Hilton Group I-Gaming Profits Up
Hilton Group plc's (HG) interim results for the six months ended June 30 show that the company's betting and gaming division has increased its profits from betting and gaming by 19.9 percent to £76.5 million this year from £63.8 million last year.
The U.K.-based company said the rise in gaming and betting profits was related to the abolition of the betting tax in October of last year and the increased development of Ladbrokes, its Internet gambling group.
The company's turnover in the first half of this year increased to £2,567.7 million from £1,911.8 million last year.
Internet gambling profits rose from £0.2 million in the first half of 2001 to £5.1 million. Ladbrokes' online gaming services are available in eleven languages and have about 179,000 active customers from 136 countries.
betandwin.com Revenue and Turnover Increase
Austrian bookmaker betandwin.com is reporting an increase in turnover from EUR 10.6 million in the first half of 2001 to EUR 59.4 million in the first half of 2002.
The company's overall second-quarter revenue of EUR 3.731 million is a 247 percent increase from the previous year's first-half result of EUR 1.075 million. betandwin.com is stating that its interim report reflects a six-month period that has brought increased marketing expenses related to the World Cup.
In addition, the group's net winnings--betting and casino turnover minus people's winnings--almost quadrupled compared to the same period in 2001. For the first half of this year, net winnings amounted to EUR 3.438 million, compared with EUR 878,000 last year.
Vice Fund Encourages Investment in Casino Companies
A new mutual fund called Vice Fund is making waves by encouraging investors to put money in industries that other funds won't touch--including cigarettes, weapons and casinos.
Dan Ahrens, the fund's co-portfolio manager, told the Financial Post that the fund will start trading on Sept. 3 and that it has caused considerable interest in the United States and Europe.
The fund's prospectus tells potential investors that people who put 25 percent of their investment in each of the alcohol, tobacco, aerospace/defense and gaming/casino divisions would have outperformed the Standard & Poor's index during a period of one to five years.
"If someone needs to invest in socially responsible funds so they can sleep at night, then that is the right investment for them," Ahrens said. "But I don't think that people should be investing to make political statements. They should invest purely to make money."
PayPal Shareholders File to Sell 1.3 Million Shares
Three shareholders of PayPal Inc. (PYPL) filed on Aug. 29 to sell what amounts to 1.7 million shares of the e-cash company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the shareholders' identities in Form 144s that were released.
Madison Dearborn Capital Partners, which is listed as a director of PayPal, filed to sell 1.3 million shares, a value of $27.9 million, within 90 days.
Federated Kaufman Fund filed to sell 250,000 shares, valued at $5.8 million, and noted Aug. 20 as the sale date.
R.B. Investment and Consulting Co. filed to sell 100,000 shares, a value of $2.3 million, and listed Aug. 21 as the sale date.