’INTENSE’ INTERFACE
On Friday,
Bwin Interactive Entertainment A.G. will introduce its new betting interface, the company announced on Wednesday.
Scheduled to coincide with the start of the second half of the German Bundesliga, the live interface launch promises to be “more intense” than before.
“We specifically harnessed the power of the Web 2.0 generation in order to offer our customers a live betting experience they have never seen before”, said Manfred Bodner, the company’s co-chief executive, in a prepared statement.
“With its new offering, Bwin is demonstrating its lead, pushing the limits of what is technologically feasible,” Mr. Bodner added.
New features will include the ability to arrange the interface to coincide with highlighted events as well as easy access to relevant game stats.
EXPANDING
Through a distribution agreement with the Vectra Group, a cable operator in Poland, The Poker Channel has expanded its reach into Eastern Europe, the company announced on Thursday.
The Poker Channel, owned by Gaming Media Group, said the new agreement will bring the channel to 16 million cable and satellite homes in 17 European markets.
“Our expansion in to Eastern Europe further illustrates the growing demand for poker and gaming on TV,” said Chris White, commercial director at The Poker Channel, in a prepared statement.
On Friday, the company plans to launch a promotional campaign to all Vectra’s digital basic subscribers.
PERUVIAN PURSUITS
Corporación Galena, an affiliate of Managed Gaming Solutions, was granted a 20-year mobile lotto license for Peru, Managed Gaming Solutions announced on Wednesday.
According to the company, the new license explicitly defines mobile lotto to be based on text messaging, which will enable Peruvian players to play mobile lottery directly from their handsets without having to buy tickets from retailers.
“The lottery phenomenon in Peru is growing rapidly,” said Tero Turunen, the company’s chairman, in a prepared statement. “Here, gambling has a strong tradition and more than nine million mobile users out of a total population of 28.7 million people bring us perfect opportunity for further success.”
RAISING CAPITAL
As profits slipped for Tabcorp Holdings, the Melbourne-based gaming behemoth, in the first half of the 2008-9 financial year, the company announced a capital-raising campaign to amass 300 million Australian dollars.
Net profit after tax was posted at 263.2 million Australian dollars, which the company said was down 3.7 percent after absorbing the Victorian license amortization.
In conjunction with results, Tabcorp announced that it has launched an underwritten institutional placement of new shares to raise approximately 300 million Australian dollars.
According to the company, the new shares are expected to be issued to participants under the placement on Feb. 5 and will rank equally with existing shares.
“Whilst we expect that economic conditions will become more difficult in the coming months, our business is well placed for the economic environment and we will continue to concentrate on the basics,” said Elmer Funke Kupper, the company’s chief executive, in a prepared statement.
Mr. Kupper added that the casinos division performance was below expectations, specifically mentioning New South Wales.
He also warned of “significant additional charges” against Tabcorp’s revenue in the coming year from new wagering product fees and higher gaming taxes in Queensland.
Following the announcement of the Queensland tax hike in December, which begins in July 2009, Tabcorp estimated that if the tax increase took place in 2008, it would have cut 20 million Australian dollars out its net profit.
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