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Stanleys Leisure Sees Attendance Grow by 17%

Stanley Leisure said yesterday its casino outside the capital had seen a 17% increase in the number of punters coming through their doors.

The boom in attendance at the firm's 41 casinos outside the capital helped the company report increased annual operating profits before exceptional items of 33.4 million UK Pounds - up by 11% from 30.2 million UK Pounds last year.

But the gaming group, which has its headquarters in Liverpool and sites in Victoria, said gamblers in London and Italy had taken the shine off an impressive performance at its provincial casinos over the last year.

It said the scrapping of laws requiring gamblers to be a member for 24 hours before attending venues had helped boost interest in its provincial sites.

Dale Street-based Stanley has concentrated on its casino division since selling its betting arm in June 2005 for 504 million UK Pounds.

The new Gambling Act 2005 allows casinos to double the number of slot machines to 20 and double maximum jackpots the machines pay out to UK Pounds 4,000.

Stanley added that it was preparing for the forthcoming smoking ban in England by making changes to venues to allow gamblers to smoke in outside areas.

Chief executive Bob Wiper said: "We have made significant progress in our five years development program and this combined with Stanley Leisure's strong pipeline of new licenses, positions the group well to capture further benefits arising from deregulation."