they are ‘nevertheless continu- ing to assist the Competition Commission with its inquiry and are continuing their discussions
in relation to appropriate amendments to the acquisition terms in the light of the refer- ence to the Competition Com-
mission’. The deal involves 23 casinos in Great Britain and three non-operating licences, but not the online brand.
ANDY MURRAY’S US OPEN VICTORY BECAME BETFAIR’S BIGGEST EVER MARKET
BUSINESSBRIEFS
MERGER PROCESS COMPLETE
new CEO new CFO
driver in the quarter, gener- ating revenue of £7.8m, although some of this reflected substitution away from other sporting events. Racing revenue was up 3 per cent, with growth affected by fixture cancellations caused by the poor weather (41 versus nil in the prior year) as well as the substi- tution effect of Euro 2012. In tennis, interest in Andy Murray’s first Wimbledon final led to the match becoming Betfair’s biggest ever market, with over £58m of bets.
Morana added: “Change in the regulatory environ- ment in which we operate has brought challenges in the form of product restric- tions and higher levels of tax- ation. This has recently been illustrated in Spain and Cyprus, which have sought to restrict the products that
operators can offer, and in Germany, where a turnover tax has been implemented that purports to cover all sports betting.”
He also mentioned mobile, which saw the number of bets placed increased by 114 per cent to 15.8m and revenue was up 98 per cent to £8.2m. “Mobile betting goes from strength to strength, reflecting increasing smartphone pen- etration, product enhance- ments and customer familiarity. Mobile usage and revenues doubled and half of all customers in the UK and Ireland placed a mobile bet in the first quarter. We have also continued to deliver important new product upgrades in recent months, including new Android and iPad apps that include our popular Cash Out functionality.”
fortunes
introduction of regulated online betting in January this year and by the acqui- sition of 80 new retail outlets. However, the level of accepted bets in the first half of 2012 declined in Slo- vakia, due to the limits imposed on a number of high rolling individuals which impacted the annual comparison.
While hailing Euro 2012 as a success, the company did have some caveats. It explained: “As there were only minor surprises in results with by and large predictable outcomes,
Fortuna paid-out record winnings which amounted almost to 14m euro (£11.1m). This repre- sents more than a 30 per cent increase when com- pared to Euro 2008 tour- nament. The total group’s gross win from Euro 2012 was approximately 3.3m euro (£2.6m) and the Gross Win margin approx- imately 20 per cent, a respectable performance compared to Fortuna’s European peer group especially competitors with supporting online casino/gaming offers.”
Joel Leonoff, president & CEO of online payment processor Optimal Pay- ments, has said the merger with Neteller has been a success. He said: “The integration and ratio- nalisation of the two busi- nesses is now complete following a reduction in headcount in March 2012, primarily focused on right- sizing the group’s Neteller eWallet business. As a result, we strongly believe that the group is now well positioned for sustained improvement in profitabil- ity.” The firm reported a 37 per cent increase in rev- enues for the first half of 2012 to US$78.9m (£48.9m) with profit before tax reaching $1.7m (£1.1m) - a vast improve- ment on the $4.1m (£2.5m) loss for the first six months of 2011.
GAUSELMANN BUYS PRAESEPE
Praesepe, the land based gaming firm which also operates Beacon Bingo Online, has been acquired by German gambling giant Gauselmann. A new company, Merkur Casino UK Ltd, has been formed to operate the 159 adult gaming centres, nine bingo clubs, five family entertainment centres. Praesepe founder Nick Harding, who will serve as CEO, said: “I am delighted that an organisation of this calibre has made such an investment in our busi- ness and, for that matter, in UK gaming. The finan- cial confidence that we now have will allow us to drive forwards and imple- ment the progressive ini- tiatives which I believe will transform the sectors that we operate in.”
NET ENT EXPECTS Q3 DROP
Net Entertainment has suggested its revenue growth for the third quarter will be impacted by a strong Swedish Krona and the Olympics distract- ing the spend of its cus- tomers into sportsbetting. During the fourth quarter the company said its depreciation level is expected to increase as the projects Live Casino and the development related to the UK entry is completed. The firm added: “Long term Net Entertainment is in a good position and the company estimates that the strate- gic efforts made on Live Casino, the UK entry and mobile games in combi- nation with slot games being available in Italy will generate good revenues during 2013.”
rene@xb-net.com BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2012 49
ACTION IMAGES / JASON CAIRNDUFF LIVEPIC
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