8th Sep 2006 07:01
Alphameric PLC08 September 2006 8 September 2006 Alphameric plc ("Alphameric" or the "Group") Market Update Following the successful fundraising of £8m in July of this year Alphameric, theprovider of end-to-end solutions for the Leisure and Hospitality sectors, givesthe following update on its new initiatives and current trading conditions. In our Interim Statement published on 4th July 2006 we explained that a keydriver of growth for UK licensed betting offices (LBOs) is increased revenuederived from a greater breadth of betting opportunities through the availabilityof more sports based media content from around the world. We identified that ourposition as the incumbent supplier of both display and electronic point of salesystems to a majority of bookmakers in the UK and Ireland should enable us tocompetitively supply our customers' media content needs whilst generatingpotentially significant new revenue and profit streams for the Group. Alphameric and Sky launch In-Running Service We are pleased to announce an agreement with British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) toprovide in-running betting opportunities in Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) inthe UK and Ireland. The launch of the new service, to be called Sky In-Running,will allow customers in betting shops to place bets on televised sporting eventsas they are happening. Under the joint initiative Alphameric will • distribute a data feed received from SkyBet, BSkyB's wholly owned betting business, to the LBO's Alphameric display systems. The feed will contain betting opportunities and results aligned to selected live events on Sky Sports channels. • feed the data directly into the LBO's EPoS systems, enabling winning bets to be settled automatically and where appropriate, in running. We are delighted to be launching this initiative with Sky, which is recognisedas the leading provider of quality sports programming in the UK and Ireland. SkyIn-Running will greatly enhance the range of betting opportunities available tothe marketplace, particularly for the smaller independent bookmaker which has,to date, been unable to offer a comprehensive sporting programme. Alphameric's Media and Data Joint Venture for Bookmakers Gains Momentum As the next step in creating the joint venture, Alphameric has now entered intoexclusive negotiations with a major UK based consolidator of horse racingpictures and data to give the joint venture the exclusive right to distributethis content to LBOs. In addition, Alphameric is negotiating with the owners of other sporting mediaand data to enable the joint venture to deliver an attractive and entertainingrange of games and sports betting events from the inception of the servicetargeted for the first quarter of 2007. Further details of the joint venture will be announced when fully bindingcommitments with the key parties have been achieved. As highlighted in our Interim Statement, the service we will be providing toLBOs in conjunction with Sky complements this proposed joint venture. Current Trading The Board expects that overall Group results for the year will be in line withexpectations. The Leisure Division continues to trade in line with our expectations but thepreviously communicated uncertainties of the UK hospitality market remain. Thekey factors in the hospitality market are the high levels of actual andprospective corporate activity as well as the challenging trading outlook formany brewers and pub chains. As a consequence, whilst we are confident that asthe hospitality market recovers Alphameric Hospitality remains well placed tocontinue its growth, we now consider that any improvement in its tradingprospects in this financial year is unlikely. - ends - For further information, please contact: Alphameric plcAlan Morcombe, Chief Executive 01483 293 971 Weber Shandwick Square MileNick Oborne / Helen Thomas 020 7067 0700 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Sky