Playtech Q4 Gross Income Up 23% On Strong William Hill Results

Gaming software provider and developer Playtech, have announced an increase in their Q4 gross income of 23% to €38.5m compared with €31.9m in Q3. The company also released  a full-year trading update for 2009, revealing an increase in revenue of 3% to €114.8m ($161.8m) over the 2008 figures.
Playtech’s results were greatly enhanced by a strong performance from William Hill Online (WHO) which posted €22.5m of gross income in Q4 giving Playtech a €8.1m share of the profits, up 94% from the previous quarter of €4.2m. This represented a major turn around from the WHO revenue share figures in Q3, which suffered from poor betting margins caused by a low number of football match draws, which is where much of the bookmaker’s betting profits are made.
In the period ending 31 December 2009, Playtech also saw its total revenue grow by 10% to €30.4m. This figure was helped in part by Q4 casino revenue, which was up 12% to €20.7m and an increase in Poker revenues of 3% to €8.4m.
Other factors contributing to the encouraging Q4 results included major deals signed with Betfair, Netplay, the Serbian lottery, and US lottery giant Scientific Games. 
Following the strong company figures in Q4, Playtech chief executive Mor Weizer said:  “The fourth quarter was a solid quarter with strong increases in all business areas. This strong performance has continued in the first three weeks of the year. The Board is very comfortable with market expectations for the year ended 31 December 2009 and looks forward to 2010 with confidence as another significant year of development.”