Saturday, September 13, 2008

Playtech throws dice into the television market, by Alistair Osborne - The Telegraph - 3rd September 2008

Playtech, the designer and licensor of software for the gambling industry, unveiled plans to branch into the television market as it posted a strong rise in half-year profits.

The company, whose clients include Paddy Power, Betfred and PartyGaming, said it would use its $1.75m (£987,000) purchase of the assets of MIXTV to launch roulette games on the Sky and Virgin channels.

"It extends our distribution channel, gives us access to additional licensees and allows us to cross-sell to our existing licensees," said Mor Weizer, chief executive. Playtech currently has 60 casino and poker licensees.

Mr Weizer held out the prospect of a vastly bigger acquisition as he was quizzed by analysts over how the group intended to spend the $222m raised in June in a placing at 520p a share.

Playtech said it was undertaking due diligence on an un-named marketing company, with which it already works. Mr Weizer said any deal would be "significant" and "earnings accretive".

Total revenues jumped 85pc to $81.4m, with casino income up 78pc to $58m and poker rising 109pc to $22m. Pre-tax profits increased from $26.1m to $37.9m.

Mr Weizer said part of Playtech's growth would come from quickly establishing a position in newly regulated markets, such as Italy, where the group has struck licensing deals with the two biggest gambling companies - SNAI and SISAL.

Playtech is closely following regulatory developments in other countries, including Spain, France, Poland and South Africa.

The dividend jumped from 6.1 cents to 12 cents. The shares rose 6½ to 541½p.

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