Having white-knuckled through Covid lockdowns investors in Accesso Technology Group PLC (AIM:ACSO, OTC:LOQPF) are again seeing the AIM-quoted stock as something of a thrill-ride, as parks reopened though 2021.
Accesso was boosted on Tuesday by upbeat set of financial results which, in the words of chief executive Steve Brown, saw a "simply outstanding" performance for the theme park ticketing and virtual queuing services firm.
The shares advanced around 7%, trading at 822p, after the company revealed 123% revenue growth to US$124.80 in 2021, driving a 346% increase in earnings (EBITDA) to US$28.1mln.
“We delivered record revenue and record profit during another challenging year in our end markets as they continued to recover at varying levels through the year,” said CEO Brown.
Key to the performance has been the appetite of theme park operators to make efficiency gains, reduce labour costs and optimise digital revenue streams – all in the wake of the reopening of parks following the Covid-impacted 2020.
“In the near term, we'll invest squarely behind this increased level of demand to secure the long-term, repeatable revenue during the crucial adoption phase,” Brown added.
“We will also see a welcome return to more normal operations and full staffing levels which will support the growing demand for our solutions and allow for continued innovation."
Analysts at Peel Hunt, meanwhile, reckon Accesso will now deliver another cash generative year, despite expected higher costs in 2022.
“We expect to upgrade revenue for 2022 by 3%, driven mainly by the faster than expected recovery in lower-margin distribution seen in 2021,” Peel Hunt analyst James Lockyer said in a note.
The analyst also expects to upgrade his expectations for cash earnings by some 17% for 2022 and 22% for next year.
“Given this strong outperformance and upgrade we reiterate our ‘buy’ recommendation and 1,300p price target. Today’s share price implies Accesso is trading on a 2x FY2023 EV/Sales and 15x FY2023 EV/cash earnings on our new numbers.
“This shows Accesso as highly undervalued given its operational leverage, a play on the offline to online shift, and a huge Covid-19 exit play.”
With a 1,300p price target, Peel Hunt sees some 37% upside to the current share price.
Elsewhere, analysts at Shore Capital – which also rate Accesso as ‘buy’ - said they’ve been pleased with the quick recovery and the upgrades.
“We continue to believe that Accesso has a compelling proposition in line with industry digital / consumer trends and is well placed for future sustainable growth.”
Accesso, in this morning’s statement, pointed to a positive start to 2022.
Investors were told trading volumes for January and February had been "encouraging".
For example, accessoPassport ticket business for North America was double that of 2019 as a result of the new customers brought on board over the past two years.
“Whilst we remain cognisant of the relatively early stage in the year, the impact of tiered pricing at higher volumes and revised terms related to enterprise renewals, we are cautiously optimistic about another year of good progress,” the company highlighted.
In London, Accesso shares were up just over 49p or 6.5% changing hands at 817.79p.