L&G H1 results: wagers up more than half
Leisure and Gaming Group amounts wagered are up more than half on the same period last year, the company's first half results show.
LEISURE & GAMING Group’s amounts wagered are up more than half on the same period last year, the company’s first half results show.
Amounts wagered grew 52% to 61.0m, from 40.2m in the same period in 2008.
L&G chief executive Richard Creed said: “The figures are absolutely as forecast. We are in a rebuilding credibility phase throughout 2008-09,” referring to company’s growth following the restructuring it underwent following the disposal of L&G’s US-facing businesses in October 2006 due to America’s UIGEA online gambling ban.
Gross profit is also up, having risen 18% to 4.0m, from 3.4m at mid-year 2008, as is net win, which rose 17% to 13.9m, from 11.5m.
The growth in profit was despite the company’s net win margin having dipped to 22.8%, from 28.6% at H1 in 2008, due its expansion into poker, which offers more guaranteed but lower margins than sportsbook, the company’s traditional mainstay. Poker gross tournament fees now account for nearly half of Italian business volume.
“We are getting to a point where we can almost be described as a poker company,” Creed joked. “The enormous success of poker in Italy provides more secure earnings, albeit at a lower margin than in sports betting and higher than expected volumes have continued through the summer months.”
He added: “We approach the new soccer season in good shape with a stable partner network and sponsorship initiatives generating interest.”
Earning before interest and tax (EBIT) was up 36% to 1.9m, from 1.4m in 2008. Overheads grew marginally to 2.1m, from 2m.
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Creed highlighted successes during the period as the company’s growth in poker, as well as the business having secured a presence in Cyprus and Greece.
Challenges came from the Italian market, where online gambling companies have to be “quick on their feet” and where the regulatory situation gave the company “a constantly altering sense of what you and how you do it.” Creed praised the work of Gabriel Chaleplis, founder of the Betshop Italia group Leisure & Gaming acquired in 2006, in dealing with the regulatory situation, and said that he hoped to bring Chaleplis onto the L&G board.