Acquisitions help Playtech to grow

5th May 2010 17:13

Online games developer Playtech reported further growth in the first quarter of 2010. Gross income was 29% ahead of one year earlier at €43.4m. The main growth is coming from casinos. Acquisitions have helped to boost growth. The share of profit from William Hill Online was €7.4m, a 49% increase on one year ago but lower than the fourth quarter of 2009. Management says that the momentum has continued into the second quarter. Daily average royalty revenues in April are slightly ahead of the figure in the first quarter. Net cash was €55m at the end of March 2010 but €22.7m of that will be paid out as the 2009 final dividend. There are differing views on the shares. Daniel Stewart is a buyer and has a target price of 625p a share. In contrast, Numis is a seller, with a target price of 375p a share, because it is sceptical about Playtech's ability to continue to grow revenues.