Sportingbet Recovering the Margins
Sportingbet (SBT.L) is the recent beneficiary of good margins on sports betting and expects its Paradise Poker site to attract more players in the coming months, CEO Andy McIver told Reuters on Thursday. "Sporting margins have been good; we had a good December and a pretty good January," McIver said. Soccer accounts for about 70 percent of Sportingbet's European operations. McIver also told the news source that a Spanish-language version of its poker site was due to launch within a month, with a Brazil-focused site to follow. Losses sustained after the enactment of prohibitive U.S. I-gaming legislation, however, make a dividend unlikely in the year ending July 2007, he said.
Sportingbet, along with most other London-listed online gambling companies, sustained losses when the U.S. government enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October 2006. The company sold its U.S.-facing operations just hours before President Bush signed the bill into law on Oct. 13 and dropped over £1 billion ($1.9 billion) in value from its shares following the enactment.
Ladbrokes Acquires Sponsio
Ladbrokes (LAD.L) on Jan. 23 announced its acquisition of Scandinavia-focused Sponsio for £36 million ($71.5 million), with an additional £4 million ($7.9 million) due contingent on future performance. Scandinavia represents Ladbrokes' next largest market after the United Kingdom.
DoJ Banking Probe Devalues Major I-Gaming Companies
The latest probe into online gambling in the United States left some companies feeling the pinch. Shares in some online gaming firms tumbled on Jan. 22 with the news that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) had demanded information from some of the world's biggest investment banks regarding their involvement with Internet gambling. The DoJ ordered the banks to hand over all e-mails, telephone records and documents connected with Internet gaming firms. Shares in online gaming group PartyGaming (PRTY.L) fell 9.8 percent by 9:00 a.m. GMT, while rival Sportingbet (SBT.L) was down 3.4 percent and 888 (888.L) was down 3.5 percent.
Trading Update
London-listed online operator 32Red plc (TTR.L) on Thursday posted a 47 percent rise in full-year revenue but reiterated its December warning of full-year combined operating results falling "significantly" below current market forecasts due to poor trading at BetDirect, which it acquired in June. The company revealed in December that it was in breach of its loan agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) due to its acquisition of Bet Direct.
Nonetheless, the company said on Thursday that its full-year revenue rose to £14.36 million ($28.1 million), including £3.45 million ($6.7 million) from Bet Direct. Furthermore, total active customers rose to 84,595 from 17,597 in 2005 and new customers rose to 42,866 from 14,451 in 2005. Bet Direct, however saw a fall in active customers to 46,139 and new customers to 11,115 since its acquisition.
The company said total casino revenues rose 5 percent to £9.42 million and poker revenues rose 77 percent to £1.49 million. However, casino player yield fell 45 percent to £467 ($915) and poker player yield fell 30 percent to £82 ($160), the company added.
32Red said it continues its discussions with its bankers and continues to meet all interest and capital repayments as they fall due.
Reporting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (BSY.L) will announce its interim results for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006, via RNS, at 7.00 a.m. GMT on Wednesday.