Member Info for JohnLewis79

If you look for stock quotes of gambling cos in the FT you will find they are lumbered in with travel operators, pubs, air charter, hotel, software, cinemas and coach firms.Consider that the purely gaming (ex video games) cos would probably command a cap value of over £5bn surely its long overdue that they had their own index/sector. The interest would be there and enough cos for investors to consider which would include, Gala (Coral) when they join, Betfred if they join? 888H, Bwin, Betfair, 32Red, Rank, Spo, Ladbrokes, WHill and Gvc.It would also assist investors to assess the fortunes of cos in the index and the sentiment surrounding exclusive gambling cos, their performance vis a vis one another and to the index as a whole. Long overdue imo.

Up we go thats a good start to '15 but the ftse flagging.You may know that should the ftse 100 end Jan higher than it started were in for an UP year. Over the pond the SP 500 has done that 34/38 times a batting av of 90%!(stats from 1952).Couldnt swear the ftse has followed suit but I guess we may have mirrored the S&P a fair few times.So the number to keep in mind is Ftse 6566, finish the month above that nos and we will have an UP year.......statistically........or perhaps not? Either way Iim looking for SPO to test historic highs or worst way hit 100p giving co valuation of only £205m! Chump change for the likes of WHill. Why noone bid when SPO was down at 47p is a mystery? Heck, cash is no problem these days for acquisitions and I cannot believe that SPO would not be a great addition to the likes of, well the usual suspects, include RANK as an outside bet.

We know SPO had a shocker (-23%) but at rock bottom LAD (-38%) no surprise there what with profit warnings, no CEO and little management gumption! Top dog? BETFAIR which ran UP (46%) no surprise a very switched-on co now and even staid old granny RANK was a top 10 hit UP (20%).As is the way with tables the bottom fishers will eye SPO (bottom 4) and LAD for a turnaround this year.SPO has done it before finishing in top 5 after a poor prev year.BWIN finished in bottom 10 DOWN (4%) so I'd expect those 3 cos to be in the mix this yr.

Spo closed 2014 a disappointing 23% DOWN on the year as a direct result of the vat case being won on appeal by HMRC.A result that took everyone by surprise. With the case now over 5 years long surely the time has come to end this nonsense re "spot the ball".You me and Dupree know this is a game of pure chance with a "skill" element deciding the position of the ball.Round 3 could go anyway its a complete toss of a coin and may be many months away from a conclusion.With the US economy set for another strong year (hoping they wont up int rates) Spo is ideally situated to benefit from the leisure $ and consolidation in the UK gaming sector. With BWIN in play and looking to sell its social gaming business (SPO) is likely to be interested despite the division losing £5.5m last year.This would complement its BUMP (US) acquisition last year.Lots to look forward to its going to be an interesting year for the sector.

We will finish down on l/yr but nowhere near as bad as I once thought while 70p may be out of range it's a good springboard for nxt year which im sure will reward lth of Spo stock. Well, im off for a beer and will try and forget this year as personally its been a very disappointing one with my main stocks all suffering double digit losses, though my lth in NBPO paid off when SD took them over at a handsome premium which cut my losses.Hope everyone has a good festive season and gla for nxt yr!

Had a very quick look pretty racy mrk cap for a co with so little shareholders equity. Also no idea what the co does my brain seizes up when faced with all this interfaced gobbledygook. So thats a winner! But alas wont be carrying any of my cash. But if your in gl.

With R.Griffiths holding that takes dec level holdings to 70.5% Add those iis under 3% say another 15% leaves 15% for you and me!

Are William Hill about to spoil the party? I have about 4 realistic line-ups that might take place early 2015.Currently Lads are without a CEO so version 1) Penrose takes over as CEO which leaves Spo minus a CEO however Playtech make a bid for Spo and amalgamate with Lads via a outright t/o or reverse into Lads for the better branding.As a combination of Play/Spo/Lads they would be more than a match for WH.So vers 2) WH make an outright bid for Spo thus getting a worldwide presence for next to nothing as the former comb would pose a serious threat to WH.MIx and match others but im sure some sort of consolidation will take place and all of it envolving Spo.

HG and Newby Manor (18%) Trevor Hemmings private co hes rumoured to be retiring soon so moves afoot methinks. AXASA (5%) ABERFORTH (5%) SCHRODER(5%) BLACK ROCK (5%) AVIVA (3%) those over dec level =55%.SCG's nr (20%) I dont know whether HG and GRIFFITHS (7%) picked up some of those? Probably lots of iis under the 3%.

Holders of GVC may be in for an extra xmas gift in the form of a special div according to North Cap.Lucky boogers!.

Seems Henderson Global could exceed the 29.9% barrier which normally would trigger a bid by simply getting a waiver from the take over panel. My Sale have recently been granted this exemption when co founder upped his majority holding over 30%.Doubt HG will pass 29.9% unless they are sure of a bid nxt year.I have checked shorttracker and see no stock on loan to shorters......yet!

