Turnover has surged and pre-tax losses slashed at a Greater Manchester-based virtual reality (VR) group which works with the likes of The 02, the owner of Alton Towers and The Blackpool Tower during the first half of its financial year.

Immersive entertainment firm Immotion has reported a revenue of £2.7m for the six months to the end of June 2021, up from the £818,000 it posted for the same period in 2020.

The AIM-listed company has also confirmed its pre-tax losses were cut from £2.5m to £1.4m.

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In a statement, the business added it has seen an “outstanding performance” during its third quarter, with revenue at about £3m and a breakeven adjusted pre-tax profit.

It also said it achieved record group results for June, July and August.

Chairman Robin Miller said: “Our H1 result is very encouraging, particularly as conditions in the early part of the period remained challenging to say the least.

“April saw us reach underlying EBITDA profit for the first time, and we have maintained this performance every month since.

“Our core Location Based Entertainment (“LBE”) business has recovered strongly and enjoyed a buoyant summer period.

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“Following this, we have seen a very strong start to H2 and, accordingly, we expect Q3 to deliver overall group revenue of circa £3m and EBITDA of £0.6m. Momentum is growing in our HBE and Uvisan businesses and this augurs well for Q4 when we believe, based on current performance, they will in aggregate deliver significant revenue, margin and net cash inflow.

“Our LBE business will continue to focus on larger installations while creating new content to launch into the global zoo market – which we believe to be considerably larger than the aquarium market – in the early part of next year.

“HBE, while continuing to build momentum with the ‘Let’s Explore Oceans’ range of content, will also be launching an exciting new product, ‘Vodiac’, offering a much broader and deeper choice of channels.

“Securing our first significant order for the NHS was a major milestone for Uvisan, our UV-C disinfection business.

“This, plus the ongoing pandemic and resultant heightened profile of workplace safety and hygiene, gives us confidence that demand for these products is going to be with us for the foreseeable future and provides a positive backdrop for growth.

“The creation of the HBE and Uvisan divisions has provided us with two further significant growth opportunities and the early signs are very promising.

“This is a real testament to the team, its entrepreneurial spirit and determination not just to survive but to prosper.

“In conclusion, we have confidence that there are plentiful growth opportunities ahead.”