Sportech online revenues flat in 2014
Digital EBITDA doubles to £1.2m as the firm continues to focus on the US market
Sportech’s digital profits for 2014 doubled to £1.2m despite seeing no year-on-year change in full-year revenues, the company announced this morning.
At constant currency comparisons, digital revenues for the 12 months ended 31 December were £3.7m while EBITDA doubled from the £0.6m posted in 2013 due to “the recovery of previously written off bad debt” and the closure of its San Diego office.
When including its large land-based business, Sportech saw a 2% decline in full-year revenues to £104.1m and a 5% reduction in EBITDA to £25.3m due to a “disappointing” performance from its US wagering venues and unfavourable foreign exchange rates.
Revenues from Sportech’s land-based venues in the US, which include its flagship Winners venue in Connecticut, were down almost 5% to £32.5m due to unfavourable foreign exchange rates.
But the firm also noted that revenues from its Connecticut-facing horserace wagering site MyWinners.com were up 150% during the period to £1m.
Tote services and equipment sales up £0.8m to £30.8m, with the firm’s deal to supply Betfred with the platform for its Totepool business contributing £1.7m to the total.
Revenues from The Football Pools, which relaunched on the NYX platform earlier in the year, fell by £2.1m to £38m during the period, but the firm said its plan was to “stabilise then grow revenues”.
“We are pleased that we have finished the year ahead of our expectations,” said Sportech CEO Ian Penrose.
“Investment in our core technology and people has delivered a strong performance in our US-based betting technology business, and The Football Pools has had a good year.
“Our venues division has had a challenging year, but continues to lay the foundations for long-term growth,” he added.
Loss before tax was down a massive 543.7% to £21.3m after the firm made a £28.1m non-cash goodwill payment relating to the acquisition of its football pools business.
Sportech said it continue to focus on growing its US online business, having recently launched its SNG Interactive online casino platform in New Jersey with land-based partner Resorts Casino.