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Accesso Technology (LON:ACSO) repeated it expects to meet its recently upgraded earnings forecasts as interim revenues jumped by almost a quarter.
In July, the theme park queuing and ticketing group said it would hit earnings guidance for 2015, while upgrading it for 2016 and materially upgrading its expectations for 2017.
Following this, brokers upped sales forecasts to US$91mln this year, US$99mln in 2016 and US$108mln in 2017, accompanied by earnings respectively of US$15.1mln, US$18.1mln and US$22mln.
Brokers were bullish today after sales in the six months to June rose to US$32.1mln (US$25.9mln) helped by the purchase of US group Showare in November.
Underlying profits rose by 21% to US$1.56mln (US$1.28mln), though a US$2.39mln charge for acquisition amortisation and options meant a pre-tax loss of US$1.05mln.
Overall, Accesso said theme park attendance figures were flat in the period with a strong North America offset by a poor Europe, but the contribution of Showare and expansion in other markets helped offset this.
It was a busy first half of the year for Accesso, which not only added Showare, but won a contract with the One World Observatory, a significant attraction at One World Trade Centre in New York, as well as a number of small deals.
But, according to Numis Securities, “clearly the main event remains the multi-year Merlin rollout.”
In July, Accesso signed a deal with theme giant Merlin Entertainments to provide ticketing for its attractions around the world.
Underlying profits included a substantial like-for-like increase in overheads ahead of the Merlin agreement.
One area the deal could have a big impact is Accesso’s footprint in Asia, where Merlin has 20 sites.
Canaccord said: “Over the long-term we see Accesso's investment in infrastructure in Asia for Merlin opening up the market and driving significant revenues from other attraction operators in the region.”
Meanwhile, Numis reckons the Merlin deal could be added to further, with the introduction of queueless theme parks.
“Queueless theme parks remain very much on the agenda more broadly (industry commentary suggests at least two major theme groups are considering these), and as the market continues its shift to ecommerce and mobile ticketing, we think Accesso is clearly the premier player in this space.”
Tom Burnet, chief executive, said: "This is an exciting period for us, and I think today's results reflect this. We have increasing momentum across all our lines of business as we start to capitalise on the hard work and investments of the last few years.
“We are very confident as we move into the second half we will continue to deliver."