committing to projects for a number of reasons, including waiting for what were positive results from Brulines' NMO testing, waiting for increased clarity on the BISC pub industry enquiry, and carrying out extensive evaluation of i-draught™ as a replacement for standard Dispense Monitoring Services.
In addition, the severe weather conditions caused travel disruption to compound the usually lower activity for the Group's field-based services in December 2010 and January 2011 and, taken together, these factors have impacted the Group's outcome for the year.
A two pronged strategy to continue to reduce costs and drive sales, particularly of the Group's newer products, has begun to mitigate the position. However, the benefits of these actions will only be fully realised in the coming financial year.
Business developments
Whilst trading in the core beer monitoring business remains challenging, the progress on Brulines' key products has been encouraging and the Group is confident that this will drive a return to growth in the coming year.
The re-launch of i-draught™, which now accounts for seven percent of the Group's installation base, has been received very positively by customers, and increased penetration is being achieved across the on premise draught beer market.
The losses associated with Vianet have been reduced and there has been excellent progress in developing significant new sales opportunities for the Group's vending telemetry, including trial of the Group's cashless and contactless solutions with major international companies.
The Group's recent acquisitions in the forecourt services market have been successfully integrated, and the fuel solutions division now has a fully integrated, one stop service solution, and information toolbox for forecourt operators. Customer reaction from major supermarkets through to leading independent forecourt operators has been very encouraging and underpins the Group's decision to replicate in the forecourt market, the Group's success in the leisure sector.
The very recent Amscreen M2M acquisition is extremely complementary as it strengthens the leading edge technology the Group has in relation to the services it provides for its i-draught™, fuel and vending telemetry solutions, whilst also providing horizontal market opportunities for our telemetry solutions. The acquisition will also improve procurement and reduce the time to market, as the Group seeks to achieve globally scalable penetration in its markets.
Outlook
As disclosed at the Interim Results last December, the Board fully expects the difficult economic environment and current challenging trading conditions to continue for some time yet. However, the future growth prospects across both the Group's divisions are encouraging and the Board continues to view the medium term future with considerable confidence. Despite the reduction in H2 profits, the Board anticipates maintaining its progressive dividend policy given the Group's continuing positive cash generation from its core business.
An analyst briefing on the full year results to be given by James Dickson, Chief Executive, and Mark Foster, Finance Director, will be held at 9.30 am on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at Abchurch Communications, 125 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AR.
* Operating profit before intangible amortisation, share based payments, and exceptional costs
- Ends -
Enquiries:
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Brulines Group plc |
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James Dickson, Chief Executive Mark Foster, Finance Director |
Tel: +44 (0) 1642 358 800
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Cenkos Securities plc |
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Stephen Keys / Camilla Hume |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7397 8900 |
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Media enquiries:
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Abchurch Communications |
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Sarah Hollins / Joanne Shears / Mark Dixon mark.dixon@abchurch-group.com |
Tel: +44 (0) 207 398 7729 |
About Brulines
Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's leisure and petrol forecourt sectors. Since its admission to AIM in 2006, the Group has grown both organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions to give the Group access to key vertical markets. The Group operates two divisions which comprise five key products:
LEISURE DIVISION
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Dispense Monitoring
(DMS)
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The Group's core product, DMS, is widely used by owners and operators within the UK licensed on-trade, especially the tenanted / leased pub sector. Flow meters connected to draught beer dispense lines send data via an on-site communication panel to a secure central database. Liquid volumes by fount, draught wine or post mix are tracked as they are served, thereby helping customers to maximise sales, service and quality as well as managing their costs. DMS is installed in over 22,000 pubs and manages data for more than one in three UK pubs.
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i-draught
(formerly BQM)
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A more recent and rapidly growing product offer is i-draughtTM, an extension of the Group's DMS, which scrutinises the quality of products running through beer lines in a bar; measuring volume, temperature, flow rate and liquid type (e.g. beer, cleaning fluid or water) at the point of dispense. i-draught is the first system to provide effective measurement of true yields on draught products. Actual dispense volumes are compared with till transactions to identify shrinkage from products given away, pilferage and wastage. i-draught measures the precise temperature of every pint as it is dispensed, the time taken to dispense each drink, and automatically identifies the liquid allowing customers to know exactly when lines are cleaned. Wherever they are, customers can stay in control through accessing their information on a secure web site.
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Gaming
Machine Data Services
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The acquisition of Coin Metrics in May 2007 was a strong strategic fit with Brulines' existing Machine Insite business which already provides gaming machine data management and consultancy services to operators within the pub, club and leisure markets. Customers benefit from state-of-the-art real-time data capture and reporting systems that deliver improved machine profitability and operational security.
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Vending
Telemetry
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The Group's subsidiary Vianet is a pan-European provider of telemetry solutions and data applications to the vending industry. Vianet provides services for all vending management needs; from operations, sales, field services, national accounts to senior management.
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FUEL SOLUTIONS DIVISION
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UK Petrol Forecourt Data Services |
The Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, Edensure, supplies key management information to independent, multi branded owner, and supermarket petrol forecourt operators in the UK which helps reduce loss of fuel and improve profitability. Edensure provides petrol retailers with an unrivalled level of accuracy in the monitoring and management of their wet stock, using the most sophisticated analytical techniques available worldwide.
This division has been further strengthened by the acquisitions of Energy Level Systems in March 2010, the UK distributor of OPW Fuel Management Systems tank gauging solutions, and Retail & Forecourt Solutions in June 2010, the market leader in fuel pump calibration, adjustment and legal verification, and also a leading provider of forecourt audit and compliance services. The acquisition of LBI Installations Ltd, also in June 2010, brought additional expertise in the area of web-based contract management solutions for forecourt operations. |
Headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, Brulines employs more than 240 people.
For further information, please visit www.brulines.com
This information is provided by RNS