Sportech to leave top jobs vacant as it seeks sale
London-listed firm expects to save £2m a year by not replacing Ian Penrose and Micky Kalifa
Sportech will not replace its outgoing CEO and CFO, as the group looks to cut costs ahead of a potential sale.
CFO Mickey Kalifa left the business on 31 October 2017 and CEO Ian Penrose is set to leave at the end of the year, with Sportech announcing this morning neither role would be filled, saving more than £2m annually.
The decision was made with the firm currently seeking a sale. Sportech said an initial round of discussions is expected to conclude by the end of this year, with a timetable for seeking offers by the end of January 2018.
The firm also announced this morning a Q3 trading update, with revenues up 7.6% to £18.3m.
Its Bump 50:50 sports raffle product increased revenues by 41.5%, following further signings, while other Racing and Digital revenues increased by 8.1% versus Q3 2016.
Q3 Venues total revenue increased by 6.0% while Runnerz, the tote business in The Netherlands, “continues to deliver growth via its online and venues model and is well positioned after securing its exclusive licence earlier this year”.
Richard McGuire, non-executive chairman of Sportech, said: “The Group has continued to trade well in the first few weeks of the current quarter and the outcome for the full year remains in line with Board expectations.
“During the coming weeks, we expect to provide a further update on the proposed distribution to shareholders and, at the appropriate time, provide further comments relating to the ongoing Formal Sale Process. Our financial position remains robust, and will benefit further from annualised cost savings of at least £2m.”