Certainly would Bruce, around 43p per share, which would wipe out the debt and boost the bk value to 100p should the co go that route! In my mind I have written off the vat monies, I dont think they will win the return match.Of course I have zero factual evidence to support my view, just a gut feeling.Its rather like the red hot guineas fav getting beat then coming back and expecting to win the Derby, when does that happen? No, the "dark forces"will transpire to see HMRC verdict upheld, I think it would be a major shock if itbwas overturned despite my view that this should never have reached this stage.I reiterate what Mr Justice Pool ruled last time.He said"the most skill and judgement can do is to estimate the approx position to place the cross.It therefore follows logically that winning is down to skill and chance so is defined as a game of chance for the purposes of vat, thus not liable to vat"So ruled, so overturned! Do you fancy Sportechs chances? As an aside, if im betting on Spo losing, do the opposite you'd more than likely win.

Better week all round as all indices trended positive and Spo bouncing some 25% off recent yearly lows so well done to those who got some stock around the 47-49p mark which imo we wont see again.I think the vat case is probably priced in as a lose for the co and should that be the case falls wont be as indiscriminate as last time which was ridiculous. I'll say this id much rather be in Spo than Lads which has totally lost its way and in particular the shops are like mausoleums, kept open solely to feed the machine addicts. Oh well we have problems of our own, that of growing the top line which must be the priority in 2015, t/o of £110m will not suffice next year! The co needs to make a quantum leap forward even if by acquisition, we cant go on relying on the pools div to carry the group. I dont know Penrose has been I/c since 2005 and despite the many changes he has overseen, progress has hardly been stellar, ebita back then was nr £18m.Perhaps a new man at the helm will reinvigorate the co? I feel the co has been drifting along just doing enough to keep the iis on side.This needs to change and quickly else well become a joke like Lads.

It will be interesting to see if any of Richard Griffiths army of pis fans follow him into Sportech over the coming months?

I see R.Griffiths has upped his stake by amother 1.4m shares to a total holding of 14.4m or 7.03% of shares issued.Always a good sign when a stock in the doldrums is supported by the iis.Spo has been a sitting duck since the vat reversal and a predator may have missed the boat? With a mrk cap of just over £100m Spo is small potatoes in the US despite dominating the tote and trackside betting, with such an all encompassing reach across all US gaming mrkts it's unbelievable the co is worth so little.I know of cos who haven't made a red cent that are valued at Spo level . Oversold and overdue a re-rate.Pis should follow the money I would be amazed if Spo is trading at 54p this time next year.Time for one of my many forecasts for Sportech TO COME RIGHT!!! For a change.

Hi Bruce, yea know the stck from Sportinbget but totally missed the boat on that one and was looking elsewhere.They have done v.well these last few years better sp wise than Spo and a div to boot not that im bothered with divs, anyways gl with GVC still in SM which is moribund in the intensive care ward.Hoping for great things when they get out! Disruptive tech, no comp, first mover and huge moat whats not to like? Am in bls deep so no funds for additional specs.Keep in touch. JL

So we know that all Spo ratios tend positive ie, low per, nav below sp, price to sales ok and roce (return on cap employed) I checked to see if there was an anomaly not that I expected one.ROCE shows how efficient a co is in its ability to generate profits from the amount invested in the business. In Spo case they are returning near 20% or if you like 20p for every £ spent. As follows ebita £26m÷233(ta)-93(tl)=roce (0.186) rounded (0.2).It also tells us that roce is higher than the cost of borrowing so a measure of protection when borrowing to fund assets as most cos do from time to time.Just another measure showing Spo is a tightly run ship able to finance its bank borrowing (72% of liabilities) without strain.Take away bank debt and roce jumps to near 50p! A vat win would be a huge game changer for the co but as we know the last verdict was a shock so nobody is betting on the outcome this time.Regardless this is still a strong co and one im happily invested in.

The Code deems a party to have obtained or consolidated control of a target when that party has acquired an interest in shares carrying 30% or more of the voting rights of the target effectively transferring control.HG has to date amassed 53.6m shares leaving 7.6m to reach 30% of the outstanding shares in Sportech. It will be interesting to see if HG cont to buy when lumps of stock are for sale.Outside of HG viewing the stock as hugely undervalued why are they adding to their considerable position which at this distressed sp is worth £26.3m? Perhaps its a punt on the outcome of the vat case? Maybe they suspect a bid for the co next year? Are they holding for a client? Lots of imponderables which im sure will become clear next year.IMO HG will cont to accumulate up to 29.9% and await a bid.

Henderson Global mopping up as much stck as they can, now holding 53.643m shares (26.16%).Follow the money!

Anybody know where I can buy a share making nr £25m and mrk cap less than £100m and trading at a near 30% discount to book value? Thought not!