NEWS / THE BRIEFING /
NEWS DIGEST
THE MONTH'S TOP STORIES INCLUDING LADBROKES
EXPANDING ITS AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS AND A BWIN.PARTY
INVESTOR MAKING WAVES
vHEADLINE GRABBERS
It’s hard to keep Ladbrokes out
of the news pages these days
and the last few weeks have been
no exception, with fresh takeover
rumours doing the rounds.
Reports suggested that JP
McManus, John Magnier, Michael
Tabor, Derrick Smith and Dermot
Desmond – otherwise referred
to as the ‘Coolmore set’ owing
to their horseracing stable of the
same name – were weighing up
whether to make a bid for the
much-maligned bookie.
The group has substantial links
to the operator. Desmond owns a
large stake in the firm having sold
his exchange betting company
Betdaq to the firm last year, Smith
is a former trading director at the
company, while McManus also
owns Ladbrokes’ shares.
The speculation came as
Ladbrokes was putting the
finishing touches to a £12.4m
deal for Australian operator
Eskander’s Betstar – Ladbrokes’
second Australian purchase
in recent months following
the £13m addition of Gaming
Investments in September.
vPARTY POOPER
New bwin.party investor Jason
Ader is a man on a mission.
According to the operator’s
second largest shareholder, the
firm should consider a split of the
business and make some changes
to its executive board following
recent underperformance.
Ader, who acquired a 6.1%
shareholding in the firm in
February, told eGR that CEO
Norbert Teufelberger needed to
“surround himself with a better
management team”.
14
Ader’s comments came as
the operator was preparing to
announce Q1 2014 results, which
revealed revenues had fallen by
6% year-on-year to €165.7m as
it continues to persist with its
‘volume to value’ strategy.
vSHADES OF GREY
The UK Gambling Commission
caused something of a stir when
it recently revealed that it will
be running a fine-tooth comb
through the books of operators
with material non-UK revenues.
According to the regulator, it
will only award operating licences
to those able to display a level of
probity where they derive more
than 3% of total revenues from
any one country. Exactly how
this will work in practice remains
to be seen but eGR understands
this rule will be applied to all
UK-facing operators whether
they hold a current Gambling
Commission licence or not.
vUNDER REVIEW
However, the licensing process
could yet be put on hold after
eGR learned that the Gibraltar
Betting and Gaming Association
(GBGA) looks set to make good
on its threat to put UK regulatory
regime under a judicial review.
More than 20 members of the
GBGA have had a whip round
to cover the costs of a legal
challenge with UK-based law firm
Olswang thought to have headed
off competition to win the work.
The GBGA is unable to
open legal proceedings until
the legislative instrument, the
Gambling Bill, is passed into law
via Royal Assent in May.
E CITY
IN TH
BWIN.PARTY (BPTY.L)
2014 X HIGH 129.5 x LOW 110.2
Despite the release of bwin.party’s Q1
2014 results revealing a further 6% fall
in revenues, the operator’s share price
remained relatively unaffected. Opening
on the day at 125p, shares closed at
123.7p.
GVC HOLDINGS (GVC.L)
2014 X HIGH 412 x LOW 352
After closing at 380.4p on the eve of its
2013 full-year results, GVC’s share price
rocketed to a high of 412p after posting
EBITDA above analysts’ expectations
at €38.3m. The group also said Q1 2014
revenues were up 6% sequentially.
888 HOLDINGS (888.L)
2014 X HIGH 172.5 x LOW 135
888’s price has fluctuated somewhat
since the announcement of its Q1 2014
results. Despite reporting all verticals to
be up year-on-year, its price dipped from
155p on open to 152p at close. The price
was 147.8 at the time of writing.
LADBROKES (LAD.L)
2014 X HIGH 179.7 x LOW 130.7
Ladbrokes’ share price took a hit last
month after it was revealed the tax on
FOBT machines was being raised to 25%.
Having stood at around 160.1p prior to
the announcement, the bookmaker’s
share price slid 16% to as low as 133.5p.
32RED (TTR.L)
2014 X HIGH 88.25 x LOW 54
On 26 March 32Red issued a trading
update in an attempt to stabilise a share
price that had fallen by nearly a third
from 83p to 56p since the release of its
annual results earlier that month. Its price
was 52.5 at the time of writing.
W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M