Stockton data management firm Vianet Group has reported a rise in profits and turnover in its latest annual results.
The company, which employs more than 230 staff, said revenues had increased by 1.44% to £9.14m in the six months to 30th September 2014. Pre-tax profits rose from £0.57m to £0.77m on the back of a strong performance by Vianet’s core beer monitoring and vending telemetry businesses.
The vending division saw a near five-fold increase in profits while the growing popularity of Vianet’s iDraught beer monitoring system boosted revenues in its leisure operation.
The company, which provides real-time monitoring data management systems for the leisure, vending and forecourt services industries, said it was pleased with the results although the six-month period had not been without its challenges.
Pub closures and cut-backs on capital spend in the sector had impacted on revenues, while Vianet’s future financial performance could be affected by continuing uncertainty surrounding the Government’s proposed statutory code for pub companies.
Last month MPs voted for a new bill to introduce a market rent only option (MROO) for tied pub tenants, which means tenants of pub companies with more than 500 venues could ditch subsidised rent and buy beer from the wider market instead.
The move has triggered fears of widespread pub closures, significant job losses and reduced investment in the sector. But Vianet said it was unlikely the MROO would result in substantial take-up from pub tenants because they would be faced with higher rents and potential cashflow difficulties.
Chairman James Dickson said: “There won’t be many who want to commit to the market rent only option. Also, the change may be some way off; it could be two years down the line before it is implemented and even then it could take another two years for an adjudicator to be set up.
“It’s not business-critical but it might impact on profits at little bit. We’re in good shape to handle it.
“Generally we’re pleased with the (interim) results. We think we’re in a pretty good position.
“Our strategic direction won’t change. We will focus on growth areas and on what we are trying to do internationally.”
Vianet’s US division, Vianet Americas, reduced operating losses from £0.23m to £0.17m due to the continued roll-out of its iDraught technology. It said it had been “encouraged by continued strong interest” from national retail chains but warned that “further traction” was required to break even in 2015-2016.
Mr Dickson said he had no plans to pull out of the US as there were growth opportunities in the market.
He also said the aim was to cross-sell Vianet products to existing customers. As well as its core beer monitoring systems, the business also provides vending machine telemetry technology and forecourt petrol monitoring services. It employs around 120 at its Stockton headquarters on Surtees Way and a further 110 at other UK bases including Halifax and Bolton.
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