Sportech eyes growing profits in US

Sportech, which supplies pools and tote betting services, has hailed continuing growth in North America but higher costs have hit the bottom line in the first half.

Revenue for the six months to the end of June was £57.7m, against £57.4m in the same period of 2011 while adjusted pre-tax profits were steady at £7.4m exactly the same as last year.

Reported profits before tax were down from £3.7m to £3.2m, this was a result of "exceptional costs" related to restructuring and other one offs.

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The football pools division increased weekly spend per customer by 15% year on year while the racing division has had its tote contracts with California Racing extended until 2015.

The Chief Executive, Ian Penrose said: "[...] more than 30% of our profits now come from our North American business, and with the emerging regulatory environment and our unique strategic positioning we expect the region to become an increasingly important area for Sportech."

Sportech shares have risen 59% in the last 12 months but on Thursday morning they had fallen back 0.8% by 09:38.

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