Trading Statement

Sportech PLC
27 January 2005



                        Sportech PLC Pre-Close Statement

Sportech PLC ('Sportech' or 'the Company'), owner of Littlewoods Gaming, today
issues the following pre-close statement relating to the financial year ended 31
December 2004. Preliminary results for the year will be announced on 31 March
2005.

Summary

Sportech's established businesses within its Soft Gaming and Betting Divisions
generated expected revenues for 2004 in the region of £500m (2003: £330.4m). The
company also has a strong strategic position in the emerging interactive gaming
market. Sportech expects to announce profits for the 2004 financial year, before
goodwill, taxation and exceptional restructuring costs, in the region of £9.0m,
in line with market expectations.

Soft Gaming Division

Football Pools accounts for the majority of Sportech's profits and free
cashflow. Performance of Football Pools and associated products is in line with
market expectations. Scratchcard revenues for 2004 are expected to be in the
region of £1m, in line with 2003, generating an operating loss of £0.6m.
Although this loss is lower than 2003, the Board has decided to exit scratchcard
operations by the end of the first half of 2005, in order to ensure focus on
core activities that will deliver profits and cashflow.

Betting Division

Losses from the Betting Division in 2004 will be lower than 2003, broadly in
line with market expectations. Our key action plans are on track and we are
encouraged by improvements in the underlying trading from casino, poker and
telephone betting. It is noteworthy that the Division delivered EBITDA
profitability in November and December. Full year gross win will be
approximately 65% ahead of 2003, driven by strong growth from casino, poker and
telephone betting. Despite unfavourable sporting results, gross win in the
second half of 2004 was marginally higher than in the first six months, and
sports-book margins for the year will be approximately 8.5%, which is within our
expected range. Approximately 50% of the total gross win was derived from non
sports-book activity including casino, poker and fixed odds games. This
increasing trend is expected to improve further the Betting Division's overall
performance during 2005 and future resilience in the event of unfavourable
sporting results.

During the second half of 2004 we have also taken action to further reduce the
Betting Division cost base. The telephone-betting model has been improved by the
move, in late October 2004, to in-house call handling. This move is on track to
deliver annualised call handling cost savings in excess of £1m, offset by non
recurring exit costs in 2004 and 2005, relating to the previous outsourcing
contract.

The Division has benefited from strong profitable growth in on-line casino and
poker products, with revenues approximately 125% higher than 2003, and the
introduction of fixed odds games. Future growth prospects are enhanced by the
planned launch of a Bet Direct branded casino and poker offer in the second
quarter of 2005 to be supplied by BOSS media.


ITVi Gaming

The exclusive long-term interactive gaming and betting partnership with ITV
commenced in March 2004, with the objective of enhancing future growth
opportunities across our Soft Gaming and Betting Divisions. The initial
Littlewoods Gaming ITVi service, including customer registration/account
management, games and betting commenced in June 2004. To date the service has
relied on red button interactivity only, whereas future developments are
expected to encompass other interactive return paths.
The service has attracted over 25,000 customer registrations via ITVi red button
access points to date, however active customer numbers and average gross win
levels per active customer have remained low during this initial phase of the
contract. Both ITV and Sportech remain fully committed to the ITVi opportunity
and the existing service will have increased red button prominence and promotion
in the coming months, whilst good progress is also being made on new product
developments. A stream of full screen gaming products will launch in March, and
in conjunction with ITV, we are considering additional opportunities presented
by the proposed dedicated ITV gaming channel and the integration of betting/
gaming propositions within prime and night time ITV programming. Whilst forward
levels of customer activity and gross win levels remain difficult to quantify,
we have taken actions to ensure that the cost base and overall cash requirements
in 2005 are materially lower than those in 2004.

Roger Withers, acting Managing Director, said:

'We recognise the importance of our established Soft Gaming and Betting
businesses and remain keenly focused on these core activities. The Betting
Division is growing and on track to deliver profits in 2005, whilst the Soft
Gaming Division is underpinned by our Football Pools business, which continues
to generate significant free cashflow.

'We also remain excited by the longer-term opportunities for growth and for
increasing our share of the interactive gaming market. Although ITVi activity
levels have been low to date, the strong growth in gross win and customer
numbers across our internet and Sky based betting offer, demonstrates what we
can achieve in this new market. This confidence is reinforced by our strong
relationship with ITV and joint vision for the future.

                                    - ends -

For further information:

Suzanne Judge                                        0151 288 3059
Sportech PLC

David Rydell/Charlotte Kirkham
Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial                 020 7861 3232





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