TIDMBRU
RNS Number : 3194C
Brulines Group PLC
04 March 2011
Press Release 4 March 2011
Brulines Group plc
("Brulines" or "the Group")
Trading Update
Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the leading provider of real time
monitoring systems and data management services for the leisure and
forecourt services sectors, provides the following H2 trading
update in advance of its financial year ending 31 March 2011, the
results of which will be announced on 7 June 2011.
Trading performance
Despite good progress with i-draught(TM), Vianet and the Fuel
Solutions division, the Group's trading for H2 is likely to be
lower than anticipated resulting in the full year profits expected
to be around GBP4.0 million(*) . However, the Board anticipates
maintaining its progressive dividend policy given the Group's
continuing positive cash generation from its core business.
The Group has experienced a continuation of the well-documented
economic conditions and commercial pressures affecting some core
leisure customers, resulting in pub sell-offs and delayed
commitment to new activity. At the same time, customers have
delayed committing to projects for a number of reasons, including
waiting for what were positive results from Brulines' NMO testing,
waiting for increased clarity on the BISC pub industry enquiry, and
carrying out extensive evaluation of i-draught(TM) as a replacement
for standard Dispense Monitoring Services.
In addition, the severe weather conditions caused travel
disruption to compound the usually lower activity for the Group's
field-based services in December 2010 and January 2011 and, taken
together, these factors have impacted the Group's outcome for the
year.
A two pronged strategy to continue to reduce costs and drive
sales, particularly of the Group's newer products, has begun to
mitigate the position. However, the benefits of these actions will
only be fully realised in the coming financial year.
Business developments
Whilst trading in the core beer monitoring business remains
challenging, the progress on Brulines' key products has been
encouraging and the Group is confident that this will drive a
return to growth in the coming year.
The re-launch of i-draught(TM), which now accounts for seven
percent of the Group's installation base, has been received very
positively by customers, and increased penetration is being
achieved across the on premise draught beer market.
The losses associated with Vianet have been reduced and there
has been excellent progress in developing significant new sales
opportunities for the Group's vending telemetry, including trial of
the Group's cashless and contactless solutions with major
international companies.
The Group's recent acquisitions in the forecourt services market
have been successfully integrated, and the fuel solutions division
now has a fully integrated, one stop service solution, and
information toolbox for forecourt operators. Customer reaction from
major supermarkets through to leading independent forecourt
operators has been very encouraging and underpins the Group's
decision to replicate in the forecourt market, the Group's success
in the leisure sector.
The very recent Amscreen M2M acquisition is extremely
complementary as it strengthens the leading edge technology the
Group has in relation to the services it provides for its
i-draught(TM), fuel and vending telemetry solutions, whilst also
providing horizontal market opportunities for our telemetry
solutions. The acquisition will also improve procurement and reduce
the time to market, as the Group seeks to achieve globally scalable
penetration in its markets.
Outlook
As disclosed at the Interim Results last December, the Board
fully expects the difficult economic environment and current
challenging trading conditions to continue for some time yet.
However, the future growth prospects across both the Group's
divisions are encouraging and the Board continues to view the
medium term future with considerable confidence. Despite the
reduction in H2 profits, the Board anticipates maintaining its
progressive dividend policy given the Group's continuing positive
cash generation from its core business.
An analyst briefing on the full year results to be given by
James Dickson, Chief Executive, and Mark Foster, Finance Director,
will be held at 9.30 am on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at Abchurch
Communications, 125 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AR.
(*) Operating profit before intangible amortisation, share based
payments, and exceptional costs
- Ends -
Enquiries:
Brulines Group plc
James Dickson, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 1642 358
Mark Foster, Finance Director 800
james.dickson@brulines.com www.brulines.com
Cenkos Securities plc
Stephen Keys / Camilla Hume Tel: +44 (0) 20 7397
8900
www.cenkos.com
Media enquiries:
Abchurch Communications
Sarah Hollins / Joanne Shears / Tel: +44 (0) 207 398
Mark Dixon 7729
mark.dixon@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com
About Brulines
Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time
monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's
leisure and petrol forecourt sectors. Since its admission to AIM in
2006, the Group has grown both organically and through a series of
strategic acquisitions to give the Group access to key vertical
markets. The Group operates two divisions which comprise five key
products:
LEISURE DIVISION
Dispense The Group's core product, DMS, is widely used by owners
Monitoring and operators within the UK licensed on-trade, especially
(DMS) the tenanted / leased pub sector. Flow meters connected
to draught beer dispense lines send data via an on-site
communication panel to a secure central database.
Liquid volumes by fount, draught wine or post mix
are tracked as they are served, thereby helping customers
to maximise sales, service and quality as well as
managing their costs. DMS is installed in over 22,000
pubs and manages data for more than one in three UK
pubs.
=============== ============================================================
i-draught A more recent and rapidly growing product offer is
(formerly i-draught TM , an extension of the Group's DMS, which
BQM) scrutinises the quality of products running through
beer lines in a bar; measuring volume, temperature,
flow rate and liquid type (e.g. beer, cleaning fluid
or water) at the point of dispense. i-draught is the
first system to provide effective measurement of true
yields on draught products. Actual dispense volumes
are compared with till transactions to identify shrinkage
from products given away, pilferage and wastage. i-draught
measures the precise temperature of every pint as
it is dispensed, the time taken to dispense each drink,
and automatically identifies the liquid allowing customers
to know exactly when lines are cleaned. Wherever they
are, customers can stay in control through accessing
their information on a secure web site.
=============== ============================================================
Gaming The acquisition of Coin Metrics in May 2007 was a
Machine strong strategic fit with Brulines' existing Machine
Data Services Insite business which already provides gaming machine
data management and consultancy services to operators
within the pub, club and leisure markets. Customers
benefit from state-of-the-art real-time data capture
and reporting systems that deliver improved machine
profitability and operational security.
=============== ============================================================
Vending The Group's subsidiary Vianet is a pan-European provider
Telemetry of telemetry solutions and data applications to the
vending industry. Vianet provides services for all
vending management needs; from operations, sales,
field services, national accounts to senior management.
=============== ============================================================
FUEL SOLUTIONS DIVISION
UK Petrol The Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, Edensure, supplies key
Forecourt management information to independent, multi branded owner,
Data Services and supermarket petrol forecourt operators in the UK which
helps reduce loss of fuel and improve profitability.
Edensure provides petrol retailers with an unrivalled level
of accuracy in the monitoring and management of their wet
stock, using the most sophisticated analytical techniques
available worldwide. This division has been further
strengthened by the acquisitions of Energy Level Systems in
March 2010, the UK distributor of OPW Fuel Management
Systems tank gauging solutions, and Retail & Forecourt
Solutions in June 2010, the market leader in fuel pump
calibration, adjustment and legal verification, and also a
leading provider of forecourt audit and compliance services.
The acquisition of LBI Installations Ltd, also in June 2010,
brought additional expertise in the area of web-based
contract management solutions for forecourt operations.
Headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, Brulines employs more than
240 people.
For further information, please visit www.brulines.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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