Tipp24 AG: Tipp24 expands foreign business ? launch in UK
Nov 5, 2007 3:53 PM
Tipp24 AG / Quarter Results Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Record result in third quarter 2007 (Hamburg, 5 November 2007) Tipp24 is to enter the UK market as a supplier of European lotteries under the web address www.mylotto24.co.uk on 6 November 2007. With a unique business model, the company and its wholly-owned subsidiary MyLotto24 Ltd. will offer the possibility of placing bets on the outcome of European lotteries. MyLotto24 Ltd. will operate the business on the basis of a UK licence acquired by the company in October. For customers in the UK this means the chance of far greater winnings than the National Lottery offers. MyLotto24 offers customers in the UK unique variants of core products, such as the possibility of betting on the jackpot of the Italian SuperEnalotto and the European EuroMillones. Even bets on the German Glücksspirale are offered – a new product in the UK. It is not planned to enter the classic sports betting segment. After Germany, Spain and Italy, the new subsidiary means that Tipp24 is now represented in a further major European gaming market and is thus increasing its independence from the German market. A total of EUR 7.1 billion was spent on lotteries in the UK in 2005. 70 percent of all citizens gamble or bet on a regular basis. Tipp24 has also begun to set up an international data centre in London. Compared with the previous locations in Hamburg, the UK facility offers far better connections to the major international internet nodes. All Tipp24 Group websites are to be operated from here in the near future. 9-month report Despite the ongoing regulatory uncertainty on the German gaming market, Tipp24 AG continued its successful course once again in the third quarter of 2007. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, revenues improved by 17.0 percent to EUR 28.5 (24.3) million. Over the same period, billings – mainly remitted stakes – grew by 17.1 percent to EUR 218.2 (186.4) million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose by 2.4 percent to EUR 5.2 (5.1) million in the first nine months. In the third quarter of the current fiscal year Tipp24 posted a record EBIT result of EUR 2.9 million – well above expectations. 'Despite the ongoing discussions about the German State Treaty on Gaming, we succeeded in posting record earnings in the past quarter. Not even the additional costs incurred for the foundation of our new wholly-owned subsidiary MyLotto24 Ltd. in Great Britain could disturb this picture,' says Jens Schumann, founder and Executive Board member of Tipp24 AG. The number of registered customers increased by 409 thousand to 1,990 (1,581) thousand, compared with the same quarter last year. Of this total, 220 thousand registered customers were gained in the first nine months of 2007 (same period last year: 259 thousand). Outlook Tipp24 AG confirms its economic outlook for the fiscal year 2007: the company plans to gain a total of 300 thousand customers and stabilize its market share of the dynamic online lottery market. Tipp24 continues to expect growth of around 20 percent in billings and revenues and a slight year-on-year increase in EBIT. About Tipp24 AG: Tipp24 was established in 1999 and is now the market leader for lottery products in the Internet on the basis of billings. The company has succeeded in achieving impressive growth rates right from the start. Almost all state lottery products are supplied. It only takes a few mouse clicks to buy a lottery ticket – round the clock, quickly and reliably. The ticket receipt is kept safely, winners are notified about their prizes automatically by text message and e-mail and prizes are credited automatically. Subsidiaries of Tipp24 (www.tipp24.de) are Ventura24 in Spain (www.ventura24.es), Puntogioco24 (www.puntogioco24.it) in Italy and MyLotto24 (www.mylotto24.co.uk) in the UK. Press contact: Tipp24 AG Andrea Fratini Head of Media and Public Relations Tel.: +49 40 32 55 33-660 Fax: +49 40 32 55 33-5600 E-mail: presse@tipp24.de Internet: www.tipp24.de/presse/ 05.11.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: Tipp24 AG Straßenbahnring 11-13 20251 Hamburg Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)40 325533-0 Fax: +49 (0)40 325533-77 E-mail: office@tipp24.de Internet: www.tipp24-ag.de ISIN: DE0007847147 WKN: 784714 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------