Sportech waits on Supreme Court ruling on £97m VAT decision
BETTING specialist Sportech is still waiting on the outcome of its claim for repayment of £97m it laid in VAT.
The company won a unanimous judgement in its favour before three judges at the Court of Appeal in May, and is yet to hear whether the Supreme Court will hear HMRC’s subsequent appeal.
In its trading update for the period from August 24 to November 9 the company reiterated the termination of discussions with Burlywood Capital for the £97.25m sale of The Football Pools.
“Burlywood were unable to complete the financing to conclude the terms of their proposals,” said Sportech.
The group said it has continued to make good operational progress and financial performance is in line with expectations.
“The group has a few equity and property assets that are non-earning, and we are progressing with our plans to realise value from these positions,” it said.
“The Football Pools continues to trade in line with management expectations, and is demonstrating the move to stability that we have been striving for in 2016.
“Core revenues remain broadly in line with prior year, driven by an increase in spend per head, whilst both revenues and player numbers continue to grow in the digital channel.”
The group has net cash of £37m at October 31, an increase of £0.8m since June 30. Excluding the cash received from HMRC in respect of the VAT decision and customer cash balances, the group has net debt of £60.0m at October 31.
The company has started the building of the flagship 20,000sq ft betting venue, sports bar and restaurant in Stamford in the US.
Construction is expected to be completed within budget and the venue is scheduled to open in April 2017. The venue, the only one in the city, is adjacent to the New York border and will be a valuable addition to its exclusive, in-perpetuity licence to operate all retail and digital wagering operations in the state of Connecticut.
