BOS Performance in Line with Expectations
I-gaming operator BETonSPORTS Plc (BSS.L) has issued a trading update to report the company's results for the third quarter ended on Nov. 6, which includes the first half of the North American football season. The company has performed according to plan, and current trading is in line with expectations: The number of new customers rose 37 percent over the corresponding period last year to 20,926; the total number of bets rose 40 percent to 10.9 million; margin rose 20 percent to US$20.8 million; and deposits rose 40 percent to $50.9 million. All figures from the latest quarter are un-audited and include results from the Easybets.com business, which was acquired by BETonSPORTS in May, at which time it had about 100,000 predominantly Asian customers.
Ladbrokes Float?
David Michel, CEO of U.K.-based Hilton Group Plc (HG.L), stated two weeks ago that there was a 50-50 chance that his company would sell off the hotels division of its business to its American sister company Hilton Hotels Corp. Hilton first announced that it was considering selling the hotels division to the American firm in early October, but no deal is likely to be finalized for about another two months. It appears that if the sale goes through then Hilton's bookmaking subsidiary Ladbrokes would de-merge to become its own publicly traded entity on the London Stock Exchange, but there is also much speculation that Hilton may try to spin the company off through an IPO even if the sale of the hotels division is not successful. The Financial Times reports that although Hilton's board has not discussed spinning off Ladbrokes, some directors are believed to favor such a deal. Separating Ladbrokes from the hotels division would make it easier for Ladbrokes to enter the U.S. market.
Veikkaus' Improves Profit and Turnover
Veikkaus, Finland's National Lottery, has reported €291.7 million in profit for the nine months from January to September, an improvement of € 6.3 million, or 2.2 percent over the comparable period last year. Turnover has increased by 5.1 percent to €956.2 million due largely to the increased popularity of fixed-odds betting and keno.
Tattersall's Pays Dividends, Seeks Further Expansion
Victoria-based lotteries and gaming company Tattersall's Ltd. (TTS.AX) will pay dividends of AU$0.0875 per share for the first half of the current fiscal year through June, and $0.075 for the remaining six months. The dividend payment represents 82.4 percent of the company's forecasted net profit for the year ended June 2006.
Tattersall's CEO David Jones confirmed that the company is seeking to expand further in South Africa and the rest of the world following its July 7 listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. "Let me assure you that we will pursue any appropriate opportunity in Australia or overseas," he stated. "The listing helps us do that; indeed that was one of the main reasons for the listing.
Speculation that a Tattersall's merger with Queensland-based UNiTAB Ltd. (UTB.AX) is inevitable was triggered after Citigroup analyst Jenny Owen wrote, "A merger between UNiTAB and Tattersall's makes sense. We had long thought UNiTAB would be the likely first mover, but with uncertainty about gaming until at least 2007, a conservative UNiTAB board would find it difficult to sign off on a tilt prior to then. Tattersall's directors are faced with the opposite dilemma-the longer they leave it until they announce a major acquisition, the shorter the period of time remaining to use strong gaming cashflows to fund that bid."
Reporting
Multi-platform I-gaming software and technology developer Zone4Play Inc. (ZFPI.OB) has published its financial results for the third quarter of 2005 ended Sept. 30. The company recorded US$374,451 in total revenues during the period, a 167 percent improvement over the same quarter last year and a 9 percent improvement over the second quarter of 2005. Zone4Play received $362,480 in gross profit over the quarter as gross profit margin improved to 97 percent of total revenues. The company also recorded a net loss of $999,339 for the quarter, 65 percent of which was due to non-cash expenses.
Zone4Play Inc - Quarterly Report