TIDMIMMO
RNS Number : 5690X
Immotion Group PLC
20 December 2019
Immotion Group plc
("Immotion Group", the "Company")
Trading update - continued roll-out of headsets
Immotion Group, the UK-based immersive virtual reality ("VR")
'Out of Home' entertainment group, is pleased to provide a trading
update. In particular, the Company has grown its installed headset
base to 302. The split of headsets is currently as follows:
Segment Headsets
Immotion VR 117
Partners 185
Total 302
Based on our visible pipeline, we expect to see a significant
acceleration in new installation activity as we go into the New
Year. We believe that our existing estate, combined with expected
headset installations, will result in an installed base that should
deliver monthly underlying EBITDA breakeven (based on our
forecasted operating costs) by or around the end of Q1 2020.
As previously announced on 30 July 2019, we are now focusing on
our Partner model and more particularly, in the short term, on the
aquarium sector. We have found that higher yielding opportunities
are offered by "edutainment" verticals, and have shied away from
the more general family entertainment centre market, which we
believe is too crowded.
We have seen significant interest from large numbers of aquaria,
in both the USA and Europe, and we expect the majority of our
installations in the short term to be in this segment. As we
anticipated, this segment has outperformed the overall Partner
segment, with average weekly revenue per headset, in the year to
date, of GBP442, compared to an overall Partner average of GBP305.
We expect the average Partner revenue per headset to grow strongly
as we increase the number of aquaria installations in the overall
blend.
Whilst the initial appeal of our offering for partners has been
ancillary revenue from a small footprint (2-4 headsets), we are
beginning to see demand from very high traffic destinations for
larger installations. These could become key exhibits in their own
right and become more integral to the visitor experience. We will
update the market as these opportunities develop.
Consequently, we are very pleased to announce that following a
successful trial at Sea Life London Aquarium, we will be increasing
our installed headset base there from four to eight headsets to
accommodate demand, creating a mini-themed cinema.
We will also look to build on the early success of our location
tailored Tower Coaster offering. We have been able to design a
400-foot VR roller coaster ride over individual cityscapes, giving
us the ability to provide a unique product to high footfall
locations. This product has already been successfully deployed in
Blackpool, at the iconic Blackpool Tower, operated by Merlin
Entertainments. We are currently in discussions with a number of
other landmark destinations about this product.
Our nine own operated and staffed locations, trading as Immotion
VR, have operated profitably, and whilst we do not intend to open
further locations, preferring the Partner model, we will continue
to seek to optimise the performance of these operations.
We expect 2019 full year underlying EBITDA loss to be in line
with expectations and revenue to be in the range of GBP3.6-GBP3.8m,
(towards the lower end of expectations).
On a pro forma basis, the current average Partner weekly revenue
per headset (GBP305) across the 185 installed partner headsets
would generate annualised revenue of circa GBP3m. For 2020 we will
focus on the higher yielding installations such as aquaria (GBP442
average weekly revenue per headset, year to date) and other
"edutainment" verticals which we believe could offer similar
returns.
To this end in Q1 2020, we expect to launch exciting new
"edutainment" experiences aimed at family-focused, high traffic
destinations such as zoos; science centres and museums.
Martin Higginson, Immotion Group CEO, said:
"We are pleased with the increasing momentum of interest in and
uptake of our Partner offerings. We remain of the view that this is
the right path in order to scale our business rapidly and to build
a market leading position in the 'out of home' VR market.
We have seen really strong traction in the Aquarium sector and
it is clear we have a compelling offer that is delivering strong
results for ourselves and our partners. Take-up in this sector
continues to be growing and we are also beginning to see interest
in larger more 'integrated' installations.
Our Tower Coaster experience is proving extremely popular and we
now have this operating in three UK cities with more enquiries
coming through. The ability to be able to offer a tailored roller
coaster experience 400 feet above a particular cityscape is a
unique offering with global potential.
We also have some really exciting new experiences in
development, which will allow us to open up other large global
markets, such as zoos, science centres and museums.
Q1 2020 should be extremely busy and exciting for the Group. We
move towards 2020 with growing confidence in our strategy, which is
designed to allow us to scale rapidly. We look forward to updating
the market further."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
Enquiries:
For further information please visit www.immotion.co.uk, or
contact:
Immotion Group Martin Higginson Tel: +44 (0) 161
235 8505
WH Ireland Limited Adrian Hadden Tel + 44 (0) 207
(Nomad and Joint Darshan Patel 220 1666
Broker) Matthew Chan
Shard Capital Partners Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186
LLP Erik Woolgar 9900
(Joint Broker)
Alvarium Capital Alex Davies Tel: +44 (0) 207
Partners 195 1433
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END
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