SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sportech chief executive Ian Penrose said that the company remains ‘well positioned for future growth’ in the US market and that the company has entered 2014 with confidence. Penrose made the statement during Sportech’s preliminary results for the year in which revenue grew slightly to £110.3m, as did EBITDA to £26.0m, although adjusted profit before tax was slightly down to £14.5m.
Considering that Sportech’s main business not too long ago was the declining UK football pools, the firm has been through a massive transitional phase and now has a greater emphasis in America after its purchase of SG Racing from the Scientific Games group.
Penrose commented: “Our US-based businesses now account for 60% of group revenues, and we are particularly pleased with their strong profit growth, driven primarily by the technological investment in our core Racing and Digital business. Since the turn of the year, we have launched Connecticut’s only legal website for betting on horseracing and augmented our retail estate by opening a 10,000 sq ft innovative sports bar and betting venue in Connecticut. The first in a chain of similar venues is to be opened in California later this year.”
Sportech said that the Football Pools business delivered a ‘strong performance’ with EBITDA of £17.4m (down 7 per cent on 2012), representing 58% of Group EBITDA before central costs.
