Nambling Notes - April 24, 2008

The Remote Gambling Association, a U.K-based industry body, said this week that the European Commission's investigation into the selective enforcement of gambling law by U.S. authorities is "picking up pace." In an internal circular to RGA members, Clive Hawkswood, the association's chief executive, wrote:

"The probability is that they (European Commission) will be casting their net wider than we had at first thought. At the same time or shortly after they will pass questions via us to RGA members to help them gauge the damage, real and potential, done to the industry by US actions."

Copenhagen Post, a Danish daily, reported last Wednesday that the Danish government -- in conjunction with the New Alliance, a centrist political party -- is "investigating the possibility of allowing international competition on the national gambling circuit." Anders Samuelsen, MEP and member of New Alliance, told the paper that he planned to introduce imminently a proposal calling for the end of Danske Spil's gambling monopoly. "Either the (European) commission will come and take it away, or the monopoly will over time lose its footing as more players seek markets abroad," he said. Danske Spil did not comment.

With regard to the reach of the European Commission in such matters, however, Henrik Norsk Hoffmann, an attorney with Lett, a Danish law firm, in January told Interactive Gaming News the following:

"I sincerely hope that a lawsuit before the ECJ (European Court of Jusice) is coming very soon, but that being said I think the industry overestimates the influence the commission in Brussels and the ECJ in Luxemburg have on the member states’ national gaming monopolies in the European Union."

London Capital Group, the spread betting specialist, said at its annual shareholders' meeting Wednesday that it has performed "well" in the first quarter, adding strong underlying growth has put it ahead of management's expectations. The company said growth in its spread betting product is "accelerating" due, in part, to new white label partnerships with Paddy Power and Betfair. In February, the company revealed a 119 percent rise in full-yearly turnover to $37.4 million. It said then that partnerships with Paddy Power and Betfair "should bolster 2008 expectations."

Reuters reports Tabcorp Ltd., the Australian gambling giant, has withdrawn a $150 million private bond issue -- a long-term funding strategy -- in light of recent changes to gambling law that could see it and Tatts Group Ltd. lose their duopoly over slot machines in Victoria by 2012.

Marketing Week, a U.K.-based industry publication, reports TBG London, the Internet advertising agency, has won the digital media account for Ladbrokes, previously handled by Vizeum. TBG will handle search and display ads for all of Ladbrokes' dot-com products, and its first campaign will support a new Tomb Raider game. Simon Mansell, managing director of TBG, told the magazine that its strategy for Ladbrokes.com will consider "the entire user journey, from the moment someone logs on to the time they start playing an online Ladbrokes game."

Andrey Glukhov, an analyst with Brean Murray Carret & Co., has given shares in GigaMedia Ltd. a "buy" recommendation and suggested the company could experience a 40 percent rise in sales across 2008. Mr. Glukhov set a $22 price target for the company's shares, which trade on Nasdaq. Shares in GigaMedia, a Taiwan-based I-gaming developer and operator, were up 24 cents, or 1.57 percent, to $15.54 in mid-afternoon trading.

On the London Stock Exchange Thursday, London Capital Group was down 1.75p, or 0.5 percent, to 322, Playtech was down 10p, or 2.2 percent, to 435 and Probability was down 5p, or 7.5 percent, to 62.