Shares of Leeds-based transport data firm Tracsis plc fell about 3% on Tuesday after it published a trading update for the six months ended January 31, 2021, showing it expects first-half revenue to fall to around £22 million from £26.4 million.
Tracsis said trading for the first half of the year was in line with the board’s expectations with high activity levels across large parts of the group.
Tracsis has a blue-chip client base which includes all major UK transport owning groups.
The firm works extensively with Network Rail, train operating groups and companies, the UK Department for Transport, TfL, multiple local authorities, major outdoor music and sporting event organisers, and a wide variety of large engineering and infrastructure companies.
“Group revenue is expected to be c.£22m (H1 2020: £26.4m), with underlying growth in the Rail Technology & Services Division and lower sales in our Events and Traffic Data business units as expected due to ongoing Covid-19 related restrictions on their end markets,” said Tracsis.
“The overall impact of Covid-19 on H1 revenue is expected to be c.£6.0m.
“We continue to expect activity levels in the Events and Traffic Data business units to progressively return to normal as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
“While the group’s revenue is below that of the corresponding period, EBITDA is expected to be only slightly lower than H1 last year (H1 2020: £5.6m) due to a larger proportion of revenue in H1 2021 coming from the higher margin Rail Technology & Services Division, and the positive impact of cost reduction actions taken in response to the pandemic.
“Cash balances remain strong at c.£21m (H1 2020: £26.0m, 31 July 2020: £17.9m).
“As in the previous year, the group has not taken advantage of any tax deferrals and is fully up to date with all of its VAT payments etc.
“Our Rail Technology & Services Division traded well with several new business wins and continued to benefit from high levels of recurring software revenue and revenue from multi-year contract wins in previous years.
“We have two large rail opportunities in the final stages of contract award.
“All our rail businesses have been involved in major multi-year tenders, some of these in international markets, which gives us confidence in our ability to continue to drive organic growth.
“Many of these opportunities involve recurring software licence revenues.
“The impact of Covid-19 on the Division was largely limited to delay repay revenues, with fewer people travelling due to government restrictions.
“Our Data, Analytics, Consultancy & Events division has performed in line with expectations, despite ongoing Covid-19 related challenges.
“This includes a strong contribution from Compass Informatics as it continues to grow its GIS/data analytics client base.
“The board’s expectations for the year ending 31 July 2021 remain unchanged …”