Hills JV lifts Playtech figures
Playtech's gross income for the first quarter of 2011 was up 7% year-on-year, the company announced in its Q1 KPIs this morning.
Playtech’s gross income was up 7% year-on-year to 46.6m (£41.4m) in the first quarter of 2011, thanks in part to an increased share of profit from its William Hill Online (WHO) joint venture.
The 34% share from WHO amounted to 9.9m, up 2.5m on the same period in 2010, and up 41% compared to the final quarter of the last financial year, the company announced in its first quarter KPIs this morning. William Hill announced in its Q1 trading update last week that the injunction preventing Playtech from selling its stake in WHO would remain in place until further notice.
On a like-for-like basis “ therefore excluding pre-regulation revenues from France – gross income and total revenues were up 20% and 16% respectively versus the first quarter of 2010, with casino revenues up 23% year-on-year to 25.4m.
Poker however took a hit, revenues dropping 25% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, 3% quarter-on-quarter.
Chief executive Mor Weizer highlighted that “we continue to develop new sources of regulated market income,” with the launch of the first 250 buy-in tournaments in Italy since changes to that particular market in February.
Earlier this month eGaming Review broke the news that Playtech was in final talks to buy casino games provider Ash Gaming, and Weizer added that “We are also in late stage discussions with a number of potential major new licensees across a number of jurisdictions both in Europe and elsewhere.”
The company also confirmed that its acquisition of Intelligent Gaming Solutions “ announced in January “ had been officially completed.
Simon French, analyst with Panmure Gordon, reiterated his firm’s ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock, saying “We don’t expect any change to consensus on the back of today’s update and on that basis the stock looks very attractively valued.”