Stockton technology firm Vianet says it expects to return to growth despite its trading being hit by the shutdown of pubs during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Internet of Things has issued a trading update in which it said that the closure of pubs and restaurants around the 海角视频 - the main sector in which it works - had had a “material impact” on almost all of its customers.
But it said that the re-opening of leisure venues in July and August had been encouraging, with 80% of sites re-opened, higher than the company had anticipated, and the sale of beer comparing favourably year-on-year.
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Vianet said it had reduced rates to all its customers during the lockdown, which had generated “significant goodwill”.
It had reduced charges to around 30% of normal levels for pubs which remained closed, and pubs which had re-opened were paying around 70% of normal rates. The company said it expected normal contract terms to resume after October.
Vianet added that it had seen better trading in its vending machines business, though sales had been hit in city centre offices, many of which had been closed.
And it said that the move towards more cashless payments had led to 1,900 new orders for telemetry and contactless units during lockdown, with sales accelerating from June, once restrictions began to be lifted.
Vianet 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.
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“Our actions to support our customers and maintain investment while sustaining a good level of recurring revenue, which was ahead of our own expectations, have placed the business in a highly encouraging position to benefit from the increased demand for data insight and contactless solutions as the economy recovers.
“We are also very much aware of the difficulties our employees have faced during this time and we are proud both of their collective response to the crisis and the fact that our level of staff engagement during this period has had strong employee approval, resulting in a significant increase in survey ratings to over 80%.
“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, and we look forward to updating the market in due course.”