Delay in contract fees sends Escher shares tumbling

A delay to the outstanding licence revenue from a key customer is set to hit the performance of Escher Group it said on Friday, prompting the share price to drop.

The group said that despite a good performance across the board, it now expects to recognise only 75% of licence fees from an unspecified important client, as the delivery of its point-of-sale software fell short of forecasts.

"Our software is currently live in a number of the customer's post offices. We continue to receive a portion of the licence fee on a monthly basis and have received some 75% of the total licence fee,” said Liam Church, the group chief executive.

“Recently, the rollout has been accelerating on a monthly basis, but we now expect rollout to slow temporarily in the weeks coming up to the busy holiday period."

Escher said the remaining $2.4m from the contract will be realised in 2015 and that its full year results will be dependent on a new licence agreement being signed by the end of 2014.

Escher shares were down 10.20% to 220.00p at 12:06 on Friday.