VGL- Vista group

[winner (n)]

Another company that seems to have something good but don't charge enough for it ....hard to recover from that as putting prices up to realistic levels might turn customers away

Seem to spend more than a buck to get another buck of sales

[Left Field]

Looks promising......I guess it is an upgrade.....

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/414324

Through the organisational changes and the updated capital expenditure program, Vista Group now expects to be free cashflow positive during the fourth quarter of 2024, twelve months earlier than previous guidance. Vista Group remains on target to achieve its aspirations of ARR between $175m-$205m and EBITDA of 15+%, in each case by the end of 2025.

[Left Field]

Looks promising......I guess it is an upgrade.....

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/414324

Through the organisational changes and the updated capital expenditure program, Vista Group now expects to be free cashflow positive during the fourth quarter of 2024, twelve months earlier than previous guidance. Vista Group remains on target to achieve its aspirations of ARR between $175m-$205m and EBITDA of 15+%, in each case by the end of 2025.

As yet no real impact on the SP from the screen writers and actors strikes, but all those delayed or cancelled movies might have an effect on the box office at some stage?

[Shareguy]

•   VGL – AMC, the world's largest cinema chain, yesterday released strong 2Q23 results. An array of blockbuster films drove a 16% YoY increase in revenues, and management noted that momentum had continued into July-23, which was the highest revenue month in their 103-year history. This growth finally enabled coverage of AMC's substantial fixed cost base, generating the first EPS positive quarter since 2Q19. Despite this, AMC continued to close non-performing locations, shuttering a net 14 sites or 2% of all US locations (but down from closing a net 20 sites in 1Q23), with 10% of pre-pandemic sites now closed. Although not a Vista customer, AMC is a good bellwether for Vista's enterprise customer base (which makes up the majority of its revenue) – with improving box office and profitability, site closures should continue to slow in the coming quarters.

[Left Field]

•   VGL – AMC, the world's largest cinema chain, yesterday released strong 2Q23 results. An array of blockbuster films drove a 16% YoY increase in revenues, and management noted that momentum had continued into July-23, which was the highest revenue month in their 103-year history. This growth finally enabled coverage of AMC's substantial fixed cost base, generating the first EPS positive quarter since 2Q19. Despite this, AMC continued to close non-performing locations, shuttering a net 14 sites or 2% of all US locations (but down from closing a net 20 sites in 1Q23), with 10% of pre-pandemic sites now closed. Although not a Vista customer, AMC is a good bellwether for Vista's enterprise customer base (which makes up the majority of its revenue) – with improving box office and profitability, site closures should continue to slow in the coming quarters.

No one seems to be mentioning the current strike that has halted film making? 

[Left Field]

Heading towards turning cashflow positive in Q4 with a bullish outlook,  though no mention is made of looming effects of Hollywood actors/writers strike.

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/417028

Financial overview
• Total revenue of $69.7m (up 12% on 1H22) and Recurring Revenue1 of $60.5m (up 13% on 1H22)
• Combined Cinema and Movio Recurring Revenue1 of $49.8m, up 10% on 1H22
• Substantial growth in the AGC segment2 with total revenue up 29%
• EBITDA3 of $2.5m (down 19% on 1H22) and positive operating cashflow of $6.2m (up 22% on 1H22)
• Loss for the period of $8.5m (down from a loss of $18.0m for 1H22)
• Average monthly Cash Usage4 of $1.2m in 1H23 now expected to become free cashflow positive during Q4 2024 – a year earlier than previous guidance.

Outlook
• Vista Group reaffirms guidance for 2023 total revenue to be in the range of $142m – $147m
• Through the organisational transformation and the reprofiled capital expenditure program, Vista Group expects to be free cashflow positive during the fourth quarter of 2024
• Vista Group remains on target to achieve its 2023 ASM aspirations of ARR5 between $175m – $205m and EBITDA3 of 15+% by the end of 2025.

[Left Field]

Upgrade for existing customer to vista cloud.....tho no revenue/profit upgrade....yet?

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/423495

Vista Group International Limited (NZX & ASX:VGL) is delighted to announce that Major Cineplex, one of the largest cinema exhibitors in Southeast Asia, has become the latest existing Vista Group client to commit to Vista Cloud.

The three-year agreement will see Vista Cloud deployed across all of Major Cineplex 182 sites throughout Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
In addition to a number of clients already live and announced as onboarding, Major Cineplex joins recently announced Pathé Cinemas in adopting Vista Group's entire Vista Cloud enterprise offering, including all of its advanced capabilities. A client for over 14 years, the agreement replaces the existing on-premises agreements with Major Cineplex across all sites.

[Left Field]

Another 'win' claimed by VGL......

