BSkyB Buys Sports Internet Group
The anticipated purchase of Sports Internet Group by British Sky Broadcasting, the U.K.'s largest pay-TV
company, went down last Tuesday. CNNfn reports that BSkyB has agreed to buy the Net betting company for about £301 million ($460 million). BSkyB is 40 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and 24 percent owned by France's Vivendi.
Crypto Rebounds Slightly
IGN reported last Monday in this column that shares of CryptoLogic of Toronto have dropped steadily since the company began trading on the Nasdaq. Trading has gone favorably since then, and the company is showing signs of bouncing back. After dipping nearly to $17 May 4, the company's stock has climbed resurfaced above the $20 mark, closing last Friday at 20.5625. On the Toronto Exchange, Crypto shares closed Friday at $30.25--their highest closing price since April 18.
Striking It Rich with Internet Bingo?
Strike Minerals Inc (STRK.) of Ontario, traded on the CDN, has acquired a bingo hall in Oklahoma called Muskogee Hall for Hire, along with Muskogee S. and V. (Snackbar and Vending) Inc. When in full operation, the bingo hall is expected to generate net revenues to Strike of approximately $240,000 per year. The cost to Strike for the business is $500,000 plus 920,000 shares. Debt financing is in place for the entire cash amount. Operations will eventually be converted to Internet bingo (upon purchasing software) and will be handled by Strike Minerals subsidiary Strike Gaming. The games will appear on the company's travel and tourism site (currently under construction) at www.cottage2000.
GIC Reports Monthly Wagered Revenue
GIC Global Intertainment Corporation, the redundantly redundantly named online casino and sportsbook operator, announced the combined wagered revenue of $2,796,018.00 for its Cyberbetz Casino & Sports Book during the month of April 2000. The company additionally announced that it has upgraded its facilities to a high-tech complex that increases connection reliability through a 128K digital signal line. End users will experience an overall increase in efficiency by up to 90 percent when accessing the gaming software servers, the company says.
Quarterly Earnings
MGAMM
Multimedia Games Inc. (Nasdaq: MGAM) has reported its earnings for the quarter ending March 31, 2000. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 80 percent to $2.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2000, compared to $1.5 million for the second quarter last year. Second quarter basic earnings per share were $0.08 on revenues of $23.3 million, compared to $0.03 on revenues of $22.6 million for the same period last year. For the first six months of fiscal year 2000, EBITDA was $5.5 million, compared to $2.7 million for the same period in FY 1999. Both game revenues and operating income were up approximately $1 million, and net income doubled over the comparable quarter last year. The company says second-quarter financial results reflect an across-the-board increase in hold per machine for both Class II and Class III markets, and a significant reduction in legal expenses due to the resolution of the NGI litigation.
YouBet.com
Youbet.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: UBET), the global online live sporting event, entertainment and wagering company, today reported revenue of $1.7 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2000, a 270 percent
increase over revenue of $461,000 in the same quarter a year ago and a 21 percent sequential increase over revenue of $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. Net loss for the quarter was $3 million or $0.15 per share, compared with a net loss of $2.1 million or $0.15 per share on fewer shares for the same quarter a year ago. The number of subscribers to the You Bet Network was approximately 16,000 on March 31, 2000, versus just over 3,000 subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 1999 and approximately 14,500 subscribers at the end of the prior sequential quarter. The handle derived from Youbet's subscribers was $26.8 million during the first quarter.