Market Briefs (April 21-25, 2003)
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.
Hilton Shares Look Up
Reuters reported last week that shares of the Hilton Group plc (HG), which owns Ladbrokes, a land-based and interactive bookmaker, have increased in price since U.S.-based Hilton Hotels released favorable results.
At one point on Wednesday, Hilton shares were up 6 percent to 155 pence. Mark Reed, a leisure analyst at Teather & Greenwood, said that leisure stocks are destined to rebound at some point.
"A lot of the leisure stocks have taken a real battering this year because of the fears about the Iraq war, so they're probably going to be at the forefront of any rally," Reed said.
Former CryptoLogic Leader Got Hefty Exit Bonus
When Jean Noelting, the former president and CEO of CryptoLogic Inc. (CRYP) left his post at the company last July, he received a large exit payment on top of his regular salary, David Paddon of the Canadian Press reported last week.
When Noelting resigned in July of 2002, he received a payment of CA$510,000, the newspaper stated. That amount was in addition to the CA$202,166 he took home in base salary and the CA$6,000 he got in other compensation. Noelting held onto 250,000 of the options he received.
Noelting left the company after its investment in Sports.com ended up in CryptoLogic having to write down a US$10.5 million investment it had made in Sports.com. CryptoLogic is located in Toronto and develops software for online casinos.
Noelting was given CA$360,577 in base salary and CA$216,200 in bonuses and other compensation in 2001. The Canadian Press said the figures were state in documents from CryptoLogic that had been recently released.
Magna Entertainment Corp. Conference Call April 30
Magna Entertainment Corp. (MIEC) will release its first-quarter results and hold a conference call on April 30 at 10 a.m. EST. To participate in the call, dial 1-888-774-1985 or 416-641-6445 from overseas. The conference will be Webcast at www.magnaentertainment.com. Recordings of the conference will be available by calling1-800-558-5253 and entering the number 21142226. A replay of the call will also be available on the company's Web site.
Penn National Gaming Conference Call May 1
Penn National Gaming Inc. (PENN) will release its first-quarter financial results at 7 a.m. EST on May 1. The company, which recently was in the news for the gaming adds it placed on Yahoo, will also hold a conference call at 10 a.m. EST on May 1. The call will be available via telephone at 212-676-4902 or 415-537-1987 or via the Web site www.companyboardroom.com. A recording of the call will be accessible until May 15 by calling 800-633-8284 or 402-977-9140 and entering the access code 21141361. The conference will also be archived on the company boardroom site for 30 days.