Nambling Notes - Feb. 20, 2008

Unibet revealed fourth-quarter and full-yearly post-tax profits of £2.3 million and £18.7 million respectively; however, Chief Executive Petter Nylander called the group's performance across 2007 "unsatisfactory." Moreover, Nylander said exceptional charges -- especially those associated with the termination of its cycling sponsorship -- and increased marketing costs "pressured quarterly earnings to unsatisfactory levels." Visit IGN later this week for detailed coverage.

PlayCherry.com, an online casino targeting passengers onboard ocean liners, has launched on the Entraction network. PlayCherry.com is a subsidiary of Swedish gaming group Cherryföretagen, which trades on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

PartyGaming has appointed former Gamebookers head John O'Malia chief games officer.

The British High Court case between William Hill and compulsive gambler Graham Calvert got under way today, with Calvert's barrister, Annelise Day of law firm Four New Square, arguing that William Hill should be held liable because it acted in breach of its own policy designed to protect problem or pathological gamblers. The London Times quotes Day as saying Calvert was prevented from placing bets at all "other major bookmakers" except William Hill, which "negligently sought to encourage the claimant to go on betting sprees of hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time."

China's Xinhua News Agency reports the Chinese Ministry of Public Security uncovered 361,000 gambling cases, arrested 1.13 million gamblers, busted 20,000 gambling rings and confiscated CNY 2.07 billion ($289.8 million) -- all in a year's time.

Two weeks ahead Clarion Gaming's Betmarkets conference, organizers said today that they have drawn a record number of delegates, including Bodog Chief Executive Calvin Ayre, who called the conference a "must-attend event."

London Capital Group, operator of the Capital Spreads Web site, said this morning that full-yearly turnover rose 119 percent to £19 million versus figures from 2006, while EBITDA jumped 138 percent to £9.6 million. LCG Chief Executive Frank Chapman said the results reflect a "very strong performance" from its core products and markets. Chapman added that white-label deals made with Paddy Power and Betfair in 2007 "should bolster 2008 expectations."

Australian daily the Age reports Victorian residents will be able to place horse race bets from home using their televisions and remote controllers via a new subscription service offered by Two Way, scheduled to launch this April. The paper says Two Way inked a A$5.6 million, five-year deal in 2007 with Tabcorp and pay-TV company Foxtel to provide the service. Two Way's new service -- by extension, PM John Brumby's government, which gave the go-ahead for launch -- continues to draw its share of criticism from gambling opponents. Check back next week as IGN's Emily Swoboda provides expanded coverage.

Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. posted a 338 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenues to $241,000 versus $55,000 during Q4 2007. ISWI said this morning that the revenue jump resulted from the successful launch of its U.K.-facing SportXction betting platform in tandem with high-profile licensing agreements with Sportingbet and Ladbrokes.

The British government decided today to set the horse racing levy at 10 percent, which, according to Bloomberg, will see bookmakers pay £100 million annually. The fee goes to fund prize money and programs to breed and care for animals. The government stepped in to arbitrate the fee after talks broke down between the U.K. racing industry and bookmakers including William Hill and Ladbrokes. "It's a matter of serious regret to the government that we have again found ourselves in the position of having to make a determination," Gerry Sutcliffe, junior minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said in a written statement to Parliament in London today.

Reuters reports China will extend its prime-time ban on foreign cartoons by an hour and demand that local television stations seek approval from censors before broadcasting them, the country's media watchdog said in a circular. From May 1, foreign cartoons would be prohibited from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on local channels, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) said, extending a 2006 order that had banned cartoons from 5 pm to 8 pm.

On the London Stock Exchange today, William Hill was down 22p (5.2 percent) to 403.00, London Capital Group was down 10p (2.7 percent) 359.00 while Probability was up 2.50p (3.8 percent) to 68.00. And in Stockholm, Unibet dropped SEK 25.50 -- nearly 13 percent -- to SEK 172.50.