Year-end Trading Update and Directorate Change

RNS Number : 3088P

Accesso Technology Group PLC

07 February 2019

 

7 February 2019 

accesso® Technology Group plc

("accesso" or the "Group")

Year-end Trading Update

and

Directorate Change

The Board of accesso Technology Group plc (AIM: ACSO), the premier technology solutions provider to leisure, entertainment, hospitality and cultural markets, provides the following update on trading for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 and Board composition.

Trading update and notice of results

2018 was a year where the Group continued to make good progress. Full year results are expected to be broadly in line with market expectations for FY18. These results are before taking account of one-off exceptional costs of approximately $1.7m, relating to professional fees associated with a significant and well-advanced acquisition opportunity, which was ultimately terminated by the Board of accesso in October 2018.

The Group has entered 2019 in good health with strong positions in its chosen markets and established customer relationships. These customers continue to respond well to the Group's increasingly integrated product offering, recognising its potential to drive revenue by elevating the digital guest journey. In this light and following a sustained period of growth, the Board has recently initiated a review of the Group's investment priorities in the context of the significant future opportunities available to it and the current areas of business momentum.

The Board expects to provide an update on this review and the Group's outlook as part of the full year results announcement on 27 March 2019, which will also set out a number of new enhanced disclosures relating to the Group's operational and financial performance.

Directorate Change

The Group also announces today that Executive Chairman, Tom Burnet, will move to a Non-Executive Director role at the Group with effect from 1 March 2019. The Group is pleased to announce that Bill Russell has been appointed as the Group's new Non-Executive Chairman, effective concurrently with Tom Burnet's move to the Non-Executive Director position.

Bill Russell has served in a variety of roles in both public and private technology company boards, in a career spanning several decades, including 23 years across a number of senior management roles at Hewlett Packard, including Vice President and General Manager of Hewlett Packard's multi-billion-dollar Enterprise Systems Group and its Software Solutions Group. Bill is currently Non-Executive Chairman at leading technology solutions provider Piksel Group and PROS Holdings, a provider of AI-powered solutions that optimize selling in the digital economy, and previously held roles at SABA Software, Inc., webMethods and Cognos.  Bill is based in the United States.

Paul Noland, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Tom has been central in driving accesso's significant growth and international expansion over the last nine years he has been with the company and he is greatly admired by all in and around the business. Personally, and on behalf of the Board, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Tom for his exceptional leadership and tenure, as he has driven accesso from success to success. I look forward to continuing my working relationship with Tom in his new Non-Executive capacity, as the business prepares for another year of continued growth."

Tom Burnet, Executive Chairman, said:

"I am immensely proud of the success that accesso has achieved over the last decade and feel very fortunate to have led the business and represented our outstanding people over much of that time. accesso has grown from an audacious idea into a position of global leadership, with innovative technology embedded across venues worldwide. I'm delighted that Bill Russell has accepted our invitation to take over as Chairman of the Board and I have no doubt that the exceptional team we have assembled will help us continue to go from strength to strength."

Additional information

The following information is being disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 and paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies. Mr William "Bill" Vernon Russell, aged 67, has been a director or partner of the following companies or partnerships during the five years preceding the date of this announcement:

Current directorships:	Past directorships (last five years):
B.T. Mancini	Innovative Interfaces Inc.
PROS Holdings Inc.	Blue Rooster Inc.
University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust	Saba Software Inc.
Piksel Limited

Mr Bill Russell has no beneficial interest in the ordinary shares of the Group.

Mr Bill Russell was a Non-executive Director of Network Physics Inc. which filed for voluntary liquidation whilst he was a director of the company.

Mr Bill Russell was a Non-executive Director of KIT Digital which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection whilst he was a director of the company.

Save as set out above there are no further disclosures required pursuant to Rule 17 or Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of Mr Russell's appointment to the Board of accesso.

For further information, please contact:

accesso Technology Group plc	[phone]
Tom Burnet, Executive Chairman Paul Noland, Chief Executive Officer
John Alder, Chief Financial Officer
FTI Consulting, LLP	[phone]
Matt Dixon, Adam Davidson
Canaccord Genuity Limited	[phone]
Simon Bridges, Richard Andrews
Numis Securities Limited	[phone]
Simon Willis, Mark Lander

About accesso Technology Group

At accesso, we believe technology has the power to redefine the guest experience. Our patented and award-winning solutions drive increased revenue for attraction operators while improving the guest experience. Currently serving over 1,000 venues in over 30 countries around the globe, accesso's solutions help our clients streamline operations, generate increased revenues, improve guest satisfaction and harness the power of data to educate business and marketing decisions.

accesso stands as the leading technology provider of choice for tomorrow's attractions, venues and institutions. We invest heavily in research and development because our industries demand it, our clients benefit from it and it makes a positive impact on the guest experience. Our innovative technology solutions allow venues to increase the volume and range of on-site spending and to drive increased transaction-based revenue through cutting-edge ticketing, point-of-sale, virtual queuing, distribution and experience management software.

Many of our team members come from backgrounds working within the attractions and cultural industry. In this way, we are experienced operators who run a technology company serving attractions operators, versus a technology company that happens to serve the market. Our staff understands the day-to-day operations of managing complex venues and the challenges this creates, and together we strive to provide our clients and their guests with technology that empowers them to do more and enjoy more. From our agile development team to our dedicated client service specialists, every team member knows that their passion, integrity, commitment, teamwork and innovation are what drive our success.

accesso is a public company, listed on AIM: a market operated by the London Stock Exchange.  For more information, visit www.accesso.com.  Follow accesso on  Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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