Accesso H1 2025: heatwave knock, margins up, strategy progressing
Accesso Technology Group’s half-year numbers were a mixed bag. Revenue slipped 1.9% to $67.9 million as an extreme June heatwave hit venue attendance right at the start of peak season. Yet gross margin improved to 78.3% and statutory profit before tax rose to $1.9 million. Management says trading recovered in July and August and it still expects full-year revenue to land toward the lower end of prior guidance with a cash EBITDA margin around 15%.
Headline numbers you need to know
| Metric | H1 2025 | H1 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group revenue | $67.9m | $69.2m | (1.9%) |
| Revenue ex Brazil sale & B2C exit | $67.9m | $68.6m | (1.0%) |
| Gross profit | $53.2m | $52.7m | +0.9% |
| Gross margin | 78.3% | 76.2% | +2.1 ppts |
| Cash EBITDA | $5.1m | $6.5m | (21.9%) |
| Cash EBITDA margin | 7.5% | 9.4% | (1.9 ppts) |
| Statutory profit before tax | $1.9m | $0.3m | +~535% |
| Net cash | $25.4m | $18.3m | +39.0% |
| Adjusted basic EPS | 10.05 cents | 8.65 cents | +16.2% |
Note: Cash EBITDA is Accesso’s preferred operating metric. It adjusts operating profit for non-cash and acquisition-related items and deducts capitalised development costs.
What drove the dip and why margins improved
Two forces did most of the damage. First, June heat across North America and EMEA reduced footfall, which directly hurt transactional revenue from ticketing, eCommerce and virtual queuing. Second, foreign exchange volatility created a $1.0 million FX loss within admin costs, compared with a $0.4 million loss last year.
Despite that, gross margin moved up to 78.3%. The main reason is mix. Last year included a low-margin $1.8 million hardware sale that did not repeat. With less hardware in the mix, software and services economics shine through.
Segment performance: strength in Ticketing, softness in Guest Experience
- Ticketing and Distribution revenue rose 2.5% to $53.1 million. Distribution was up 5.1% as more venues joined Accesso’s channels. Maintenance and support plus recurring licence fees also increased, helped by Accesso Horizon deployments.
- Guest Experience fell 21.2% to $10.4 million. Virtual queuing revenue declined 8.2% due to a revised deal with a major customer and lower attendance, and prior-year hardware sales of accesso Prism bands did not repeat.
- Professional Services grew 4.8% to $4.4 million, aided by large customer change requests. Non-repeatable services revenue across the group rose 27.2%.
On a revenue-type view, transactional revenue was down 3.8% to $49.1 million, but Distribution and maintenance/support mitigated some of the pressure. Total repeatable revenue represented 84.5% of the group, slightly lower year on year due to the services uptick.
Commercial execution and product momentum
Sales performance is improving. In H1 2025, Accesso signed 22 new venues for 37 product wins, with the annually recurring transactional value of those wins up 82% versus H1 2024. Accesso Freedom – the newer point-of-sale and ordering platform – is gaining traction: 31 customers by the end of June and 39 by the end of August, with a combined Freedom and Passport win for a new North American theme park opening in 2026.
The 1RISK technology acquisition in May adds market-leading waiver and incident management tools that integrate with Accesso’s platform, strengthening the ski and adventure proposition. Nearly half of 1RISK’s more than 150 venues are already Accesso clients, creating clear cross-sell potential.
AI is becoming a real differentiator. Accesso is using AI internally to speed bids and development, and externally to build chat-based ordering for Accesso Passport and Accesso Freedom. A successful pilot of the company’s new composable commerce architecture suggests a more flexible next-generation eCommerce layer is coming.
Geography: resilience beyond the US
US revenue fell 6.7% as lower transactional volumes and the prior-year hardware sale weighed. Canada rose 36.0% on strong ski and Passport trading. The UK was up 8.1% thanks to change request services for a blue-chip client. The Middle East and Asia-Pacific grew 7.2% and 6.7% respectively, supported by Accesso Horizon projects, including the flagship Qiddiya engagement in Saudi Arabia and work in Japan and Singapore.
Costs, cash and capital allocation
Underlying admin expenses increased 4.0% to $48.5 million, reflecting wage inflation and the $1.0 million FX headwind. Development spend rose 4.1% to $22.8 million, equivalent to 33.5% of revenue. Only $1.5 million was capitalised, keeping Cash EBITDA conservative.
Net cash was $25.4 million at 30 June 2025, down from $28.7 million at year end due to seasonality but up on last year. Adjusted net cash, excluding pass-through ticket cash, was $20.3 million. Accesso continued its buyback, repurchasing $5.0 million in H1 and $8.9 million by 5 September. The $40.0 million revolving credit facility runs to May 2027, with $10.75 million drawn at period end.
Guidance and what to watch next
Management maintained margin guidance and expects full-year revenue toward the lower end of the April range. The 15% cash EBITDA margin target for the year implies a meaningful second-half step-up from the 7.5% delivered in H1, supported by better summer trading post-June.
Key watchpoints for H2
- Delivery milestones on Accesso Horizon in the Middle East and elsewhere – important for both revenue and credibility.
- Accesso Freedom roll-out pace and cross-sell into existing venues.
- Payments strategy – potential partner selection and the revenue opportunity from deeper participation.
- Attendance trends into the festive period, especially for live entertainment, and any further FX impact.
Josh’s take: solid foundation, but H2 execution matters
This is a classic case of controllables vs uncontrollables. Weather and FX hurt what is still a fundamentally high-margin software and services business. The positives are clear: stronger win rates, the Freedom flywheel, distribution resilience, and an accretive bolt-on in 1RISK. AI-enabled features and composable commerce keep Accesso’s product story current and competitive.
The negatives are equally clear. Transactional revenues are sensitive to attendance, virtual queuing took a hit, and costs are nudging up with wage inflation and currency. Cash EBITDA at 7.5% in H1 puts pressure on the second half to deliver the guided 15% for the full year.
If summer momentum in July and August holds and Horizon projects land on time, Accesso has a credible path to re-accelerate growth as conditions normalise. With net cash, an active buyback and a clearer commercial playbook, the set-up into 2026 looks better than the headline H1 revenue line suggests. Execution from here will do the talking.
