(Alliance News) - Lottery and e-commerce operator St James House PLC's shares tumbled on Thursday after it said it widened its first half loss and expects difficult trading to continue for the rest of the year.
The stock was trading 60% lower at 20.85 pence in London on Thursday afternoon.
In the six months to July 31, revenue fell by 23% year-on-year to GBP422,000 from GBP550,000 with the company's pretax loss stretching to GBP1.3 million from GBP668,000.
During the period, St James completed the acquisition of Another Ops Ltd, a prepaid card issuing business. The unit was integrated into its Payment Division, which the company said is progressing slower than it had hoped.
The lottery management division, Prize Provision Services Ltd, added two new clients during the half, St James House said. They were Unite the Union - a British and Irish trade union - and Lincoln City Football Club, a professional team playing in England's third-tier league.
St James said: "Unite2Win, the lottery managed on behalf of the Unite the Union's benevolent fund, resulted in total lines played increasing by approximately one-third during the previous 12 months to date."
Looking ahead, the company said gains in the lottery management business will not be enough to offset the lossmaking Payments division.
The company added: "The board therefore does not currently expect an improvement on the financial performance during the second half of the year and the group's working capital position remains constrained."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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