Member Info for JohnLewis79

What price the Pools? Let's start from £70m (assuming £12-15m pre tax) US racing/venues/lotteries gotta be worth 25pps/nothing for vat /and £70m debt. Looks around 130 take out. The Pools bidder may return? Wont want to see a small Canadian co loaded up with debt take us out! Interesting times ahead. C'mon WH 150 all cash offer should do the trick!

To be funded part cash / shares in Con Gaming. Would I take shares in CG? NFW!!! Surprised SPO didn't tell them to poke it.

Do me a favour Con Gaming mrkt cap £8m! Listed on some obscure Toronto exchange! I'm out as soon as a sensible offer is on the table. Hopelessly optimistic imo!

Who are these guys? Mrkt not impressed. Nor me.Chances look slim imo. Need to flush out others!

Sp hardly budged! Looks like a low ball offer. Have to wait and see if this lot have the fire power. Wonder whether WH are paying attention?

Sin taxes cost Lads dear in the H/Y. The levy online and machine tax hit Lads for £21m and Mullen sees no increase in profits till 2017 and that's if the CMA ok the deal. Think I'll buy 10k? Nah forget it!

Mullen commenting on the results said "the results reflect the challenges facing the Co and clearly show why we need to change and change quickly" Pre tax Down 44%. Div slashed 77%. Eps Down 44% tells the story. Coral was pretty much the only way forward for Lads and it's going to be one tough job for Mullen & Co now with a massive estate on their books. Whether he can convert the offline punters to online is problematical, a profitable one for....? PP seem to be able to drive their on liners into the shops which seems perverse to me! A tough few years ahead for Lads shareholders, glad I'm not one!

Blimey he's moved back!!! Sorry the new guy at WH. Had a bad w/end.

Should read £40m loss.....also should read...failing online platform. Perhaps the merger with Coral is a marriage made in heaven but I sincerely doubt it. WH while not having the quality of management of years gone by (not by a long chalk) are still the 'Daddies'! I would be more than happy for WH to buy us out and it wouldn't cost them much! With their Vegas connections and our US spread we'd be a major force in the leisure gaming US sector. So get your skates on Mullen, you know it makes sense!

Sads is about to slash the value of its ageing betting shop estate by £85m pushing them into a £40m for the H/Y. This includes costs associated with its failed online platform. Jim Mullen (ex Willy) has a new strategy to increase nos into Sads betting shops. Well good luck with that! Sads have just closed one down on our local high St and another looks like getting the chop. The Gala Coral merger may throw up culture problems and in his mad dash to become Britain's biggest bookie Mullen may rue the day he didn't look further down the food chain! Lucky for us! Wonder what Cyril thinks?......Not a lot!

Why have they not taken us out? Pressure will be on the new guy to perform after this wks poor interims. Stuck with a lot of dreary shops that will mostly be gone in 5 years we offer them a golden future in the US with our wide variety of businesses, great spread across all US states (with reg approval) and an opportunity to escape the high sin taxes (could get worse) imposed by the Govt. It's a no brainer but therein lies the problem, does he have any?

Figs not well received by the mrkt the sp falling 26 after pre tax profits were down 35%. Could be another board room bust up on the cards here! I remember a time when the bookies (though frowned on) were very solid investments. No longer..... as poor management and intense competition has weeded out the laggards who are now down the field with the 'also rans!' Regret to say we're in this category but for entirely different reasons.

H/Y results worse than expected. The bare bones: Revenues UP £2m. OP profit Down £21m. Pre tax Down £29.1m. Eps Down 1.6p. Shares down 22p (5.5%). No real relevance to us but what if we'd stayed with Bet Direct? Our salvation ain't here!

Server crashed again? Do same on mob?

H/Y results from WH are expected at around £123m a fall of 17%.............. as higher taxes (point of consumption) and a rise in machine duty hit profits. Poor sentiment surrounds the bookies atm something SPO has largely escaped (we have enough of our own).

Bruce.....big article in Sun Crimes re take over. Mostly on Mattingley ( done wonders for 888 sp ) unlike our guy!! Worth a read if you can get in sunny (here also) Umbria. JL.

Back Bruce! Bloody technology eh!! GVC going it alone? Probably best move? As to here you must stay for the "keep the vat saga" going decision in Nov! You never know the second fav sometimes obliges! I'm staying put as anything else I touch tanks more or less immediately! Having a horrific time in Genel and Afren just gone into administration to add to the list of woes! Hope your having better luck! If I'd had some spare RR looked a screaming buy, UP 50 since! Story of my life! Speak soon JL.

Guys.....this has long term potential and by that I mean at least 3 years out. If you cannot afford to wait best look to pastures new! I agree with K100 right co, right time but as ever watch carefully. My horizon was never 3-5 so unless my other duff ones come good and there's no sign of that I'm looking to out at anything around 18-20 net which would give me c£1k profit. I guess I could take my costs out and run free? Jeez I'm talking myself into staying put!!!! Decisions decisions!!!

Ouch!!!! Where are you Bruce? Not fallen out of love with Spo & others......I hope? Not long now to a decision on the vat (keep it going) saga. Either way I hope win or lose this will be the end of it as it's taken up too much time and shareholders money! Whether HMRC see it quite that way I doubt? H/Y statement Aug 20 don't expect any fireworks but need to see an improvement in the top line as a minimum! Currency fluctuations may help us this time round? Consolidation happening all around us, our turn will come!

Walk up the aisle together! More shares issued to fund merger, dividend slashed, many doubts over FOBT's (increased tax/win and stake limit could be cut/ nos per shop poss to fall) punters migrating to the internet having problems getting on and age profile a worry, setting up accounts and fear of security may be a no no re Internet? Wow a marriage made in hell! Think I'll buy 10k.... Yea Right!!!