Reporting
Italy-based lotteries operator Lottomatica S.p.A. reported annual revenue growth of 61 percent to 1.2 billion according to its 2006 full year results, released Monday. The company said that, despite strong revenue growth, net income fell $1.06 million from $151.8 million in 2005. The drop-off in net income reflects its acquisition of U.S. based gaming technology company GTECH in August, the company said. "We delivered another strong year of performance in 2006," noted Marco Sala, managing director of Lottomatica's Italian operations. "For our Italian operations, total lottery wagers grew 19 percent year-over-year, and we experienced continued growth in the Commercial Services segment. With our recent sports betting award, we look forward to launching and developing our Italian sports betting business."
Click here to view Lottomatica's full year results.
Online operator 32Red on Tuesday released its full year results, which revealed a pretax loss of £3.7 million ($7.1 million) as an "abnormally" high number of winning favorites in U.K. horseracing markets coupled with unfavorable football results adversely impacted gross win margins in its Betdirect business. The company said that, in light of its performance, no dividend will be issued.
Click here to view 32Red's full year results.
Improved margins and increased sales helped Taiwan-based software provider GigaMedia more than quadruple its profits in Q4 2006, it said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. Net income climbed to $9.9 million or $0.17 a share, from $2.4 million, or $0.04 cents a share, for Q4 2005. Quarterly revenue came to $30.1 million, up from $11.8 million the previous year. Looking ahead, the company said its Asia-facing online gaming business would deliver first-quarter revenue growth.
Click here to view GigaMedia's fourth quarter results.
UIGEA Repeal Rumor Boosts I-gaming Stocks
The Times said Wednesday that I-gaming stocks were up on "an assortment of rehearsed theories, including a suggestion that U.S. gaming laws may be relaxed, and that the Budget, on March 21, may be positive for the sector." Bloomberg said that shares in PartyGaming "rose the most since 2005," gaining 12.50 percent to 42.75p on the LSE.
Stocks also jumped the following day after various news sources reported that U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., had made known his intention to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Frank told Reuters that details on the legislation would be made public in the coming weeks.