Accesso Technology back in profits in first half

Accesso Technology, provider of queuing and ticketing technology solutions to theme parks and attractions, experienced growth for all its products in the first half but cautioned that bad weather had affected trading at the start of the second half.

The AIM-listed group’s revenue rose 23.7% to £39.7m in the first half with earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rising 125.9% to $6.1m.

The firm recovered from a loss before tax of $1.1m to a profit before tax of $2.3m, with cash generation rising from an outflow of £1m to an inflow of $2.2m and net debt falling from $18.8m to $12.5m.

Executive chairman Tom Burnet said: "The group's strong performance in the first half reflects the work done last year to prepare Accesso for a period of accelerating growth. Although the first half of the year traditionally accounts for less than 40% of full year revenues and July and August have presented challenges with unhelpful weather conditions in some key markets, the early momentum gives the board confidence that the group is on track to meet its expectations for 2016."

The group won 57 new contracts in the period and 72 new sites are going live with 'solution interoperability' driving cross selling, while the 'Passport' cloud ticketing solution increased sales volumes 31% as a rollout across major client Merlin Entertainments's theme parks by the end of 2017 will drive geographic diversification.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity lifted their target price from 1,150p to 1,500p based on the recent 10% strengthening of the dollar.

Having doubled in the last year to a recent all-time high above 1,700p, the share price fell 6.30% to 1501.50p at 0928 BST on Wednesday.