Final Results

betinternet.com PLC 5 November 2001 PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR 12 MONTHS TO 31st MAY 2001 CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT It gives me pleasure to report on betinternet.com's preliminary results for the year ended 31 May 2001. Euro Off-Track The year to 31 May 2001 has been one of great advances for your company, the most significant of which has been the establishment of Euro Off-Track, our 50 /50 partnership with The Greyhound Channel Inc. of America. Under this joint venture, which is based at our premises in the Isle of Man, we have established a Totalisator wagering hub which allows both betinternet.com clients and B2B partners to participate in global totalisator pools. The hub, which is the largest pari-mutuel 'Super Hub' in the world, is a state of the art Amtote Spectrum Totalisator System, approved and regulated by the Isle of Man Government. It can support multi-community, multi currency transactions and process nearly 29 million such transactions per hour. Euro Off-Track has recently been appointed by The Racing Network International (TRNi) as one of its strategic European totalisator transmission hubs. As TRNi's hub, Euro Off-Track will transmit wagering data directly into the totalisator systems at the Thoroughbred tracks licenced by TRNi. Commencement of the service began on 26 October this year with advance wagering on the Breeder's Cup at Belmont in New York, the richest horse-racing event in the world. Euro Off-Track has also been appointed as the exclusive International hub for the American Greyhound Broadcast Association which includes premiere US greyhound tracks such as Derby Lane, Hollywood, Flagler, Jacksonville and Palm Beach as well as the exclusive off-track hub for the Irish Greyhound Board tracks, Shelbourne Park and Harolds Cross in Dublin. Besides offering wagering direct through our own individual customer accounts Euro Off-Track also enables us to provide other bookmakers and licencees with a gateway to the US and Irish totalisator pools, enabling them to participate direct into host tracks whilst maintaining their own customer confidentiality and consequently providing betinternet.com with a risk free revenue stream. The Euro Off-Track system is not restricted to greyhound and horse race totalisators. Pari-mutuel wagering offers the gambler the opportunity of lottery style bets with enormous jackpots and testing is underway to deliver a full suite of totalisator based sports wagers, including a pool based on the Soccer World Cup 2002. We believe that the future of sports wagering in a global environment is through multi-sport pari-mutuel wagering, as it enables gamblers on a global basis to access events and pools which they would otherwise not be able to do and is one of the few forms of gambling which guarantees a profit to the operator. Fixed Odds Betting Turning to our traditional fixed odds betting activities, we are continuing to target sports content channels on the Internet and gambling communities, with a focus on Far Eastern football orientated content provider sites. Betting on soccer now represents over 70 per cent of the company's business with around 130 countries screening English Premiership football live to their audiences. The company's fastest growing area in terms of its client base is the Far East. Although the profitability of the betting industry generally was adversely affected by the results of the Euro 2000 Soccer Tournament in which, totally against expectations and precedent, the four favourite countries all reached the semi-final stage, the tournament was an important factor in increasing the exposure of the betinternet.com brand in the global market and the Directors believe that our brand and market penetration will assist us in delivering a competitive advantage for the 2002 World Cup, co-hosted in Japan and Korea. Other Developments betinternet.com has become one of the first major on-line sports wagering and pari-mutuel operators to implement a fully automated ecommerce multi-currency facility for its customers. This has become possible through the integration of the company's software systems and the grant of full Merchant Status by Barclays Merchant Services UK and became operational in September 2001. Coupled with our 'Risk Guardian' security screening system which will greatly enhance our credit referencing and risk management procedures, we are able to offer our clients a fully automated, entirely secure, on-line deposit facility with a turn round time of less than six seconds. On the Isle of Man, Tynwald, the Island's parliament, has approved the issue of a further nine on-line gambling licences. betinternet.com has applied for one of these licences and we are already in preliminary discussions with potential joint venture partners with a view to its exploitation if it is granted. Technology betinternet.com's technology continues to prove to be exceptionally reliable. Our investment in security measures has meant that, despite ever increasing threats of intrusion and virus attack, we have remained fully protected in both of these key areas. Our systems have demonstrated their ability to 'grow' with, and meet the needs of, the business with in excess of 1,000,000 page impressions per day. We believe that the company will continue to benefit from its location in the Isle of Man which has one of the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in the world. Financial Results For the year under review turnover rose by £36,841,497 to £48,536,839, an increase over the previous year of 315 per cent. Pre-tax losses of £2,320,224 compared with £1,035,616 last year reflect our continuing commitment to substantial investment in technological infrastructure and marketing. As a result, the company sustained a loss for the year of 2.96p per share (2000 - 3.01p per share). The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend. Corporate Affairs In May of this year your Directors announced that they had received approaches which they were reviewing which may or may not lead to offers for the share capital of the company and, in the meantime, were continuing to review various strategic options available to them for the development of the company, which included remaining independent. We have now finalised our review of approaches received and have decided not to pursue talks with any party. We intend, instead, to raise up to £3,000,000 (before expenses) through a subscription for 29,000,000 new Ordinary Shares by Burnbrae Limited, Mr. M. Child and members of my family at a price of 10p per share together with a placing of up to a further 1,000,000 new Ordinary Shares at the same price. Under the terms of the subscription agreement, members of my family (or companies nominated by them) will subscribe for an aggregate of 2,500,000 new Ordinary Shares, the proceeds of which will be utilised in the repayment of a loan in the sum of £250,000 made to the company on 6 July 2001. The Directors consider, having consulted Insinger