AGM Trading Statement & Board Changes

RNS Number : 0610Z

Accesso Technology Group PLC

24 May 2016

 

24 May 2016                                                   

accesso® Technology Group plc

("accesso" or the "Group")

AGM Trading Statement & Board Changes

accesso Technology Group plc (AIM: ACSO), the premier technology solutions provider to leisure, entertainment and cultural markets provides the following update on recent trading and on changes to the structure and composition of its Board of Directors (the "Board").

Trading Statement

At 10:00am today, the Group will hold its Annual General Meeting (the "AGM" or the "Meeting") at Unit 5, The Pavilions, Ruscombe Park, Twyford, Berkshire, RG10 9NN. At that time, the Chairman of the Meeting will provide the following update on trading for the four months ended 30 April 2016:

"I am pleased to report that the first part of this financial year has got off to a strong start, with pleasing organic growth across all divisions of our business. Moreover, eighteen new contract wins have been secured, and in total 51 new installations of our various solutions have been completed.  Every part of our business has continued to show encouraging levels of customer engagement and opportunity. Taken together, these signs reflect continuing momentum across our Group, and show us to be executing well against the opportunity we pointed to at the time of our preliminary results in March.

There are certain successes across the Group that deserve special mention. In accesso Passport, we were pleased to secure additional agreements with both The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and with The Pacific Science Center in Seattle: both of which are existing accesso Siriusware clients.  These attractions will now also benefit from accesso's Passport online ticketing as part of a new integration with the existing accesso Siriusware point-of-sale installation.  I am also pleased to report that our efforts to rollout accesso Passport across the entire Merlin Entertainments Group global estate is progressing as planned.

In accesso LoQueue we have signed up two new parks, one of which is Denmark's LEGOLAND® Billund. accesso Siriusware has also continued to grow and diversify, winning further in the ski sector from where it derives its heritage as well as advancing in to other, warmer pursuits - for instance at the NLand Surf Park in Austin, Texas.  Lastly, accesso ShoWare, our customizable, cloud-based Software-as-a-Service ticket sales and distribution solution and the newest member of our accesso family, has secured ten contracts with attractions and promoters throughout the US, Mexico, Argentina, Canada and Brazil. In addition, our ShoWare solution is now live at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia, making them the first accesso Siriusware client to also select accesso ShoWare.  

Each of these wins reinforces our view that guests fully expect leisure operators to leverage technology solutions that provide them with a seamless user experience. Whilst it is of course still early in the season with, as is normal, less than 20% of the year traded to date, the encouragingly strong start means we are increasingly confident about our likely performance for the year."

Board Changes

In addition to this trading statement, accesso also announces today a series of changes to its Board of Directors.  These changes will provide a structure that ensures the Board's individual and collective talents remain appropriately aligned to the Group's growth strategy, in addition to bringing new talent and perspectives to the overall Board team.

First, three of accesso's existing Directors have agreed to realign their roles. This is designed to better reflect the way in which the Group is already run; to enable the Group to continue to effectively pursue the growth opportunities open to it; and to ensure that the location of key leadership roles reflects the geographic spread of the Group's workforce and operations.

The first of these changes will see Tom Burnet move from the role of Chief Executive Officer to become the Group's Executive Chairman. Having led accesso's significant growth and internationalisation since becoming CEO in 2010, Tom will continue in his new role to lead accesso's medium and long-term growth plans.  He will have particular responsibility for Group strategy, Investor Relations, and M&A activity.

At the same time, Steve Brown, currently the Group's Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Tom to become accesso's Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Steve will build upon his existing leadership responsibilities and experience to have a particular focus on the Group's overall operational performance, customer relationships and product development. 

Lastly, John Weston will step down from his current role as Non-Executive Chairman of the Group. John, who has served as the Group's Non-Executive Chairman since 2011, will remain with accesso as our Senior Independent Director, continuing to lend his considerable global business expertise to the Board and its work.

These three role changes will become effective upon the conclusion of today's AGM.

Alongside these changes, Karen Slatford will join the accesso Board as a Non-Executive Director, effective today, to replace Matt Cooper, who stood down as a Non-Executive Director on 18 March this year. Karen has significant experience of working in the global technology and business arenas, serving currently as Senior Independent Director at Micro Focus International plc.  Karen has also served since 2009 as Chairman of The Foundry: a global software company and since 2013 as a Non-Executive Director of Intelliflo, a SaaS based financial services software company. Between 1983 and 2001, Karen worked at Hewlett Packard where, in 2000, she became Vice President and General Manager Worldwide Sales & Marketing for the Business Customer Organisation. She was responsible for sales of all Hewlett Packard's products, services and software to business customers globally.

For further information, please contact:

accesso Technology Group plc	[phone]
Tom Burnet, Chief Executive Officer
John Alder, Chief Financial Officer
FTI Consulting, LLP	[phone]
Matt Dixon, Adam Davidson
Canaccord Genuity Limited	[phone]
Simon Bridges, Cameron Duncan
Numis Securities Limited	[phone]
Simon Willis, Mark Lander

The information required by Schedule 2 paragraph (g) in relation to the appointment of Karen Slatford is as follows:

Karen Slatford currently holds directorships at the following companies:

ECI Debitoor Limited

Ingleby (1994) plc

Intelliflo Holdings 2013 Limited

Intelliflo Limited

Micro Focus International Plc

The Foundry Bidco Limited

The Foundry Holdings Limited

The Foundry Intermediate Holdings Limited

The Foundry Midco No 1 Limited

The Foundry Midco No 2 Limited

The Foundry Topco Limited

The Foundry Topco No.2 Limited

The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd.

Karen Slatford has also held directorships at the following companies in the last five years:

Acunu Limited

Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited

e-conomic International

Featurespace Limited

Neverfail Holdings Limited

Reviso Cloud Accounting Limited

Volex Plc

About accesso^® Technology Group

accesso (AIM: ACSO) is the premier technology solutions provider to leisure, entertainment and cultural markets. Our patented and award-winning technology solutions drive increased revenue for attraction operators while improving the guest experience.  

Our solutions add value to operators at every point of the guest experience with our technology facilitating the key points of contact with their many millions of guests.

We drive attendance

The accesso Passport^® and accesso ShoWare^SM ticketing suites are comprehensive, easy-to-use cloud solutions that process tens of millions of tickets every year for assigned seat and general admission venues, enabling operators to maximize up-sell and cross-sell with ease to drive greater revenue.

We handle payments

Our payment gateway carries level 1 PCI security certification and 24/7 support.  It provides the tools, security and support operators need to drive sales and has so far processed more than $5 billion in transactions.

We take guests out of line

Since 2001 more than 11 million guests have used a patented accesso LoQueue^SM solution to queue less, ride more, enjoy a better experience and increase in-attraction spend.

We simplify point-of-sale

Our accesso Siriusware^SM point-of-sale solution offers software modules that combine ticketing, membership, retail, food/beverage transactions, rentals, credit card processing and many other functions into a single system eliminating the need for separate systems and databases.

More than 1000 attractions and venues worldwide currently employ accesso technology - from theme parks, water parks, cultural attractions, live performance venues and sporting events to ski and snow parks.  We are proud that our solutions are trusted by the majority of the leading names in the leisure industry including Six Flags Entertainment, Cedar Fair Entertainment, Merlin Entertainments, International Speedway Corporation, Palace Entertainment, Compagnie des Alpes and Herschend Family Entertainment.

accesso is a public company, listed on AIM: a market operated by the London Stock Exchange. For more information visit: www.accesso.com.

 

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