Online gambling firm turns in another strong quarterly performance

Online gambling software provider Playtech plc has released an interim management report on the three months ended December 31 2012, posting a strong Q4 performance to end a successful year.

Financial highlights in Q4-2012 included:

* Gross income up 26 percent to Euro 98.8 million (Q4/11: Euro 78.4 million)
* Total revenues up 20 percent to Euro 83.9 million (Q4/11: Euro 69.6 million) and 5 percent higher than the Euro79.9 million achieved in Q3 -2012
* Share of profit from William Hill Online (“WHO”) up 71 percent to Euro 15 million (Q4-2011: Euro 8.8 million)

Quarter-on-quarter revenue performance included:

* Casino revenues up 27 percent to Euro 41.7 million (Q4-2011: Euro 32.8 million)
* Services revenues up 17 percent to Euro 27 million (Q4-2011: Euro 23.1 million)
* Bingo revenues up 14 percent to Euro 4.7 million (Q4-2011: Euro 4.1 million)
* Poker revenues down 27 percent to Euro 4 million (Q4-2011: Euro 5.5 million)
* Videobet revenues unchanged at Euro 2.7 million (Q4-2011: Euro 2.7 million)

For the 12 months ended 31 December 2012:

* Gross income up 51 percent to Euro 368.1 million (2011: Euro 243.6 million)
* Total revenues up 53 percent to Euro 317.5 million (2011: Euro 207.5 million); an increase of 19 percent excluding the impact of acquisitions made in the period and the comparable period.
* Share of profit from WHO up 40 percent to Euro 50.6 million (2011: Euro 36.1 million)
* Net cash* as at 31 December 2012 of Euro 51.9 million (31 December 2011: Euro 137.3 million)
* Net cash defined as cash and cash equivalents less bank borrowings

Management reports that average daily revenue for the first 36 days of 2013 is up over 9 percent on Q1-2012 and flat on Q4-2012.

Operational highlights included:

* Gala Coral completed its phased migration, adding its sports betting offering, to Gala Casino and Gala Bingo
* Playtech’s slot games offering launched in Italy following the introduction of new regulations
* Betclic and Everest poker products launched on the iPoker.fr and iPoker.com networks
* Betfair commenced its migration onto the iPoker network with completion planned for July 2013
* Betfred launched its mobile casino to initially include a selection of 20 table and slot games, aiming for a full mobile offering in 2014

William Hill Online

WHO delivered its largest quarterly contribution to the company since inception, marking a third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

On 29 November 2012, the board of William Hill plc commenced the valuation process as part of its call option to acquire Playtech’s minority stake in WHO. The valuation process will conclude at the end of February 2013, following which William Hill will have a short period of time to decide if it will exercise the option.

Mor Weizer, Playtech’s chief executive, said Thursday:

“Playtech has again delivered an exceptional fourth quarter performance enhanced by WHO’s record quarterly profit and the significant
growth in software revenues, with Casino, Services and Bingo demonstrating double-digit increases.”

“The company achieved robust organic growth and benefitted from innovative cross-selling initiatives with several major licensees.

“Playtech’s new product and licensee launches, together with the launch of slots in Italy, have exceeded expectations and build further on the company’s solid growth platform.

“I am also pleased to announce that our joint venture with Gauselmann has been awarded licenses by Schleswig Holstein for online casino and sports betting.”

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