28th Aug 2014 07:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Online gaming software supplier Playtech PLC were higher early Thursday, as it expressed confidence in beating market expectations for the full year and raised its interim dividend as adjusted profit rose in the first half.
The online gaming software supplier proposed an interim dividend of 8.9 euro cents, up 14.1% from 7.8 euro cents the year before.
Playtech posted a pretax profit of EUR76.9 million in the half year to end-June, down from a pretax profit of EUR414.8 million a year earlier when it booked a gain on the sale of its 29% share in William Hill Online to William Hill PLC.
Adjusted to strip out the one off gain from the William Hill sale and other one off items including amortisation and acquisition costs, the company posted a pretax profit of EUR98.0 million, up from EUR68.0 million the year before, as revenue rose to EUR214.4 million, from EUR176.8 million.
Revenue growth was predominantly driven by the company's Casino segment, which posted revenue of EUR116.2 million, up from EUR90.3 million in the previous year. Services revenue rose 18.7% due to the acquisition of PokerStrategy in 2013, although excluding this acquisition revenue declined 7.4% as licensees re-evaluated their regulatory focus.
Sports revenue rose 34.9% to EUR12.3 million, from EUR9.1 million, as the FIFA World Cup boosted web revenues.
Bingo Revenue declined 9.4% as larger licensees opted to take further product verticals with an associated change in royalty structure, and marketing reduced. Poker revenue declined 7.5%.
Playtech said that in its first half, its mobile channel increased 53.2%, accounting for 10% of the company's overall revenue.
Daily average revenue for the first 59 days of its third quarter were up 21% compared to the previous year, although down 2% from the second quarter as the third quarter is traditionally quieter.
"Playtech is the supplier of choice to the global online gambling market and we look to the future with confidence and optimism," said non-executive Chairman Alan Jackson in a statement.
Shares in Playtech were trading up 4.1% at 690.18 pence Thursday morning, one of the biggest gains on the FTSE 250.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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