Stanley Leisure yesterday revealed what their new plans are. They are trying to roll out more than 1,000 new gaming machines at their 41 UK outlets. The Liverpool-based group is taking advantage of new rules. They are planning to allow up to 20 slots machines at each casino. They also plan to install 1,000 electronic roulette machines.
City analyst, Paul Leyland of Seymour Pierce, warned the risks of more machines in a small space. A company of this size is not ready to deal with this. In June, Stanley sold its entire estate to rival William Hill in a £504m deal.
It was only shortly afterwards, that it was revealed that they were returning £327m to the rightful shareholders, and investing £100m to upgrade their casino estate. Stanley is the largest investor, with there 37 regional venues and four London outlets.
The company remains on course for a productive year. They plan to deliver a full-year profit of between £36.5 and £37m. London casinos have been busy in the first few weeks of the second half, so things look up from last year.
Stanley acknowledged the London losses, but sees things getting better. The group also welcomes the scrapping of the 24-hour rule, which became effective on October 1. The old rule stated that new members couldn’t gamble until 24 hours after they had joined. |