English Trust, that the terms of this subscription are fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of betinternet.com are concerned. It is also proposed that the company will issue to all existing shareholders and to subscribers and placees under the above arrangements warrants to subscribe for Ordinary Shares in the company at a subscription price of 12p per share on the basis of 1 new Ordinary Share for every 4 Ordinary Shares held as at the record date, which is expected to be the date following the Extraordinary General Meeting referred to below. All the warrants will have a life of three years from the date of issue, shall be exercisable at any time and their terms shall be adjusted in respect of any subsequent rights issues or capitalisation issues. Application will be made for the warrants to be admitted to trading on AIM. Extraordinary General Meeting A circular, giving further details of the arrangements described above will be posted to all shareholders as soon as possible The circular will also contain a Notice convening an Extraordinary General Meeting at which resolutions will be proposed to give effect to these arrangements. The Auditors' Report on the financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2001 will draw attention to the going concern implications of a failure to approve these arrangements. Proposed Board Changes It is proposed that, following the Extraordinary General Meeting and subject to the passing of the resolutions proposed at the meeting, Mr. Mark Child (aged 39) will be appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Child is a director of Regent Pacific Corporate Finance Limited and iRegent Corporate Finance Limited. There is no information to be disclosed in relation to Mr Child which falls to be disclosed under paragraph (f)(iii)-(viii) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules. Conclusion The past year has been one of great encouragement with major strategic advances through the development of Euro Off-Track and the company's operational systems as well as a strong increase in turnover from betinternet.com's traditional business. The growth in the number of our clients in the 20-30 age group is in line with your Board's strategy as is the increasing proportion of transactions being carried out via the Internet. Of our fixed odds turnover, two thirds is now conducted in this way, as opposed to one third a year ago. The changing profile of our clients, the increase in multiple or 'exotic' wagers, the reduction in average stakes and the increase in Internet turnover will all increase gross profit margins. These factors, coupled in particular with Euro Off-Track's development of totalisator wagering with its ability to produce substantial risk-free revenues, represent significant steps in the Board's drive to develop betinternet.com into a thriving, profitable business. Your Directors look to the future, both in the short and the long term, with great confidence. V E Caldwell 5th November 2001 Chairman & Managing Director CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT Year Ended 31 May 2001 2001 2000 £ £ Group turnover Betting stakes received 48,536,839 11,695,342 Cost of sales Winnings paid and bets laid off (47,194,317) (11,285,097) Betting duty paid (146,430) (35,294) Gross profit 1,196,092 374,951 Administration expenses (3,486,480) (1,428,546) Operating loss (2,290,388) (1,053,595) Group operating loss Share of operating loss in - joint ventures (8,169) - Total operating loss including share of joint ventures and associates (2,298,557) (1,053,595) Interest receivable and similar income 71,507 27,303 Interest payable and similar charges (93,174) (9,324) Loss on ordinary activities before taxation and retained loss for the year (2,320,224) (1,035,616) Basic Loss Per Share (pence) (2.96) (3.01) Diluted Loss Per Share (pence) (2.91) (2.85) The directors consider that all results derive from continuing operations for both the current and prior year. A statement of total recognised gains and losses is not required as there were no recognised gains and losses other than the loss for the current year. This was also the case for the prior year. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET 31 May 2001 2001 2000 £ £ FIXED ASSETS Intangible assets 377,739 257,028 Tangible assets 226,692 318,987 Investments in joint ventures - Share of gross assets 131,943 - - Share of gross liabilities (130,943) - Investments in associates 116,802 - 722,233 576,015 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 833,880 203,806 Cash at bank and in hand 947,013 3,421,795 1,780,893 3,625,601 CREDITORS amounts falling due within one year (1,761,573) (1,142,534) NET CURRENT ASSETS 19,320 2,483,067 TOTAL ASSETS 741,553 3,059,082 CAPITAL AND RESERVES Called up share capital 783,296 781,841 Share premium 3,617,779 3,616,539 Profit and loss account (3,659,522) (1,339,298) EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS 741,553 3,059,082 CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT Year ended 31 May 2001 2001 2000 £ £ Net cash outflow from operating activities (2,071,012) (267,471) Returns on investments and servicing of finance (21,667) 17,979 Capital expenditure and financial investment (278,176) (629,682) Cash outflow before use of liquid resources and financing (2,370,885) (879,174) Financing 2,695 4,148,380 (Decrease)/increase in cash in the year (2,368,160) 3,269,206 NOTES Year ended 31 May 2001 1. OPERATING LOSS Operating loss is stated after charging: 2001 2000 £ £ Depreciation on tangible fixed assets 121,691 49,531 Amortisation of intangible assets 126,528 40,538 Auditors' remuneration - audit fees 41,125 37,050 - other services 38,775 85,775 Directors' remuneration 273,729 58,750 Operating lease rentals - 57,276 17,232 other than plant and machinery 2. TAX ON LOSS ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES No provision for tax is required for either the current year, or the previous period, due to the level of losses incurred. 3. LOSS PER SHARE The basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing the losses attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares during the period. Calculation of earnings per share is based on losses of £2,320,224 (2000 : £1,035,616 loss) and the weighted average number of ordinary shares being the equivalent of 78,298,098 (2000 : 34,403,724 ordinary 1p shares). For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of all diluted potential ordinary shares. These represent share options granted to employees where the exercise price is less than the average market price of the Company's shares during the year. Calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on losses of £2,320,224 (2000 : £1,035,616 loss) and the weighted average number of ordinary shares being the equivalent of 79,734,225 (2000 : 36,383,858 ordinary 1p shares). Contacts; betinternet.com plc - Mark McGuinness - 01624 629699 Hill & Knowlton - John Moriarty - 020 7973 4413

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