Murray Holdaway - CEO, Vista Group
NZX-listed Vista Group International reported impressive growth today with 793 new cinema sites using the company's software in 2017.
Vista achieved 20 per cent revenue growth for the fourth consecutive year, taking revenue to $106 million and delivering a 42 per cent increase in EBITDA earnings to $25 million.
Vista Entertainment Solutions, Vista’s largest business, now serves a total of 6,350 sites and claims 43 per cent market share, the company said.
In addition, the company secured business in 11 new countries during 2017, the most notable being Brazil, Italy, Austria and Sweden.
The transition to a fully cloud-based Vista Cinema product also gathered momentum with the release during the year of "re-imagined" products in for film programming and cinema management.
Movio, the group’s data-driven marketing solutions for the film industry, delivered a 111 per cent increase in EBITDA on revenue growth of $15.5 million, up 37 per cent.
Other group businesses recording growth included Powster, which provides creative services to the film industry to engage users with entertainment content.
The division created more than 1300 online "movie destinations" representing growth of 46 per cent on 2016 and attracting an estimated 422 million visitors, up 290 per cent.
The year also saw the acquisition of Vista Entertainment’s long-time business partner in Mexico, Senda, increased shareholding in Vista China (Beijing and Shanghai) and the establishment of a Vista Group subsidiary company in South Africa.
Particularly significant was the start of trading for movieXchange – a new cloud platform developed by Vista that delivers movie promotional media directly from distributor to cinema exhibitor, enables global online listing of showtime information and, via third party partners, enables the sale of movie tickets.
“Our consistent growth, including our less mature businesses, and increased income and profitability can be credited to our 600-plus globally-located staff," Vista Group CEO, Murray Holdaway, said.
"As a business we have a shared vision to be the leader in software solutions across the film industry; our 2017 result is evidence that we have a highly committed and connected team delivering on that vision.”
Vista will deliver a final dividend of 1.74 cents per share resulting in a total pay-out at the top of the policy range of 2.94 cents per share for 2017, up 28 per cent on 2016.
