25th Jul 2014 11:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - Webis Holdings PLC Friday expressed confidence that its strategies are aligned for future growth, and said it is considering restating its reporting currency to US dollars to more accurately reflect its current exposure.
The company operates subsidiaries betinternet.com Ltd, a sportsbook operation, and WatchandWager.com Ltd, a pool-wagering operation.
WatchandWager saw good growth in the year to end-May, Webis said, boosted by new player activity into the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Swedish pools. As a result, the company will make further investment in the division, concentrating on hiring additional staff and improving the watchandwager.com platform.
It is confident that this will lead to enhanced profitability in the near term. Sacramento based racetrack operation Cal Expo adjusted meeting schedules and kept a close control on costs, leading it to profitability despite seeing revenue reduce for the full racing season.
betinternet saw revenue at a similar level to the previous year, it said, although it saw some external challenges in the second-half which led to lower full-year margin than it anticipated.
Webis cited the changing government perceptions towards online gaming in Singapore, which meant it was obliged to curtail some of its casino and gaming activity from February. Additionally, a reduction in card authorisations from Singapore and unfavourable football results in the latter part of the European football season also hit gross margin.
It is continuing to monitor the possibility of regulatory changes in Singapore; however, there has been no official notification of the extent of any change or any timeline, it said.
It is reduced the segments exposure to Singapore, attracting a greater proportion of betting activity from other regions, it said.
After the year end, the company noted that WatchandWager expects to renew its California horse racing board licence for Cal Expo in August and restart racing in early October.
Cal Expo will switch from a Friday and Saturday schedule to race on Saturday and Sunday evenings. It will also increase the prize money incentive scheme for the upcoming season.
It is committed to applying for a UK licence under recently introduced legislation in the UK, it said.
Results from the World Cup were generally favourable for betinternet, it said, and it saw an encouraging margin.
Shares in Webis were trading down 5.9% at 2.00 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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