Accesso confident as it returns to pre-Covid sales mix

Leisure and entertainment technology provider Accesso reported a “strong” first-half performance on Tuesday, with revenue rising 25.8% year-on-year to $63.7m, or 29.1% at constant currency.

The AIM-traded firm said cash EBITDA for the six months ended 30 June totalled $10.6m, representing 8.4% growth over the same time last year.

It said its performance demonstrated continued expansion of its market opportunity, recovery from the pandemic-related closures of the first half of 2021, and ongoing success in capturing “significant” demand alongside improved staffing levels for key software development and operations staff.

The company’s gross margin of 73.8% narrowed from 80.6% year-on-year, which the board said reflected sales returning to a pre-pandemic mix, with the lower-margin distribution business now making up 13.5% of sales compared to 5.2% a year ago.

“We are pleased to see visitor demand broadly back to pre-pandemic levels,” said chief executive officer Steve Brown.

“We are capturing this demand effectively because of our realigned strategy and operational structure, and we continue to deliver growth in revenue and profitability well ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

“I'm particularly pleased that our strong revenue performance is continuing to deliver good levels of profitability, with cash EBITDA for the period of $10.6m compared to $1.0m in 2019.”

Brown said Accesso was “always building” for the long-term, evolving its suite of technology solutions.

“We are particularly optimistic about our recent acquisition of strong food and retail technology which will increase our product penetration within the leisure sector as well as open up new opportunities across the broader hospitality sector in the mid-to-long term.

“Excluding the impact of costs associated with the acquisition, we anticipate our 2022 performance to be in line with the board's expectations at the start of the year.

“Overall, our highly differentiated mobile-first product set and favourable demand dynamics continue to drive our business forward.”

At 1103 BST, shares in Accesso Technology Group were down 8.56% at 539.48p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.