Betfair Opens Books to Prove Itself
Betfair, a private company, revealed its financial statistics for the year ended April 30, 2004 so that, in the words of Chief Executive Stephen Hill, "We can, once and for all, silence the unfounded allegations from certain parts of the industry that we are not paying our way." Betfair reported a 52 percent increase in pre-tax profits to £13.28 million on the year off of revenue that doubled to £66.7 million. The company paid £9 million in taxes to the British government and contributed £3.9 million of its profit to the racing industry. The release of the report has fueled speculation that Betfair is preparing to float, but the company insists that there are no plans to go public, at least not before the United Kingdom's new Gambling Bill becomes law.
Chartwell Raises $10 million
Canadian I-gaming software developer Chartwell Technology Inc. (CWH.TO) has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Clarus Securities Inc. through which Chartwell will sell the underwriters an aggregate of 2,150,538 common shares of the company at a price of $4.65 per common share by way of a private placement. The deal will result in gross proceeds of $10 million, and the underwriters have been granted an option to increase the size of the offering by up to $1 million at the same price per share.
ISWI Raises $3 million
Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. (ISWI), whose subsidiary Global Interactive Gaming Limited, licenses the SportXction play-by-play sports betting platform, has signed an agreement with two institutional investors for a private placement of $3 million in preferred shares. The private placement will consist of the company's Series B convertible preferred stock, convertible to common stock at a conversion price of $3.07 per share.
Reports Released
Bingo.com Inc. (BIGR.OB), which operate a bingo portal with over 1 million registered users, has filed its financial report for the third quarter of 2004 ended Sept. 30. The company recorded $275,000 in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 11 percent over the previous quarter and 16 percent over last year's third quarter. Net profit for the quarter was up to $40,415, compared to a loss of $137,000 over the previous quarter and a loss of $26,000 over the same period last year.
Bingo.com Inc. - Third Quarter Report
Austria-based betting company BETandWIN.com Interactive Entertainment AG has published its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The company recorded a new record high turnover of 222 million euros, an increase of 154 percent over the same period last year. Net winnings also soared, rising 123 percent from last year to reach 11.5 million euros, despite favorable results from customers. Other highlights for the period include EBITDA of 1.1 million euros and logging 900,000 total registered customers.
BETandWIN.com Interactive Entertainment AG - Third Quarter Report
Gaming Corporation Plc (GMC.L), owner and operator of gaming portal Casino.co.uk, has released its financial results for the year ended Sept. 30, 2004, boasting a 50 percent increase in turnover to £13 million, compared to last year's £8.6 million. The group received £5.5 million in the first half of the year before improving to £7.5 million for the second half of the year. Gross profit for the year rose by 57 percent. The group logged over 1 million unique visitors and 15 million page views in the month of September alone.
Gaming Corporation Plc - Annual Report