Vista boosts first-half profit 34pc, continues international buys

Vista Group International lifted firsthalf profit by 34 per cent as recurring revenue rose and the cinema software firm continued with its international expansion.

Net profit rose to $3.6 million in the six months ended June 30, from $2.7m a year earlier. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amor- tisation lifted 74 per cent to $10.3m on a 23 per cent rise in revenue to $50.1m.

The company said the strong result “supports the full year growth projection for FY2017 of 20 per cent plus”, though it said the second half skew of revenue was unlikely to be as pronounced as in the past. Recurring revenue increased 27 per cent to $29.4m compared to the first half of 2016, and now represents 59 per cent of its total revenue, Vista said.

The cinema software firm has been bolting on new acquisitions since it went public in 2014. Last year, it bought half of London-based marketing firm Powster, half of Dutch software developer Share Dimension, and 100 per cent of movie information website flicks.co.nz. It also embarked on a joint venture with China’s Beijing Weying Technology Co (WePiao), whose backers include the Wechat/Tencent Group.

Last week, Vista announced it had bought a 60 per cent stake in Mexico’s Senda Direccion Tecnologica, giving it control of the Latin American reseller of the cinema analytics firm’s services.

The board declared a 2.4c interim dividend. —

Sophie Boot