Companies: NPT   

Aspiring television gaming concern NetPlay TV made £1.7 million pre-tax last year after selling its former telephony businesses.

AIM-quoted NetPlay, which began life as Stream Group providing consumer and entertainment information and content by mobile and fixed-line telephone, underwent a transformation last year after deciding to exit that business and move into TV gaming. Turnover slipped £600,000 to £12.6 million and operating profits plunged from £1.6 million to £89,000.

The company sold its Stream Live Services subsidiary to outgoing founder and executive chairman Gordon Robson and similarly departing managing director Michael Spencer for up to £3 million. This showed a profit of £1.4 million and accounted for most of 2006’s pre-tax profit of £1.7 million, down nearly £100,000 on the year before.

Martin Higginson came aboard as chairman and chief executive on 1 December when the company changed its name to NetPlay TV and bought Vegas247 Limited and Vegas247 Broadcasting, producers of TVF programme Live Roulette. Since then, gross bets per month generated by this business doubled to £6.9 million.

Shares in NetPlay TV peaked at 82.75p in early 2005 before tumbling to 187.75p last August. They are up 1.5p today at 22.5p, valuing the company at £15.3 million and could rally further if the transformation looks like paying off.

Netplay TV	AIM	£30.39m	25.25p	1.25p
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Other company articles:
NetPlay TV			30/09/2008
NetPlay TV			15/05/2008
Overhaul at NetPlay			25/04/2007
Stream steams in with record profits			04/10/2004
Profits starting to flow at Stream			03/11/2003