Sportech CEO Lindley to step down

Sportech did not confirm when Lindley would step down from the role but did state that he would continue to support the group in concluding certain current initiatives in the coming months.

Lindley, who only became CEO in September of last year, will also no longer stand for re-election as a director at Sportech’s AGM today (31 May).

“The board would like to thank Andrew for his professionalism and services to the company during his tenure as the CEO,” Sportech said.

Meanwhile, Sportech announced Richard McGuire, its current non-executive chairman, has been appointed as executive chairman with immediate effect. 

The changes follow a number of other departures from the Sportech board in recent months. Ben Warn stepped down as a non-executive director last week, while Giles Vardey left his role as independent non-executive chairman in April.

Also ahead of the AGM, Sportech provided an update for its performance in the first five months of the 2022 financial year, during which it said trading was in line with the board’s expectations. 

Sportech said sports betting continues to experience a high rate of growth and should result in betting handle for the group’s Connecticut venues operations come close to that of pari-mutuel for the full year. 

However, Sportech also noted that pari-mutuel wagering and food and beverage trade continue to feel the effects of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with trade below the 2019 full-year highs.  

In terms of online performance, record online growth in pari-mutuel betting experienced during the pandemic receded slightly as the effects of new forms of online gambling in Connecticut impacted the discretionary gambling dollar available to historic Sportech products. 

However, Sportech said the introduction of sports betting has been very positive, and its board is confident the group will achieve the projected overall improvement in its venues business to support a positive group EBITDA for the full financial year. 

In related news, Sportech said that as previously announced on 27 April, a payment of 7p per share has been made today to all registered shareholders on its register on 6 May 2022. The aggregate payment by the group was £7.0m (€8.2m/$8.8m)

Sportech plans to publish its interim results for the six months to 30 June on 1 September.