Sportech set to surpass full-year earnings expectations

Betting technology provider Sportech believes it is on track to surpass its forecasted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the current financial year, while group revenue looks set to be in line with expectations.

In a trading update, Sportech said it continued to drive operational efficiencies through all business lines, which in turn means that adjusted EBITDA, without sports betting investments, will be better than expected for the 12 months to 31 December 2019.

Sportech said positive decisions have been taken to restructure the group, exit certain non-profitable activities and streamline costs. While this will lead to increased costs related to exceptional items for the current year, it would also deliver long-term returns, the business added.

Meanwhile, Sportech noted that it has reduced its focus on capital expenditure projects, with this set to significantly cut costs in this area for 2019.

In terms of divisional performance, Sportech said its focus on challenging every aspect of the business to deliver a more appropriate operational cost base helped offset the high fixed costs of the Venues business.

Sportech’s other business units including Racing and Digital, Bump 50:50 and Lottery are expected to demonstrate net contribution growth in the full year.

Richard McGuire, who was appointed chief executive of Sportech in July of this year, said: “Sportech now has a management team in place to transform the business to drive growth and efficiencies. We have extricated the group from a number of historically expensive strategies, delivered an efficient and lower operational cost base, and we are now much more confident in the group's ability to deliver significant value to our clients and shareholders.”

Sportech will publish its full-year results for the 12-month period on 19 March 2020.