Investors' Room :: SPORTINGBET - MoneyAM - Free Share Prices, Stock Quotes, Charts, News, Level2

moneyplus - 23 Dec 2003 18:51

Anyone holding these? Evil K drove the price right down and now they seem to be recovering---are they worth considering now they seem to have sorted out their finances?

anotherxiii - 24 Dec 2003 09:58 - 2 of 465

hi
yes i'm stuck with a few in a shareclub....

luckily not personal holding.

one member liked them and put up a decent case, so we went in

OH DEAR

i'll be glad if we get our money back.

the more buyers that get in the higher the price then i can get out!

jeffmack - 24 Dec 2003 15:00 - 3 of 465

moneyplus

"Evil K drove the price down" get real, the finances were crap, thats what drove the price down

sinutab - 28 Dec 2003 12:02 - 4 of 465

i think it was american law that prove way down for sbt.

americans outlaw gambling on net. sbt move in a big way in

asia and europe and things become ok. evil he start to

lose his money.

moneyplus - 28 Dec 2003 18:48 - 5 of 465

Thanks sinutab, I have a feeling SBT are on their way back up in 2004 having sorted out their finances, maybe back to 1.50!

gallick - 09 May 2004 20:00 - 6 of 465

Well these seem to be really smoking at the moment! It is good to hear that it is the Americans who are doing two thirds of the gambling on the sites. I've just opened a position in SBT for the first time, so if that steep upward share price line would like to continue for a while that would be just dandy!!

gallick - 11 Jun 2004 16:45 - 7 of 465

Ladbrokes reckon that 300 million worth of bets will be staked on Euro 2004, which will be more than any previous sporting event (250 mill at last world cup). The England France game will take more money than any single contest (30 mill), higher than the last world cup final.

All good news for SBT which continues to soar.

regards
gk

mitzy - 14 Jun 2004 23:15 - 8 of 465

Maybe back to 160p..

ThirdEye - 15 Jun 2004 21:48 - 9 of 465

Good company, been through the toughest of times with EK & longest bear market for 70 years, proves management quality imo.

Also issued at equivilent of 7p on Ofex, so a nice multi-bagger.

gallick - 15 Jun 2004 22:20 - 10 of 465

It seems as if the government, unexpectedly, have not given the green light to the deregulation of the gambling/casino industry (or at least have watered down proposals). This has hit Stanley Leisure, Rank and William Hill but has not affected SBT/ internet gambling . Perhaps this contributes to recent strength. That said, most bets on the sites are placed by Americans, who have their own gambling rules.

rgrds
gk

Juzzle - 11 Nov 2004 07:08 - 11 of 465

and Shmag this morning says...?

Kivver - 11 Nov 2004 08:56 - 12 of 465

Buy!!!!

moneyplus - 11 Nov 2004 15:18 - 13 of 465

Sad to say I sold out and missed the rise!! Ah well can't win em all.

xmortal - 14 Nov 2004 20:22 - 14 of 465

goodnews for u.

From teh FT: unfortunately this article is for subscribers

The World Trade Organisation issued a formal verdict upholding the right of Antigua and Barbuda to offer online gambling services to US punters. Nov 11 2004 02:00 | Read

HUSTLER - 15 Nov 2004 20:37 - 15 of 465

hi xmortal
online gambling is already huge and will become even more
profitable in the future as new areas are covered and barriers are lifted
this stock looks soild for the mid term as the house always wins,
it also helps people like NETeller who handles the online transactions
for paradise poker sportingbets recent aqusition.

regards HUSTLER

xmortal - 15 Nov 2004 22:08 - 16 of 465

it is worth a punt imo. is NETeller listed in the LSE? What is the epic, cant find it.

gallick - 15 Nov 2004 23:58 - 17 of 465

>> exmortal NLR - AIM listed

moneyplus - 16 Nov 2004 00:58 - 18 of 465

Xmortal -NLR has rocketed since the float but check out the thread the feeling is that there is plenty of mileage yet! Special New Issue thread.

moneyplus - 20 Jan 2005 01:35 - 19 of 465

Anyone believe the takeover rumours on SBT they are going steadily north. Any comments?

hokistar - 20 Jan 2005 10:39 - 20 of 465

It wouldn't surprise me if they are not on someones radar since SBTs aquisition of paradise poker. