24hPoker Announces Staff Cuts
After revealing an SEK 11.1 million loss for H1 2007, Swedish operator 24hPoker will institute personnel cuts as part of its "reorganization program," which the company hopes will help it achieve SEK 6 million in annual cost savings. "24hPoker has not been profitable and we have therefore decided to reorganize and make the organization more efficient to take control over our costs," said 24hPoker CEO Per Åström. "To realize personnel cuts is never pleasant to do, but cost control is one of the four cornerstones we build our strategy on." The company, which holds a license in Malta, did not specify as to whether the staff cuts would be effected across both its Swedish and Maltese offices.
Sportswinbet Turns Small Profit during H1 2007
London-listed Sportswinbet managed to turn a small profit (£5,000) during H1 2007 after sustaining a £238,000 loss during the previous-year period. Sportswinbet, an investment company with I-gaming interests, said it generated revenues of £205,000 during the period via its branded sports book operated by Kolarmy Technology, which was terminated in July. The company said it remains in discussions regarding a potential re-launch of the sports book.
GVC Releases Positive H1 Results
Germany-facing operator Gaming VC (GVC) has released first-half results, which show operating profits of 8.5 million euros, up 25 percent against figures from H1 2006. Like German operator Fluxx AG the company intends to diversify ahead of the government's adoption of the Interstate Lotteries Treaty in January 2008. In line with this strategy, the Malta-based operator said it has acquired two Italian bookmaking licenses for 1.75 million euros and has launched its Italy-facing sports book, betaland.com. "[The company's] new sports book . . . has seen a positive start with initial trading in the first few weeks of the Italian football season being encouraging," said Gaming VC Chief Executive Kenny Alexander. GVC also said it plans to diversify demographically and will launch a "female-oriented gaming site" during the fourth quarter.
Stepping Down
William Hill announced Tuesday that its Chief Executive, David Harding, will step down effective Sept. 30. Chairman Charles Scott will become an executive director until Harding's replacement is appointed, the London-based company said, adding that the search for a successor is "well underway."
Codere Delays IPO
Madrid-based gaming group Codere S.A., scheduled to proceed with its IPO this September, will reportedly delay the float and " . . . assess the appropriate timing of an IPO with our underwriters in light of current market conditions." Last week, the company's registry document received approval from Spain's market regulator, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV). In a prepared statement released Sept. 20, Codere also expressed confidence that its IPO would be approved by the CNMV but noted that its listing would depend largely on market conditions.
Betbrokers Completes Acquisition of Winning Edge
Betbrokers announced this morning that it had completed the $6.5 million acquisition of Las Vegas-based sports and information tipping service Winning Edge. The London-listed company said that the deal will be partially funded by the issue of 64.36 million shares at 5 pence per share. "With the acquisition of Winning Edge now completed, we can focus on expanding the business and driving earnings in this exciting new division," said Betbrokers Chief Executive Wayne Lochner.
WorldSpreads Confident ahead of Interim Results
Irish spread-betting group WorldSpreads has said it expects pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September to be "significantly" ahead of expectations. "The group's London-based operations are ahead of expectations while its Dublin-based operations significantly exceeded forecasts in all key areas," it said in a trading update issued today. The company acknowledged that volatility in the markets had also helped its performance, but said it remained confident regarding its second-half prospects. On Aug. 1, the company made its £5.77 million debut on AIM.
Ihre Takes up New Post
Edward Ihre has joined Ladbrokes to become the first managing director for its poker division. Ihre reports to John O’Reilly, managing director of remote betting and gaming at Ladbrokes. "Ladbrokespoker is a strong brand in the online poker world and also operates some of the best offline events," Ihre said. "My focus will be on continuing the innovation and growth Ladbrokespoker.com has demonstrated in recent years and establishing a market-leading affiliate network." Ihre hails from PokerStars, where he served as director of affiliates and partnerships.
Real, $20 Million Deal
Internet media delivery and services provider RealNetworks has entered into an agreement to acquire Game Trust Inc., a N.Y.-based casual gaming group. The Wall Street Journal quotes one person familiar with the matter as valuing the deal at $20 million. "Our partners want to add social networking to their sites to further engage their game players," said Harold Zeitz, senior vice president for Real's games division. Game Trust is a start-up that supplies tools to online game sites that let them add social-networking features such as chat, multiplayer gaming capabilities and competitive tournaments. Its customers include Time Warner Inc.'s America Online and Miniclip Ltd., a European games site.