17th Mar 2020 17:23
(Alliance News) - Bookmaker B90 Holdings PLC warned Tuesday it only has enough cash for "three to four weeks" amid a cancellation of sporting events.
B90 was known as Veltyco Group until the start of February, changing its name after the acquisition of the 49% stake it did not already own in Bet90 Sports.
Shares have been suspended from trading in London following B90's announcement. Shares were last quoted at 4.75 pence each.
A wide range of sporting events have been cancelled across the world due to Covid-19. This includes all major European football leagues, the European Football Championships this summer, as well as horse racing in the UK, as announced earlier Tuesday.
Due to these cancellations, revenue in the coming weeks will be well below board expectations. It has previously warned worse-than-expected trading would put its financial position under pressure.
"Whereas the directors are hopeful that the ban on sporting events globally will be lifted during April, there is significant uncertainty about the actual timing that this will happen as we also note that some major sporting events scheduled for later in the year have already been postponed," said B90.
"The main events on which the group's customers are focused are currently not expected to restart before April 7, meaning a period of at least three weeks in which the group's revenue will be significantly impacted. Any further delay in the restart of sporting events will further impact the group's revenue."
B90 was meant to make the first EUR30,000 instalment for the Bet90 deal, but this has not been made.
Until very recently, B90 said, it had been in talks about raising funds with new and existing investors, but this will now be difficult to do.
"Whilst the position is constantly changing, the directors anticipate, after taking account of customer balances, that the group currently only has sufficient cash resources available to it to operate the business for the next three to four weeks, assuming the continued support of its creditors, and if the group's revenue streams do not recover and/or the company is not able to raise additional capital, there can be no certainty the group will be able to continue as a going concern," said B90.
Larger bookmakers GVC Holdings PLC and William Hill PLC have also warned this week on a significant financial impact due to sporting cancellations.
By George Collard; [email protected]
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