Sheffield surveillance firm Synectics secures contract at Fallsview Niagara, the largest gaming resort in Canada

Sheffield-based Synectics, which has published its unaudited final results for the year ended November 30 2021, has sealed a deal to provide its services at Fallsview Niagara, the largest gaming resort in Canada, as its trading performance improved.

The full year revenue was £43.6 million, which was below the £44.6 million recorded the year before. However, the company said there had been a significant improvement in underlying losses.

The loss for the full year was £0.6 million, compared with £4.1million the previous year. The company returned to profit in the second half, as expected, on a restructured cost base and the order book on November 30 2021 was £28.4 million.

In a statement, Synectics said the period under review encompassed the first full financial year since the global COVID-19 environment came to dominate business life.

The statement said: "Against that background, Synectics produced resilient financial and strategic progress in the year ended 30 November 2021, consistent with the objectives agreed by the board.

It added: "The financial objective for the year was to protect the value of the company by restoring profitability without damaging the growth potential inherent in Synectics' technology and market positions. I am pleased to report that this objective was achieved, with profitability restored in the second half and both of the group's operating divisions effecting substantial turnarounds to produce positive operating profits for the year as a whole."

Paul Webb, Chief Executive of Synectics, said : "The second half of the year saw the company return to profit, on a restructured cost base, delivering a significant reduction in losses. The board is confident that the company's excellent customer relationships in attractive markets, coupled with its talented and committed teams, provide sound foundations for a strong recovery and sustained growth."

Mr Webb said that around 80 people were based in Sheffield and it was hiring more staff there.

He added: "Sheffield is very clearly at the centre of our operations."

Strategically, Synectics has continued to strengthen its position in the large transport and infrastructure segment of the market, particularly for Safe City applications.

The statement said: "During the year, the security management project for the S-Bahn in Berlin on behalf of Deutsche Bahn moved from development to the delivery and long-term service phase, complementing the company's position with government-owned BVG for Berlin's underground and main transport hub.

"Similar sizeable projects were won with the City of London Corporation and Police, and with the West Midlands Police, for wide-scale integration of security management in those jurisdictions. Collectively, these deployments represent impressive reference sites for Synectics' latest technology.

"Synectics' primary strategy remains to develop and capitalise on market-leading positions within relevant sectors of the global surveillance and security market where customers value high-performance, sector-specific capability.

"The company achieves cost competitiveness and scalability in these markets by maintaining a standard modular core software platform which supports solutions tailored as required for specific sectors and customers."

After a dearth of new orders in 2020, the tentative recovery of the North American casino and gaming markets in the fourth quarter, resulted in increased revenue, although still to a relatively low level compared to historical results, Synectics said.

The statement added: "A number of substantial projects for new customers in the US and Canada were secured late in the second half, including that recently announced for Fallsview Niagara, the largest gaming resort in Canada, as well as increased repeat orders from existing gaming customers.

"In addition, notable in the year, as previously announced, was a large order received from a new oil and gas customer in Mexico, PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos) as well as smaller orders from several other new oil and gas customers in the region."