Sportingbet US comeback?

ONLINE gaming company, Sportingbet Plc has reported a first half loss in the six months to 31 January 2012. The root of the loss was down to a drop in European sports betting. The company has a large gaming market in Greece and Spain; a drop in betting there has also had a domino impact on Sportingbet. The group says its operating loss for the half-year was £5.2m against a profit of £18.2m in the equivalent period of 2010/11. Total wagers rose from £1,069m to £1,266m

while net gaming revenue increased from £106.8m to £109.4m. It was also reported in Reuters the US is a potential opportunity for them to make a comeback.  “We are watching the legal position (in the United States), and are talking to other American-based companies about possible joint ventures with them,” McIver said.

Online gambling that has been illegal in all forms in the United States got a boost from the Obama administration late last year through a Justice Department opinion, which cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting. Commenting on the results Chief Executive, Andrew McIver, said: “We have acquired additional regulated businesses in Australia and Denmark and disposed of our Turkish language website. These, together with the movement towards regulation in Spain and Greece, mean that by the end of our year we expect to derive over 75% of our revenues from regulated markets”.

According to Nick Batram at brokers Peel hunt, the strategy to increase revenues from regulated markets is a sound one, and the acquisition of Centrebet “is a transforming deal that is delivering everything expected and more.” The sale of the Turkish language site (which provided 29% of European and emerging market revenues) also dented the figures as the company sought to bring its operations into regulated markets. Australia remains the group’s powerhouse market, and it seems Aussie punters are really getting into betting online, whether via their computers or mobile phones.