BetonSports Shares Plummet After Profit Warning
Costa Rica-Based BetonSports Plc (BSS.L), which floated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market at a share price of 140p in July, issued a profit warning last week, stating that "over the last few weeks a number of factors have combined to lead the directors to believe that, were current trading patterns to continue, the results for the year to Jan. 31, 2005 would be significantly lower than the directors had originally anticipated." The company blames its recent poor performance on the cancellation of over $10 million in radio advertising during the NFL football season, the company's busiest time of the year. The lack of NHL hockey in North America is also taking its toll. The company's stock value fell 81.5p (over 50 percent) on Wednesday to close at 79p.
Tabcorp Revenues Up; iTV, Global Expansion Could Be in Store
Officials with Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. (TAH.AX) revealed at the company's annual general meeting on Monday that the company's overall revenue for the first four months of the year 2004/05 is already 6.7 percent higher on a normalized basis than it was after the first four months of last year. Casino revenue is up 6.6 percent, gaming division (electronic gaming machines and network games) revenue is up 7 percent and wagering (racing and sports betting) revenue is up 6.9 percent. Managing Director Matthew Slatter said Tabcorp will focus in the next year or two on completing its acquisition of Jupiters and its integration of Tab Ltd. He also said the company is exploring interactive television betting, but that such services would be provided to give flexible options to customers and should not be expected to drive high revenue levels. The company's director, Phil Satre, spoke about how more jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Macau and Singapore are beginning to accept legalized gambling as a from of entertainment and speculated that eventually these jurisdictions could provide great opportunities for Tabcorp.
German Online Casino to Float on AIM
Gaming VC Holdings, which operates a German online casino under the brand name casino-club.com, has announced plans to float on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market with a value of about €200 million by the end of the year. The founding shareholder, who hopes to raise between €105 million and €150 million, is reportedly selling to a group of four Americans led by former IBM/Lotus manager Steve Barlow. The company, which claims to be the third largest online casino in the world despite not taking U.S. bets and being relatively unknown outside of Germany, plans to acquire a poker and sport betting platform and launch them next year.
Yoomedia Acquires Parent Company of Avago
Interactive media group Yoomedia (YOO.L) is acquiring Digital Interactive Television Group and The Gaming Channel for roughly £28 million, to be paid with £10 million in cash and 120 million new shares in Yoomedia. The Gaming Channel provides fixed-odds gambling and casino channels on iTV and Sky and is the parent company of popular numbers game channel Avago TV, while Digital Interactive Television Group provides software sales and support. Digital Interactive Television Group is chaired by the former head of new media at BSkyB and BT, John Swingewood, and its largest shareholder is Peter Wilkinson, who heads Freeserve.
Finnish Lottery Figures
Veikkaus Oy, the National Lottery of Finland, has reported its financial results for the first nine months of 2004, showing profits of €285.4 million, an increase of 3.1 percent over the first nine months of last year. The group's overall turnover climbed 7.1 percent to €909.7 million, and it returned €455.6 million (50.1 percent of turnover) back to players as prize payouts, while another €284.2 million--more than €1 million per day--was distributed to the Finnish Ministry of Education. Veikkaus' Internet service, OnNet, contributed to €77 million in turnover, an increase of 48.5 percent over last year. OnNet receives 9.5 percent of the turnover of traditional play slip games.