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/423659

"Vista Group's digital solutions are designed to help our clients provide best-in-class digital experiences to moviegoers – seamless, innovative, and consistent across all sales channels – even under peak traffic." said Vista Group CEO, Stuart Dickinson. "Cinépolis is an innovator and a strong partner for Vista Group, and we look forward to taking this first step on Cinépolis' cloud journey with its Spanish circuit Cine Yelmo. We look forward to assisting Cine Yelmo to increase its digital engagement with its moviegoers in Spain."

[Hectorplains]

This sounds exciting. Will it improve revenue?

[winner (n)]

Leftie ...global domination hey

One day will be reflected in share price

[Gerald]

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-website-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/VGL/431751/419439.pdf

Looks like Vista is in play. Can anyone share the gist of the following articles?

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/potentia-capital-puts-its-bankers-to-work-at-newbook-20240410-p5fitg

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/eqt-backed-storable-to-buy-potentia-capital-business-20240501-p5fo4a

Looks like they raised $635m 2 years back, but not clear on how much they spent so far. Does seem like quite a chunky acquisition for such a small fund. Any thoughts?

[Gerald]

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-website-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/VGL/431810/419507.pdf

Purchased another 1.5%  Being that aggressive does seem unusual just for a board seat, surely if that was all they wanted they could have just slowly brought in over time with a few smaller block trades and no escalation clauses.

I think the phrase was "a full takeover not on the cards", and companies can be edgy around language here so could easily be a SIA or a co-bid with another PE fund / pension fund etc. Going by AUM this would look a little large to be doing by themselves.

[Crackity]

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-website-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/VGL/431810/419507.pdf

Purchased another 1.5%  Being that aggressive does seem unusual just for a board seat, surely if that was all they wanted they could have just slowly brought in over time with a few smaller block trades and no escalation clauses.

I think the phrase was "a full takeover not on the cards", and companies can be edgy around language here so could easily be a SIA or a co-bid with another PE fund / pension fund etc. Going by AUM this would look a little large to be doing by themselves.

Probably what they mean is a full takeover not on the cards by us


However if anyone wants a crack here is 19.9% at the right price.....

[Left Field]

Good update,   inching towards profitability..... slight downgrade in FY24 revenue expectations..... but it's all about the positive vibe!

HALFYR: VGL: EBITDA increases 188%, with FCF positive in sight

Vista Group International Limited (NZX & ASX: VGL) reported its half year
results for the six months ending 30 June 2024 today, demonstrating benefits
of its 2023 business transformation - delivering a significant operating
improvement over 1H23, growing momentum of cloud client transitions, and
reaffirmed it will be free cash flow positive for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Financial overview
o EBITDA1 of $7.2m (up $4.7m on 1H23)
o ARR2 of $129.4m (up 9% on 30 June 2023)
o Total revenue of $69.6m (in line with 1H23), with Recurring Revenue3 of
$63.4m (up 5% on 1H23) and SaaS Revenue3 of $25.4m (up 20% on 1H23)
o Operating cashflow of $3.0m, or $6.1m after adjusting for movements in
working capital4 (up $8.5m on 1H23 on a like for like basis)
o Loss for the period of $2.7m (a 68% improvement on 1H23).

Outlook
o 2024 total revenue guidance of $148m-$153m (was $152-$157m), Recurring
Revenue3 of $133m-$137m and Non-Recurring Revenue3 of $15m-$16m (was ~$18m)
o On track to be Free Cash Flow5 positive in 4Q24
o 2024 EBITDA1 margin of 13-14% (stronger than expected)
o 2025 EBITDA1 margin upgraded to 16-18% (was 15%+)
o On target to achieve December 2025 ARR2 of $175m+.

Operational overview
o 247 sites were live on Vista Cloud solutions on 5 August 2024, including
Major Cineplex (79 sites), Everyman (44 sites), Pathe (29 sites), NCG (27
sites), and Megaplex (15 sites)
o New client Cine Colombia (48 sites) has signed to move its cinema circuit
to Vista Cloud's Moviegoer Engagement solution
o The new business structure is now fully operational, with a $4.8m reduction
in total cost to serve and operating expenses6 from 1H23.

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/435644

[winner (n)]

Potentia getting rid of their stake according to AFR

Potential were adamant that Vista was underperforming and implied the Board and Management were pretty useless or 'not up to it' to put in more politely.

I gather they were concerned last year that the transition to the cloud was taking too long and expressed concern that the return to profitable growth wasn't on the horizon.

No doubt Potentia have kept tracking how things are going and don't see a good picture. The last update from Vista wasn't that good was it. No wonder Potentia have decided to give up ...just take the money and run and move onto something more rewarding.

I see this move as not very good news.