[F I N A N C E
NEWS
]
NEWS IN BRIEF
Flat revenues for Betfair despite ?xed-odds boost
A strong start from the newly launched fixed-odds sportsbook failed to prevent Betfair’s group revenues falling slightly, the operator has announced in its financial results for the three months ended 31 January. Part of the 4% year-on-year revenue decline, down to £90.5m, came via the withdrawal from unregulated markets including Germany, Greece and Cyprus, while UK revenues rose 6% compared to Q3 2011.
HILLS AGREES £424M PRICE FOR PLAYTECH JV STAKE
Software provider to receive 3.5 times return on investment later this month
Hill will pay £424m for Playtech’s 29% stake in its online joint venture, the London-listed operator has announced, with CEO Ralph Topping saying the JV “has been very successful for both parties”. The agreement will provide the software provider a 3.5 times return on the investment it made upon the setup of the William Hill Online JV in 2009, and values WHO at £1.5bn. Following a 24% year-on-year rise in net revenues from its online joint venture in 2012, William Hill announced the £424m William
acquisition, with the agreement paving the way for Playtech to announce a long-term licensing deal with Ladbrokes. Once the payment is made in cash before the end of April, pending the approval of Hills’ shareholders, the two parties’ existing software deal will remain unaffected. Should the deal not be completed by 30 April, a further call option on Playtech’s share, set for 2015, will automatically terminate. However, Topping said: “We are very pleased with the indications of support from shareholders so far for the acquisition and the Rights Issue. “The Rights Issue is the most appropriate way to fund the Proposed Acquisition. ” he added.
Lads online pro?ts slide ahead of UK sportsbook rollout
Ladbrokes has seen operating profit from its digital division fall by 39% to £31.8m as it awaits a full rollout of its new sportsbook site to UK customers this quarter, the London-listed operator has revealed in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Online net revenues rose by 9% year-on-year to £178.1m, buoyed by a 26.1% year-onyear improvement from the operator’s sportsbook, although poker revenues fell by 23.2%.
PADDYS SETS RECORD ANNUAL PROFITS
New online ventures incur start-up losses of more than €20m
A strong performance
from its Australian business has driven Paddy Power pro?ts to an all-time high, the operator has revealed in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December. It is the ?rst full year to include ?gures from Sportsbet, the Australian-licensed company acquired in early 2011, and operating pro?t from the region came in at €30.8m, a 35% increase year-on-year. The ?gure represented 22.1% of group pro?ts, which rose 15% year-on-year to €139.2m, while group revenues rose 25% compared to FY 2011 following revenue increases in all of the operator’s divisions. However, Paddys noted that its four new online ventures, including mobile casino brand Roller and social betting venture
BetDash, incurred €20.5m in start-up costs between them over the course of 2012. But mobile continued to ?ourish in general terms, with the channel now contributing 32% of group online revenues after a 185% year-on-year rise to €129m. The year saw Paddy Power unveil a number of new mobile offerings, not limited to Roller, while recent months have seen the introduction of new iOS apps for the Paddy Power Vegas and Paddy Power Games brands. Overall group turnover also rose strongly, climbing 25% year-on-year to €5.7bn following a strong showing in retail and online, with CEO Patrick Kennedy noting: “Payback from ongoing investment continued to deliver growth across the Group.” Kennedy also acknowledged the rise in the number of active online customers, a ?gure that has almost doubled since 2010.
Sportech points to US growth as online arm suffers
A challenging migration to Playtech’s egaming platform contributed to Sportech’s minor decline in overall revenues, the pools and tote betting operator has revealed in its results for the year ended 31 December 2012. The firm described 2012 as a “difficult period” for its egaming division, having underestimated the migration challenges presented by migrating its Littlewoods and Vernons brands, and casino, poker and bingo products from 888 and G2 onto Playtech’s platform.
18
www.egrmagazine.com