Market Briefs (April 1-5)
Several dozen publicly held interactive gaming companies are reporting, acquiring, floating, spinning off, merging, de-listing, rising and falling in stock markets all over the world. Every Monday IGN wraps the financial happenings of the Net betting biz from the previous week into a nifty little package just for you.
Sportech Shares Get Boost from ITV
The price of Sportech (SPO) shares rose 12.5 percent on Tuesday after Sportech announced a deal with ITV to provide interactive wagering through its digital channels.
Sportech, the owner of Littlewoods, will share revenue with ITV during the initial five-year term of the deal. Colin McGill, Sportech's managing director, said the agreement would bring his firm's wagering activities to a much larger audience.
"This is a ground-breaking deal in the gaming industry, bringing together the major commercial television broadcaster with the U.K.'s leading home gaming company," he said.
On Friday Sportech shares closed at £14.75.
MGAM Stock Offering
Multimedia Games Inc. (MGAM) is preparing for a public offering of 3 million shares of common stock.
The allotment consists of 2.8 million shares belonging to the company and 200,000 shares belonging to Gordon Graves, Multimedia Games' chief executive. The company will not profit from the shares sold by Graves.
The company, which is the leading supplier of interactive electronic games and player stations to the Native American gaming market, filed a registration for the stock offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Bear, Stearns & Co. and Merrill Lynch & Co will manage the sale.
Proceeds from the sale will be used for general corporate purposes including the construction of new gaming facilities, the company said.
Multimedia Games is the leading supplier of interactive electronic games and player stations on which its games are played to the rapidly growing Native American gaming market
GWIN Predicts Q1 Revenue of $1.9 Million
Global Sports & Entertainment (GWIN), the only publicly traded sports handicapping firm in the United States, said last week that it expects first quarter revenue of $1.9 million.
The company expects net revenue of $600,000. Chairman and CEO Wayne Allyn Root said that during the quarter ended March 31, GWIN outperformed expectations.
"This was the biggest year-on-year growth in revenue for a month in our company's history," he said. "We are confident that we are making significant progress in creating brand identity that will continue to make us the premier advice and information provider in the sports gaming and handicapping industry."
GWIN had $600,000 in sales during March--a 233 percent increase from March 2001.
Las Vegas Sands Explores I-gaming
Las Vegas Sands Inc., operator of the Venetian Casino Resort on The Strip, expressed interest in expanding into Internet gambling in its recent filing with the SEC.
The Sands is a private company that is required to file financial results because it received public funds to build its Las Vegas tourist facilities.
In the report, the company stated it is "actively pursuing the possibility of developing and operating an Internet gaming site." In January, the Sands formed a joint venture with the purpose of assessing whether or not it will be possible for it to develop and operate an online casino.
The Sands said the project is still in the exploration stage. To read the report, click here.
Youbet.com Teams with Investment Firms
Youbet.com (UBET) said Thursday that is has enlisted the help of SBI E2-Capital Ltd., the U.S. banking arm of Softbank Investment Corp. Japan, and vFinance Investments Inc. to achieve its corporate finance goals.
David Marshall, chairman and CEO of Youbet.com, said both firms are experienced in dealing with mid-sized e-commerce companies like Youbet.com.
"With the assistance of these firms, we are actively reviewing various corporate finance initiatives," he said. "The arrangement of additional financing is one of my top near-term priorities since re-joining the company in late March."
Gaming Insight Raises Cash
Gaming Insight (GIN) said this week that it has raised £1 million through issuing convertible loan notes.
The U.K.-based digital media rights and interactive gaming company announced its casino division has achieved first-quarter turnover of more than 300 percent over last year. The influx of cash will be used by Gaming Insight to launch gobarkingmad, its interactive wagering channel for digital television.
Web search engine Alta Vista and celebrity chef Marco Pierre White recently signed contracts with Gaming Insight for their own online casinos using the company's new 3D virtual reality technology.
Magna Public Offering
Magna Entertainment Corp. (MIEC) said Friday that it is filing an amendment to its SEC registration statement as well as its final prospectus with the securities commissions of Canada's provinces.
The statements will detail the company's public offering of 20 million Class A Subordinate shares of voting stock for $6.65 per share in the United States and $10.60 in Canada. The allotment ends on April 10.
IGT Conference Call April 23
International Game Technology (IGT) will host a conference call at 11 a.m. PST on April 23 to coincide with the release of its second-quarter earnings. To participate, domestic callers may call 800-230-1085 and international callers may call 612-332-0107. The passcode is "IGT conference call." The conference will also be available via the Internet at http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=4068.
Reports Released
Bingo.com (BIGR.OB) is reporting yearend revenue of $1.7 million, a 55 percent increase over last year's revenue. However, the company's fourth-quarter revenue dropped 33 percent, to $343,000 from $514,000 in 2000.
Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS) - Yearend Report
Lottery services company GTECH (GTK) received revenue of $274.6 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, an 11.7 percent increase from last year's Q4 revenue of $245.9 million.
GTECH Corp. (GTK) - Yearend Report
GTECH Corp. (GTK) - Fourth-Quarter Report