- Joined
- Jun 30, 1998
- Location
- Bierland
AIM / ASX Media Announcement
Friday 17 March 2006
BETCORP FAST TRACKS TO AIM
Betcorp Limited (“Betcorp” or “the Group”) is pleased to announce that its Ordinary Shares are to be admitted to trading today on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) under the ticker symbol “BCL”. The Ordinary Shares of the Group are currently listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (“ASX”) in Australian Dollars under the symbol “BCL”.
Betcorp is a broadly based online gaming group offering customers worldwide a
comprehensive range of betting and gaming products including sports betting, casino games, poker and skill games. Customers can move seamlessly between Betcorp’s gaming products using recently introduced shared-purse technology. The Group’s betting, IT and marketing operations are based in Antigua, West Indies and Toronto, Canada. Betcorp is incorporated in Australia and holds a gaming license in Antigua and a bookmaker’s license in the UK.
Sports betting is offered to customers around the world via a number of websites, including BetWWTS.com, CyberSportsBook.com, BetBet.com and WagerOnSports.com. Customers are offered competitive prices on fixtures from a wide range of sports including basketball, American football, horse racing and soccer.
Betcorp customers are also offered a wide variety of casino games with a traditional Vegas style ‘Betcasino’ brand supplemented by the ‘Thunderbolt’ brand, emphasising speed of play. Casino players share a similar customer profile to sportsbook customers and a third casino, Lucky Lady, is due to be launched soon, to appeal to this mainly male client base.
Poker is the Group’s fastest growing online game. Launched in September 2004, Betcorp’s brand Betholdem.com has grown to be one of the top five members of Microgaming’s Prima Poker network. Cross-selling represents an additional major opportunity in this area as there is a high propensity for poker players to cross over to other products – in 2005, 48% of the Group’s poker customers also placed a bet in the sportsbook.
Betcorp has also introduced to all of its sports websites a suite of skill games developed by UK operator GameAccount, specifically targeting the recreational sports bettor. These include backgammon and gin rummy which have already proved an effective marketing tool, particularly in North America where they are subject to fewer advertising restrictions than sports, casino or poker.
Betcorp’s strategy is to build on its expertise and established presence as a “one-stop shop” for customers to participate in a wide range of online gaming activities. Shared purse technology will enable revenues to be increased through cross-selling, further reinforcing the attractions of the multi-product model. While sports betting is currently the Group’s largest business, increases in casino and poker revenues mean that management’s current expectation is that sports betting will account for approximately half of the Group’s total gross revenue in 2006 (2005: 64%). This will increase the predictability and the quality of Betcorp’s earnings.
Betcorp has a highly scaleable business and, in addition to pursuing organic growth, the Board is actively looking for earnings accretive acquisitions.
The Group currently reports financial results in US dollars, as the majority of its revenues are derived in this currency. For calendar year 2005, the Group achieved gross revenues of US$29.4m on betting turnover of US$825.0m and a profit after depreciation, interest and taxation of US$4.3m. At the close of trading in the ordinary shares on the ASX on Friday 17 March, Betcorp had a market capitalisation of £49.1m.
KBC Peel Hunt is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Group.
Commenting on the announcement, David Hudd, Chairman of Betcorp said:
“We believe that Betcorp is undervalued on ASX relative to other companies in the online gaming sector which are currently listed on AIM. Moreover, the London market has an unrivalled understanding of online gaming businesses and we expect it to be at the forefront of corporate activity as the industry evolves. We have an ambitious, proven management team in place that is determined to play a leading role in industry consolidation and we look forward to benefiting from the advantages that an AIM listing will bring us.”
For further information please contact:
Colin Walker
Chief Executive Officer
Betcorp Limited
colinw@betcorp.com.au
Tel: + 44 20 7457 2020
Tom Baldock
College Hill Associates, London
tom.baldock@collegehill.com
Tel: + 44 20 7457 2020
Matt Goode
KBC Peel Hunt
matt.goode@kbcpeelhunt.com
Tel: + 44 20 7418 8900 Martin Cole
CPR Communications, Sydney
m.cole@cprcomm.au
Tel : + 61 2 9252 6644
Friday 17 March 2006
BETCORP FAST TRACKS TO AIM
Betcorp Limited (“Betcorp” or “the Group”) is pleased to announce that its Ordinary Shares are to be admitted to trading today on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) under the ticker symbol “BCL”. The Ordinary Shares of the Group are currently listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (“ASX”) in Australian Dollars under the symbol “BCL”.
