In the wake of two arrests in Turkey, and having scaled back its operation targeting the country, Sportingbet will for the meantime carry on with Superbahis.com, an offering that has proven successful in a Turkish online market slim on commercial operators.
"It's business as usual," George Hudson, a spokesman for Sportingbet, told Interactive Gaming News on the release of the company's third-quarter results Tuesday. "The Web site is still operating, and Sportingbet still intends to continue, and is still carrying on, its business."
Having reduced its exposure to Turkey by nearly half between the second and third quarter of this year, revenue from casino and poker -- offerings the company said were "disproportionately popular" with Turkish customers -- was negatively impacted. Casino was down 3 percent, and poker, 18 percent, versus the second quarter of 2008.
From net gaming revenue of £40.7 million, the company revealed £5.6 million, or 13.7 percent, was derived from its Turkey-facing business during the third quarter.
Comparatively, net gaming revenue from Spain, Greece and the rest of Europe outpaced that from Turkey, while revenue from Australia, £5.2 million, fell just behind.
Sportingbet's decision to more equally distribute revenue-generative activity across its operation follows its exit from the United States market. Prior to October 2006, when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act took effect, the company derived 65 percent of its gaming revenue from American residents.
Currently, no single country represents more than 20 percent of its business, a fact which, combined with strong trading in its core sports betting offering, yielded cautious but optimistic reviews among Sportingbet's brokers this quarter.
"We are not changing our forecasts, given the uncertainties the group has in Turkey," Richard Carter and Wyn Ellis, analysts at Numis Securities in London, wrote in a research note Tuesday. "But if the current strong trading momentum continues, then we view, the risk to our forecasts is to the upside."
Looking ahead, indeed, it is unclear how Sportingbet will proceed in Turkey, a market protected by legislation prohibiting unlicensed commercial operators -- domestic and foreign -- from offering Internet-based games of chance to its residents.
Equally unclear remains the situation surrounding the company's two employees jailed in Istanbul.
"Still no developments with it," Mr. Hudson said. "The Turkish legal system is very different than that of the U.K. It's very opaque and very sketchy.
"There still have been no formal charges made," he continued, "but lawyers have been appointed by Sportingbet to represent their two members of staff, and they're doing the best they can."
Across the Internet gambling industry, a small number of companies, including Betsson, a Sweden-based operator, continue to target Turkish residents. In its first-quarter results, released April 30, Betsson said that 41 percent of gross profits derived from its European operation, which includes Turkey.
Several operators, including Ladbrokes, Betfair, Unibet, Bwin Interactive Entertainment and 888 Holdings, maintain Turkish-language Web sites targeting Turkish expatriates, exclusively. Still others, including PartyGaming, have withdrawn from the market entirely.
For the quarter, Sportingbet's operating profit was up 143 percent to £7.3 million from £3 million in the same quarter last year, with operational profit margins having doubled to 17.9 percent against the previous-year period. Sports betting revenue totaled £20.9 million, up 38 percent from £15.1 million during the year-ago quarter.
"Much now depends on how well Sportingbet holds on to this momentum in their slower Q4 and Q1," Simon J. Holliday, a partner with Global Betting and Gaming Consultants in the United Kingdom, wrote in an e-mail to IGN on Tuesday. "Either Sportingbet is eating into other operators' share or perhaps there are parts of Europe whose markets are not as mature as we thought."
James Hollins, an analyst with Daniel Stewart & Co, and analysts with Numis retained their "buy" recommendations on Sportingbet shares.
Mr. Holliday declined when asked to comment on Sportingbet's Turkey-facing prospects.
Mr. Carter of Numis declined comment on the company's Turkey-facing prospects, as well as on Tuesday's note.