Neteller Withdraws from Two Markets
Neteller on March 26 announced its withdrawal from the Canadian and Turkish markets, saying "the risk to [its] ongoing business" in both countries has increased due to recent "developments." In doing so, it began its voluntary phased withdrawal from the Turkish market. The decision was prompted by Tukish legislation, passed Feb. 28, prohibiting unauthorized operators from offering certain I-gaming services. And effective April 9, 2007, the company will no longer offer its I-gaming payment service to Canadian residents--a change expected to have a "material negative impact" on the company's full-year results. Neteller does not expect to make further reductions in staff (it announced 250 job cuts on Feb. 16) and still plans to focus on the Asian and European markets.
888 Enters the Bingo Market
Gibraltar-based gaming company 888 has acquired the online bingo business of privately held Belize-based Globalcom Limited for a cash sum of $32.4 million. The London-listed operator said that a further earn-out cash payment of up to $11 million may be payable 12 months from completion on the basis of actual performance during FY 2007. Globalcom operates 45 online bingo sites, including Bingoballroom.com, UK-bingo.net, Bingofabulous.com and Twofatladies.com.
Moneybookers Sold
U.K.-based payment processor Moneybookers has been bought out by private equity group Investcorp Technology Partners for an estimated $140 million. Moneybookers' existing shareholders will maintain a "significant" ownership stake in the company, Investcorp said in a prepared statement released on Wednesday. "Our objective is to do what is necessary to create Europe's largest e-wallet facility within the next two to three years," said Investcorp managing director Hazem Ben-Gacem.
Reporting
Betsson on Thursday released results for the first two months of 2007, reporting revenues of $14.3 million and preliminary operating profits of $4.4 million, up from $3.6 million in Q4 2006. Revenue for the company's software arm, Net Entertainment, totaled $3.08 million. Its interim report will be released on May 22.
FUN Technologies has released its Q4 and full-year results, showing that full-year combined revenue totaled $47 million, an 84 percent increase against the figure for 2005. Q4 revenue, meanwhile, totaled an estimated $16 million. The company said that, from Dec. 31, 2006, it had entered into a $15 million secured term facility with majority shareholder Liberty subsidiary Liberty Media. FUN management believes the deal will keep the company fully funded through the remainder of the year. "Beyond the Liberty transaction, FUN made multiple acquisitions, which we believe will strongly position us for future growth," said FUN CEO Lorne Abony. "FUN also focused on consolidation, which resulted in continued momentum throughout the year and a strong fourth quarter."
Click here to view FUN Technologies' full-year results.
Intralot SA has released its full year-results, showing a 51.3 percent increase in revenues to $1.05 billion, from $697.1 million in 2005. The company also reported a 56.2 percent increase in pre-tax earnings to $313.3 million, compared to $200.5 million in 2005. Excluding stock option costs, earnings before interest, tax, deduction and amortization (EBITDA) increased 59.2 percent to $339.5 million, up $126.3 million against last year's figure. Intralot CEO Constantinos Antonopoulos said the company had achieved strong growth rates in 2006, as well as a significant number of licenses in the now-liberalized Italian fixed-odds betting market.
Click here to view Intralot's full year results.
Presenting its full-year results for 2006, German gaming company FLUXX AG reported a 132 percent increase in revenues over the previous year, from 22.0 million euros to 50.9 million euros in 2006, owing thanks in large part to the company's sports betting business, which generated over half of the total revenue in the past financial year. The company's EBITDA fell from 6.5 million euros in 2005 to 0.5 million euros in 2006, partially due to the company's sports betting provider myBet.com, which generated huge marketing expenses in connection with the FIFA World Cup. Despite its high expenses, the group said it generated positive cash flow of 15.1 million euros from operating activities.
Click here to view FLUXX AG's full year results.