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ANNUAL REPORT 2006
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit after tax for the year of £14.1m
(2005: loss of £5.8m).
- Profit after tax from continuing operations
increased to £7.6m (2005: loss of £1.7m).
- Net debt at year end reduced by £18.2m (17%)
to £89.9m (2005: £108.1m).
- Appointment of new Finance Director
and strengthening of management team.
- Business focused and cash generative with
principal operations profitable and growth
orientated and loss making
operations eliminated:
– Loss making Bet Direct sold for £12.5m in
cash, generating a £10.6m profit on disposal
before tax.
– Termination of ITV contract.
- Total earnings per share of 2.38p (2005: loss per
share of 0.97p). Continuing earnings per share
of 1.28p (2005: loss per share of 0.29p).
- Strategic technology and distribution
partnership announced with Scientific Games.
- e-Gaming technology supply partnership
with Orbis.
- New brand for the football gaming business
to be launched in late 2007.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2005
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit after tax including gains from exceptional items of £11.5m (2005:£1.9m).
- Profit after tax from continuing operations increased by 25 per cent to £5m (2005: £4m) .
- Net debt at end June 2006 reduced by 18.4 per cent to £92.3m (June 2005:£113.1m).
- Strategic review continues
–Loss making Bet Direct sold for £12.5m in cash.
–Termination of ITV contract and closure of division .
- Business strategy refocused on core business of football-related gaming products plus bingo and online casino and poker.
- Littlewoods brand overhaul initiated – new brand to be launched prior to August 2007.
- Earnings per share of 1.95p (2005: 0.34p); earnings per share from continuing operations 0.86p (2005: 0.68p).
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ANNUAL REPORT 2004
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Turnover increased by 50% to a record £497.0m (2003 restated: £330.4m), due
to significant growth in Betting products, particularly on-line casino and poker.
- Operating profit before goodwill and exceptional restructuring costs was £16.7m
(2003: £19.9m); after adjusting for the £3.2m one-off cost of a Football Pools
marketing campaign, profit at this level was £19.9m, in line with last year.
Operating profit was £6.3m (2003: £9.5m).
- Profit before tax, goodwill and exceptionals was £9.6m (2003: £13.3m). Loss before
tax was £0.8m (2003: £3.5m profit).
- Net debt reduced by £1.9m to £112.8m.
- Earnings per share before amortisation of goodwill of 1.00p (2003: 1.49p). Basic EPS
was a loss of 0.56p (2003: loss of 0.04p).
- Major business review completed in March 2005, which has refocused Group strategy
and identified annualised employment cost savings of £2.4m, following one-off
redundancy costs in 2005 of approximately £1.4m.
- Group’s growth strategy clearly focused on new media betting and gaming including
the exclusive interactive gaming deal with ITV:
– Important strategic position established in the new media betting and
gaming market, delivering growth and continuous product development.
– ITV and Sportech fully committed to further developing a joint vision for
the future with current work focusing on several exciting opportunities
including a night-time poker and soft casino games offer.
- Resilient Football Pools business continuing to deliver significant free cash flow.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2003
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Turnover increased by 6.5% to a record<
£207.9m (2002: £195.3m).
- Profit before tax, goodwill amortisation
and non-operating exceptionals unchanged
at £12.0m; profit before tax £3.5m
(2002: £4.6m).
- Operating profit before goodwill amortisation
at £18.6m (2002: £20.2m) impacted by costs
associated with the development of the Group
and lower horse racing betting margins.
Operating profit £9.5m (2002: £11.4m).
- Operating cash flow increased to £18.6m
(2002: £18.1m).
- Net debt reduced by £6.6m to £114.7m.
- Strong cash flow from Football Pools, supporting
increased investment in content delivery and new
distribution channels, particularly television.
- Continued progress in development of gaming
partnership with ITV:
– delivery of customer account registration
technology and initial games on the ITVi
service in late 2003;
– exclusive contract with ITV commenced
in March 2004; and
– expansion of gaming and betting services
underway, with joint consumer launch
targeted for Summer 2004.
- Earnings per share (EPS) before amortisation
of goodwill of 1.49p (2002: 1.97p). Basic EPS
was a loss of 0.04p (2002: profit of 0.49p).
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ANNUAL REPORT 2002
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit before tax, amortisation of goodwill and exceptionals
increased 69% to £14.0m (2001: £8.3m).
- Profit before tax was £4.6m (2001: loss of £0.6m).
- Turnover increased by 7% to £195.3m (2001: £183.3m).
- Earnings per share, before amortisation of goodwill, increased
to 1.97 pence (2001: 1.05 pence). Basic EPS was 0.49 pence
(2001: loss of 0.45 pence).
- Operating cashflow increased to £18.1m (2001: £15.7m).
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ANNUAL REPORT 2001
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- The football pools business performed strongly with operating profits at £23.2m. There was
further stabilisation of the main pools competition that saw average revenues down by 17% compared to
the prior year, a lower rate of decline than experienced in previous years.
The business continues to evolve
and now more than 68% of entries are gathered by direct methods such as telephone and electronic hand
held terminals. Revenues from these direct methods were down just 10.5% compared to the previous year.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2000
- Turnover over the 15 month period under review of £63.0m was comprised entirely of Littlewoods Leisure turnover for the 16 week period post acquisition.
- The operating profit of £25.0m shown under continuing operations reflects the £27.8m settlement from Seagate, less administrative and legal costs. Profit before taxation is further enhanced by the £3.9m discount on redemption of outstanding loan stock.
