News in brief: Sportingbet admits economic challenges; Sci Games; Caesars
Sportingbet focus on cost control as a number of its key European markets suffer; Scientific Games and Caesar's results.
In a trading update ahead of Q4 figures in October and the likely completion of its acquisition of Australian counterpart Centrebet at the end of this month, the operator disclosed that the trends it has experienced in the previous three quarters of its financial year have continued into the remaining trading period.
It said that it remained “confident of the outcome for the financial year” and that its Australian and emerging markets businesses would “continue to demonstrate the benefits of the group’s geographic diversity with resilient performances throughout the year”.
The company’s proposed acquisition of Centrebet is expected to complete at the end of August, with Centrebet shareholders due to vote on the takeover next Wednesday 17 August. At the end of last month Sportingbet confirmed it is considering options for the disposal of its unregulated Turkish business, which would clear the way for a £600m takeover by Ladbrokes.
With the two parties known to be locked in discussions regarding a valuation for the online sports betting specialist, the sale or licensing of Sportingbet’s Turkish business is seen by analysts as removing the penultimate obstacle to Ladbrokes lodging a bid of between 80p to 90p a share.
James Hollins, analyst at Evolution Securities this morning said the operator’s shares would be driven by announcements on a potential sale of its Turkish operations and/or a Ladbrokes firm offer. “We think one may precipitate the other,” he added.
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Scientific Games has seen overall revenues fall from US$233m (£143m) in 2010 to $220.2m in the second quarter of this year due to the sale of its racing business to Sportech in October. Excluding the results of the racing business revenue in Q2 2011 increased 7.4% against the same period in 2010, however this was partially offset by a $5.4m decline in lottery systems group revenue.
Caesar’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino operator by revenue, reported a narrower second-quarter loss after cutting costs. Caesars, which has 10 casinos in Las Vegas, reported a net loss of US$155.5m (£95.7m), compared with a loss of $274m in same period last year. “Our second-quarter results clearly indicate that the organisational and strategic changes we’ve made to meet the challenges of the recession are improving our performance and paving the way for accelerated growth when the economy improves,” Gary Loveman, Caesars’ chairman and CEO said in a statement.
Net Entertainment’s Mega Fortune progressive jackpot video slot has become the biggest of its kind in online casino history, the Swedish supplier has claimed. “The jackpot mega prize is currently above 7.5m and continues to grow, smashing the previous online record of 6.3m, it said in a release.
Tipp24 has seen its consolidated revenues rise by more than 70% year-on-year for the first six months of 2011, following on from last year’s record earnings, a German lottery provider revealed in its half-yearly resultstoday. The company hopes to officially return tothe German market after a three-year absence, with CEO Dr Hans Cornehl saying: “We continue to appeal to Germany’s political leaders to develop EU-compliant legislation which takes into account that there is simply no such thing as lottery addiction.”
Solutions provider Aristocrat Leisure has released a new African-themed slot game, 50 Lions. The game “ available to players at GentingGames.com and MoneyGaming.com “ will soon be followed by further releases in the form of the Sun & Moon, 5 Dragons and More Chilli games.