MOVERS WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2020
better than expected 1H20 Results sends shares 22% higher
Casino, Poker, Sport, and even bingo revenue increased for the online gaming company pushing EBITDA up by 56% to US$70.1m (1H29: US$44.9m)
During the third quarter to-date* 888 has continued to trade ahead of the Board's expectations with average daily revenue 56 % higher than the prior year. This performance reflects the Group's high levels of customer acquisition during the year to date as well as the benefit from the structural shift towards online services that has accelerated across several consumer-facing industries during recent months. As a result, the Board now anticipates that 888 will achieve an adjusted EBITDA outcome for 2020 significantly ahead of its prior expectations.
Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, commented: "888 has performed very well throughout the first half of 2020 with robust year-on-year growth in revenue and Adjusted EBITDA of 37% and 56% respectively. This outcome reflects the Group's continued strong levels of customer acquisition, general consumer trends towards increased use of online services especially during the COVID-19 lockdown period and 888's relentless focus on product leadership.
“888 is looking forward to delivering further product enhancements including the introduction of our new poker product across markets during H2 2020 and the launch of our proprietary sportsbook in the UK early next year. In addition, we are continuing to invest in safe gambling tools and will begin the roll-out of a new customer-centric safe gambling feature called the 'Control Centre' later this year that will offer customers an improved interface to help them understand better their gambling behaviour.” He added
(MED ) partnership with GM sends shares 14% higher
Intelligent Ultrasound revealed its partnership with GE today, one of the largest ultrasound OEMs in the world.
GE launched Voluson SWIFT, its new Ultrasound product, which is powered by Intelligent Ultrasounds AI technology.
The GE Voluson SWIFT features SonoLyst, which leverages two applications powered by Intelligent Ultrasound's technology, SonoLystIR and SonoLystX:
SonoLystIR performs automated detection of the key scanning views and automated selection of the relevant measurement tools, to speed up ultrasound procedures
SonoLystX is a virtual on-board ultrasound expert that uses AI to compare the acquired image to standardised criteria to ensure scans meet stringent compliance protocols improving the quality assurance of ultrasound procedures
When deployed in private healthcare settings, increasing the speed of ultrasound procedures whilst ensuring correct quality levels are consistently achieved, can directly result in increased revenue for the operator and therefore provides GE with a compelling sales proposition against its competitors
Stuart Gall, CEO of Intelligent Ultrasound, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with GE over the last year to bring this new AI technology to market. The new Voluson SWIFT ultrasound system uses radical innovations such as SonoLyst to bring new levels of efficiency to obstetric ultrasound scanning. We are excited about our continuing collaboration to bring the latest AI solutions to the market and wish GE Healthcare every success with what we think is the future of ultrasound scanning in women's healthcare."
(AVCT ) launch SARS-CoV-2 BAMS Research Test sends shares 13% higher
Avacta announced that its BAMS assay to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been launched as a research kit by its partner Adeptrix (Beverly, MA, USA) and the assay has been presented by Bruker Scientific (Billerica, MA, USA), a leading mass spectrometer manufacturer, in a new application note.
Commercial details are not being disclosed but Avacta will receive a royalty on the SARS-CoV-2 BAMS research kit sales.
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented: "I am delighted that the Affimer-based BAMS assay developed with Adeptrix is now available for scientists to use in their research into the coronavirus. A research use assay is the first step in commercialising this powerful Affimer-based coronavirus research and diagnostic tool and the clinical evaluation of the assay in the UK to support CE marking for diagnostic use is a very high priority for Avacta.
“I look forward to updating the market on the clinical evaluation of the BAMS assay and on commercial progress in due course." He added.
1H20 results and proposed acquisition of Pipeworks pleased investors and moved the shares up 12%
Revenue for the period increased by 26.7% with adjusted EBITDA by 15.2%. Reported profit before taxation more than doubled from H1 19, with almost all of the growth from organic measures taken during the period.
The Company finished the period with a strong balance sheet with £15.2m net cash.
Carl Cavers, Chief Executive Officer of Sumo Group, said: "More people than ever are playing video games, as a result of the pandemic, and the market outlook remains extremely positive.
"As a Group, we remain well positioned to capitalise on the expansion in the market and remain focused on delivering further growth both organically and, as demonstrated by the announcement of Pipeworks today, via acquisition."
Shares in suffered at the hands of OFGEM with the shares falling 17%
Ofgem has issued a statement of objections, under the Competition Act 1998 ("CA98") to PayPoint, the company that provides over-the-counter payment services to prepayment energy customers in the United Kingdom ("UK") alleging that this company breached competition law.
The statement of objections alleges that:
- PayPoint held a dominant position in the market for over-the-counter payment services for prepayment energy customers for at least the period running from April 2009 to October 2018; this meant that PayPoint had a special responsibility not to act in a way that would impair its rivals' ability to compete.
- PayPoint included exclusivity clauses in most of its contracts with energy suppliers and retailers, a practice that limited their ability to use rival services, thus excluded its competitors from the market.
- These actions harmed competition to the detriment of consumers, and amounted to an abuse of a dominant position, which breaches Chapter II of the CA98 and/or Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU").
At this stage of the investigation, OFGEM’s findings are provisional and no conclusion should be drawn that there has been an infringement of competition law at this stage.
Paypoint is now in the process of considering representations from the company before deciding whether the law has in fact been broken. The case will be considered by Ofgem's Enforcement Decision Panel in due course.
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