Vianet contactless units sales grow amid Covid-19

Data and business insight provider Vianet said on Wednesday that new orders for its telemetry and contactless units had grown during the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of a structural trend that has seen businesses distance themselves from cash payments.

Vianet registered 1,900 new orders for its units during lockdown due to increased demand following its "dirty cash" marketing campaign, with sales again accelerating from June.

In the UK, the AIM-listed group said the number of active pubs which use its services for quality control and waste management had risen from 56% to over 80% over the last six weeks.

Vianet added that pubs still closed were being billed 30% of normal monthly charges, while those that reopened were being invoiced at 70% until the end of October.

Chairman James Dickson said: "From the outset of the pandemic, our intention was to manage our cash and come through Covid-19 strongly and in better shape to take advantage of the significant opportunities available to the group.

"Although the Covid-19 situation remains uncertain, the board is confident that we have taken the correct measures to ensure we can accelerate the momentum we had generated before the pandemic."

As of 1020 BST, Vianet shares were up 1.60% at 95.0p.