Halfway through last year, Playtech (PTEC) upgraded its earnings guidance. True to its word, the gambling software company smashed targets to report a 30 per cent increase in adjusted cash profits to €207m (£150.50m).
New business was a key growth driver, but the existing operations performed strongly too: like-for-like sales rose 13 per cent. Casino was once again the biggest engine of growth, with sales up 29 per cent to €244m, helped by a huge jump in mobile and new licensees, including Ladbrokes (LAD). The Sport division made good progress, too, rolling out its omni-channel offering and benefited from a major acquisition. Sales there rose 54 per cent. Ignore the slump in reported pre-tax profit: the figures are skewed by last year's windfall from the sale of William Hill Online.
Last year's biggest milestone was the roll-out of a single log-in, omni-channel solution for Coral betting shops. Playtech's boardroom sage, chief executive Mor Weizer, said this had "not gone unnoticed" and would soon become the industry standard.
So far this year, revenues are running 22 per cent ahead of the 2014 numbers. Nevertheless, Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram has left his full-year forecasts unchanged, citing the impact of the Point of Consumption tax. He expects pre-tax profit of €182m, giving EPS of 60¢ - down from €194m and 65¢.
| PLAYTECH (PTEC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 773p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.3bn | |
| TOUCH: | 773-774p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 818p | LOW: 570p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 297¢* | NET CASH: | €445m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 142 | 67 | 27 | 19 |
| 2011 | 207 | 79 | 32 | 16.5 |
| 2012 | 318 | 89 | 30 | 23.2 |
| 2013 | 367 | 491 | 167 | 23.2 |
| 2014 | 457 | 144 | 48 | 26.4 |
| % change | +24 | -71 | -71 | +14 |
Ex-div: 6 May Payment: 5 Jun £1=€1.37 *Includes intangible assets of €381m, or 130¢ a share | ||||
