Stanley Leisure To Be Split and Sold
William Hill Plc (WMH.L) this week informed the London Stock Exchange that it is in exclusive negotiations to purchase Stanleybet, the betting shop arm of Stanley Leisure Organisation Plc (SLY.L). William Hill is carrying out a due diligence of Stanley's business and has delayed plans to deliver £453 million to its shareholders as a dividend so that it may use the funds to acquire Stanleybet. William Hill operates 1,610 betting shops in the United Kingdom, and the acquisition of Stanley's 620 shops would put the company ahead of Ladbrokes, which operates 2,000 shops, as the largest betting shop operator in the UK. Bloomberg News estimates that William Hill could pay more than £500 million for Stanleybet. Shares of Stanley Leisure rose 17 percent to a record 524p on the day while William Hill shares plummeted 13p to 560.35p. Even if the sale goes through, Stanley will retain its casino arm and status as the largest casino operator in the United Kingdom. However, there is now speculation that should the Stanleybet sale go through, Stanley Leisure's largest shareholder, Genting Berhard (a 17 percent stake-holder) might try to push the company to merge with casino operator London Clubs International Plc (LCI.L), in which Genting holds 22 percent.
IG Group's Float Could Be Year's Largest
Spread betting firm IG Group says it will try to obtain a market valuation of between £375 million and £435 million when it returns to stock market on April 28. Such a valuation would make the IPO the largest in London so far this year. The flotation would provide the company with £124 in new funds. The company also announced that it had appointed two new non-executive directors: Martin Jackson, former finance director of Friend Provident, and Sir Alan Budd, the former chief economic advisor to the Treasury and chairman of the Gambling Review Body (which wrote the widely praised Budd Report into British gambling).
Reports Released
After three-and-a-half years of acquisition and integration, online sports content and wagering company ukbetting Plc (UKB.L) has recorded its first ever EBITDA profitability for the full year ended Dec. 31, 2004. Among the highlights for the year are a 57 percent increase in turnover to £85.6 million and a 109 percent increase in gross profit to £19 million. The groups EBITDA profit of £0.1 million improves upon an EBITDA loss of £3.2 million in 2003. The number of new gaming registrations during the month grew by 43 percent to 264,000, and the number of monthly content site users rose by 25 percent to £7.1 million users. Revenue from poker games increased 376 percent.
ukbetting Plc - Annual Report
The fourth quarter and full-year results for lottery company GTECH Holdings Corp (GTK)'s fiscal year ended Feb. 26, 2005 show significant growth in revenue despite complications in Brazil. Overall, revenues for the fourth quarter increased 20.9 percent to $337.9 million, while revenues for the fiscal year rose 19.6 percent to $1.26 billion. Fourth quarter net income fell to $43.8 million, 8.3 percent less than the amount recorded over the same period last year, while net income for the entire year rose 7.2 percent to $196.4 million.
GTECH Holdings Corp - Annual Report