BETonSPORTS PLC
19 July 2005
BetonSports PLC ('the Company' or 'BetonSports')
Update
The Company has been informed by Boulder Overseas Corp. ('Boulder') that it has
sold 23,000,000 ordinary shares of 1p each at a price of 125p to Evolution
Securities Limited ('Sale Shares'). The Sale Shares have subsequently been
placed with institutional clients of Evolution Securities Limited. Following
this sale Boulder retains an interest in 12,979,020 ordinary shares of 1p each
representing 15.46 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital. The placing
has been conducted to meet institutional demand for the Sale Shares and
Evolution Securities Limited has released Boulder from the lock-in that it
entered into on 9 July 2004 with respect to the Sale Shares. Boulder's remaining
interest is still subject to a lock-in until 15 July 2006. In view of this sale
the directors are providing the following trading update.
The directors are pleased to report that the integration of Easybets, the Asian
facing online gaming business, which was acquired on 25th May 2005, is
progressing well. Apart from identified cost savings in areas such as payment
processing, IT and marketing, the directors consider that there are excellent
opportunities for cross selling. Additionally the exchange of ideas on services
and procedures as well as staff secondment initiatives are expected to produce
benefits. The relaxation of the Chinese crackdown and expansion of the services
offered in other areas in the region are showing encouraging early signs.
The directors are also pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Waller as
Chief Technical Officer. Scott comes to BETonSPORTS with extensive experience of
gaming software and the development and deployment of large scale IT management
systems.
Clive Parritt, Chairman of BETonSPORTS plc said 'This appointment is important,
not only because IT is crucial to the business, but also because Scott's skills
are ideally suited to managing the introduction of the new global gaming
platform which is planned to commence after final testing in the 4th Quarter
2005 and the Superbowl in February 2006. His addition further enhances the
management team, following the recent appointments of Clive Archer and Richard
Creed announced in April.'
Overall, progress is being achieved in all of the key operational areas,
particularly advertising and marketing and payment processing. The advertising
and marketing budget for the US facing business this year is $14.4m, of which,
over $10.0m has already been placed or committed. This is substantially ahead of
the same period last year. The NFL season is the most important trading period
for the Company and historically over half of all customer sign ups have
occurred in this period and 65 per cent. of the Company's business in terms of
volume and profit occur in the second half of the financial year. In line with
the agreed strategy, the balance between off line and on line spend has shifted
and is now split evenly. The recent recruitment of William Griffiths, as
director of marketing, has strengthened the on line capability of the Company to
complement its existing off line expertise. New payment processors are being
added to the existing channels, to provide a wider range of options for
customers.
It is pleasing to report that margins have continued to be strong during the
first half of the year, continuing the trend experienced at the close of the
last financial year. The Company's half year ends on 7th August 2005, and the
Directors anticipate making an announcement of the results by early October.
Whilst there are still a number of weeks of trading to occur it is expected that
profit before tax for the first half of the year will be ahead of the
corresponding period last year. On the basis of the current trends in margin,
advertising spend and the successful pre and early football season new customer
sign ups, the Directors remain confident of the outturn for the year.
The Directors continue to pursue a number of acquisitions which would extend,
improve and diversify the BETonSPORTS service to customers and their
geographical spread, in parallel with organic growth activity. The recent
successful flotation of Party Gaming continues the buoyancy in the sector;
however, vendor expectations remain high.
Ends
Enquiries:
BETonSPORTS 07795 654806
David Carruthers, Chief Executive
Evolution Securities 07768 694436
Stuart Andrews
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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