- Basic EPS increased to 4.79 pence from a loss of 0.29 pence in 1999.
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INTERIM REPORT 2007
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2007 of £5.2m (2006: £6.1m) is in line with the Board's expectations and reflects the implementation of the Company's turnaround strategy.
- Net debt at end of June 2007 reduced to £87.0m (December 2006: £89.9m): the second half will be impacted by recent rises in interest rate costs.
- Significant progress made on the three major foundations for recovery: products, technology and distribution.
- Enhanced and new products launched - Premier 10, Fantasy Football, predictor games and fixed odds games. Relaunch of Spot the Ball on target for 2008.
- Significant progress made upgrading back-end technology systems following technology and distribution partnership with Scientific Games and e-Gaming technology supply partnership with Orbis.
- Earnings per share from continuing operations of 0.61p (2006: 0.86p).
- Appointment of Jon Holmes as non-executive director; strengthened management team with appointment of Christian Heap, Head of International Development.
- Preliminary clearance received from the Competition Commission for the acquisition of Vernons.
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INTERIM REPORT 2006
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit after tax including gains from exceptional items of £11.5m (2005:£1.9m).
- Profit after tax from continuing operations increased by 25 per cent to £5m (2005: £4m).
- Net debt at end June 2006 reduced by 18.4 per cent to £92.3m (June 2005:£113.1m).
- Strategic review continues
–Loss making Bet Direct sold for £12.5m in cash.
–Termination of ITV contract and closure of division.
- Business strategy refocused on core business of football-related gaming products plus bingo and online casino and poker .
- Littlewoods brand overhaul initiated – new brand to be launched prior to August 2007.
- Earnings per share of 1.95p (2005: 0.34p); earnings per share from continuing operations 0.86p (2005: 0.68p).
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INTERIM REPORT 2005
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Turnover of £254.3m in line with last year (2004: £254.5m) with 3% revenue growth in the Betting business offset by the 15% Football Pools revenue decline.
- Operating profit, pre-restructuring costs, 3% lower at £9.1m (2004: £9.4m). Operating profit of £6.6m (2004: £9.1m).
- Profit before tax and restructuring costs of £5.2m (2004: £6.0m). Profit before tax £2.7m (2004: £5.7m).
- Executive team significantly strengthened with appointment of Ian Penrose as Chief Executive.
- Business strategy focused on two core profit generating Divisions: Betting and Football Pools.
- Cost base significantly reduced across Divisions, delivering annualised employment cost savings of £2.7m.
- Good progress in development and integration of Betting products:
–Launch of betdirectcasino.com and betdirectpoker.com.
–Introduction of mobile sports book.
–Further strengthening of content on ITV.
–Littlewoodspoker.com successfully linked to first mainstream television poker programme (ITV Celebrity Poker).
- Commercial negotiations with ITV are underway, aimed at improving the ITVi service and establishing a mutually beneficial financial framework.
- Earnings per share of 0.34p (2004: 0.67p).
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INTERIM REPORT 2004
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Turnover of £254.5m (2003: £157.8m) reflecting significant growth in Internet casino products. Casino stakes are now accounted for on a gross cash basis to ensure consistency with the rest of our Betting business, and comparatives have been restated accordingly.
- Operating profit* increased by 3% to £9.2m (2003: £8.9m).
- Profit before tax* increased by 7% to £5.9m (2003: £5.5m).
- Resilient Football Pools performance, generating operating profit* of £12.9m (2003: £13.0m).
- Improved Betting business performance, with overall operating loss* of £1.0m (2003: loss of £1.6m), reflecting strong growth in gross gaming win (up 74%) across sports betting and casino products.
- Major relaunch of Football Pools with £4.0m advertising campaign to coincide with start of football season.
- Raft of interactive gaming launched on ITV, major new games including ‘X Factor’ and major ITV launch planned for October 2004.
- Earnings per share* of 0.71p (2003: 0.67p).
- Net debt at £114.8m reduced by £4.2m (2003: £119.0m).
*before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items.
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INTERIM REPORT 2003
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Profit before tax* up 30% to £6.1m (2002: £4.7m).
- Turnover up 10% to £106.3m (2002: £96.7m) with a 34% increase in Betting turnover.
- Soft Gaming operating profit* up 9% to £10.7m (2002: £9.8m) after increased revenue expenditure of £2.4m (2002: £1.1m) on Interactive and Retail Developments to drive future growth.
- Betting operating loss* of £1.8m (2002: £1.0m) due to poor horse racing results, as experienced by the industry generally, and increased marketing.
- Earnings per share* up 16% at 0.73p (2002: 0.63p).
- Net debt reduced by £6.3m to £119.0m (2002: £125.3m).
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INTERIM REPORT 2002
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Turnover up 6% to £96.7m (2001: £91.3m).
- Profit before tax, amortisation of goodwill and restructuring costs increased 44% to £5.6m (2001: £3.9m).
- Earnings per share before amortisation of goodwill 46% ahead at 0.63p (2001: 0.43p).
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INTERIM REPORT 2001
These are the first interim results since the acquisition of Littlewoods Gaming (formerly Littlewoods Leisure) and therefore prior year results are not directly comparable.
- Group turnover £91.3m.
- Operating profit after amortisation of goodwill and net interest payable £8.6m.
- Earnings per share before amortisation of goodwill at 0.46p.
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