Although the pools have continued to be a loss-making entity since Camelot launched the National Lottery in the mid-1990s, Sportech said it was confident that there was a future in the business if the government scraps the 17.5 percent VAT levy on the incumbent football gambling activity.
"In terms of the future development of this business [the pools], we have been encouraged by the positive research into new football games and the goverment announcement that they will change the basis of pool betting from April 2002," said Sportech's managing director Colin McGill."
Rather than trying to beat competition Sportech has actively been talking to partners about distributing the Littlewoods Pools through interactive television rather than relying on door-to-door sellers. And the company's hard work paid off today after it announced a strategic partnership with broadcaster ITV.
"The two companies will work together to develop betting and gaming concepts to enhance entertainment for ITV viewers over all platforms. Both companies expect to benefit from the anticiapted boom in interactive TV gaming and betting in the UK, a market predicted to reach £2.8bn ($3.9bn/EUR4.6bn) a year by 2006. This complements the provision of fixed odds betting, previously announced, on the attheraces internet and TV channels."
For the year ending December 31, Sportech reported a pre-tax loss of £600,000 ($854,000/EUR982,000) with losses per share of 0.39p.