Betcorp is a broadly based online gaming group offering customers worldwide a
comprehensive range of betting and gaming products including sports betting, casino games, poker and skill games. Customers can move seamlessly between Betcorp’s gaming products using recently introduced shared-purse technology. The Group’s betting, IT and marketing operations are based in Antigua, West Indies and Toronto, Canada. Betcorp is incorporated in Australia and holds a gaming license in Antigua and a bookmaker’s license in the UK.
Sports betting is offered to customers around the world via a number of websites, including BetWWTS.com, CyberSportsBook.com, BetBet.com and WagerOnSports.com. Customers are offered competitive prices on fixtures from a wide range of sports including basketball, American football, horse racing and soccer.
Betcorp customers are also offered a wide variety of casino games with a traditional Vegas style ‘Betcasino’ brand supplemented by the ‘Thunderbolt’ brand, emphasising speed of play. Casino players share a similar customer profile to sportsbook customers and a third casino, Lucky Lady, is due to be launched soon, to appeal to this mainly male client base.
Poker is the Group’s fastest growing online game. Launched in September 2004, Betcorp’s brand Betholdem.com has grown to be one of the top five members of Microgaming’s Prima Poker network. Cross-selling represents an additional major opportunity in this area as there is a high propensity for poker players to cross over to other products – in 2005, 48% of the Group’s poker customers also placed a bet in the sportsbook.
Betcorp has also introduced to all of its sports websites a suite of skill games developed by UK operator GameAccount, specifically targeting the recreational sports bettor. These include backgammon and gin rummy which have already proved an effective marketing tool, particularly in North America where they are subject to fewer advertising restrictions than sports, casino or poker.
Betcorp’s strategy is to build on its expertise and established presence as a “one-stop shop” for customers to participate in a wide range of online gaming activities. Shared purse technology will enable revenues to be increased through cross-selling, further reinforcing the attractions of the multi-product model. While sports betting is currently the Group’s largest business, increases in casino and poker revenues mean that management’s current expectation is that sports betting will account for approximately half of the Group’s total gross revenue in 2006 (2005: 64%). This will increase the predictability and the quality of Betcorp’s earnings.
Betcorp has a highly scaleable business and, in addition to pursuing organic growth, the Board is actively looking for earnings accretive acquisitions.
The Group currently reports financial results in US dollars, as the majority of its revenues are derived in this currency. For calendar year 2005, the Group achieved gross revenues of US$29.4m on betting turnover of US$825.0m and a profit after depreciation, interest and taxation of US$4.3m. At the close of trading in the ordinary shares on the ASX on Friday 17 March, Betcorp had a market capitalisation of £49.1m.
KBC Peel Hunt is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Group.
Commenting on the announcement, David Hudd, Chairman of Betcorp said:
“We believe that Betcorp is undervalued on ASX relative to other companies in the online gaming sector which are currently listed on AIM. Moreover, the London market has an unrivalled understanding of online gaming businesses and we expect it to be at the forefront of corporate activity as the industry evolves. We have an ambitious, proven management team in place that is determined to play a leading role in industry consolidation and we look forward to benefiting from the advantages that an AIM listing will bring us.”
For further information please contact:
Colin Walker
Chief Executive Officer
Betcorp Limited
colinw@betcorp.com.au
Tel: + 44 20 7457 2020
Tom Baldock
College Hill Associates, London
tom.baldock@collegehill.com
Tel: + 44 20 7457 2020
Matt Goode
KBC Peel Hunt
matt.goode@kbcpeelhunt.com
Tel: + 44 20 7418 8900 Martin Cole
CPR Communications, Sydney
m.cole@cprcomm.au
Tel : + 61 2 9252 6644
