Wednesday preview: Betfair, BATs, Carpetright

26th Oct 2010 15:25

Official trading in online betting exchange Betfair gets underway tomorrow, though conditional dealings in the stock have been taking place Friday, 22 October.The company set its flotation price at 1,300p, the middle of the indicated range in its prospectus, but heavy institutional demand has seen that price advance to about 1535p.The flotation price of 1300p valued the group in total at £1.39bn, though only around 15.2% of the total shares in issue have been made available to the public, a lower percentage than normally allowed by the London Stock Exchange, though in this case the rules were waived because the company already has a diverse shareholder base. This includes founders Andrew Black and Ed Wray, who are selling 1.265m and 1.1m respectively. Major investor Softbank sold 5.17m shares. Betfair, which allows gamblers to bet on horse-racing, football and other sports and to play online casino and card games, was founded in 1999 and has seen huge growth in its 11-year history. It acts as a marketplace where gamblers bet against each other and is the world's largest online sports betting provider, with operations in the UK, Malta, Italy, the US and Australia. "We believe we have many opportunities to grow our leading position in the online sports betting and gaming market and we are extremely pleased that new investors share our enthusiasm for the future of the business," chief executive David Yu said. Appropriately enough for a company that has just been listed on the stock exchange, the company announced this week the launch of its own share trading service, LMAX. At the moment subscribers can only punt on contracts for difference on US and European share indices, commodities and UK gilts, though the range of securities is likely to be extended as time goes by.US investment bank Goldman Sachs is a 12.5% stakeholder in LMAX, with Betfair owning 73.5%, while the rest is owned by management.Cigarette maker British American Tobacco - or BATs, as it has been called for years - releases third quarter figures. Sales are likely to have been boosted by Japanese smokers stocking up on fags ahead of a chunky increase in excise duty. BATs has more than 10% share of the Japanese cigarette market. Recent news from the housing market has not been looking good for floor coverings retailer Carpetright, which releases a trading statement on Wednesday. Like for like sales in the UK and Ireland dropped 3.4% in the 13 weeks ended 31 July compared with a 1.4% increase the same time last year, and it is doubtful whether things have improved much since then. The company is expected to continue to focus on "self-help initiatives" - stock market jargon for cost cuts - and may also give an update on its planned expansion into selling beds.INTERIMS First Derivatives INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Capital & Counties Properties , Quarto Group Inc. INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Aberforth Geared Income Trust, Albany Inv Trust, Blackstar Group, Booker Group, Corin Group, Hansteen Holdings, Harvey Nash Group, Hunting, John Menzies, Marshalls, ProVen Health VCT, Rolls-Royce Group, Senior, Tandem Group, Tullett Prebon, Whitbread, William Hill QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Bankers Inv Trust, Equity Partnership Inv Co Income Shares, GlaxoSmithKline, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income & Growth Units, M&G High Income Inv Trust Income Shares INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Small Business Confidence (JPN)Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00) Consumer Spending (FRA) (07:45)M3 Money Supply (EU) (09:00) Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00) Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (EU) (10:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30) Factory Orders (US) (15:00) New Homes Sales (US) (15:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) Q3 Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company SA, CSR, Electrolux AB, Norsk Hydro ASA, Telekomunikacja Polska GDR (Reg S), Virgin Media Inc. IMSS British American Tobacco EGMS Hardy Oil & Gas AGMS Aberdeen Development Capital, Aberdeen Development Capital 2010 ZDP Shares, Aberdeen Development Capital 2012 ZDP Shares, Eclectic Investment Company TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS Carpetright FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Haynes Publishing Group FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, City of London Investment Group, Edge Performance VCT 'C' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'D' Shares, Edge Performance VCT 'E' Shares, IndigoVision Group, Mcbride, Plexus Holdings, Ricardo, Savile Group, Stagecoach Theatre Arts, Thorntons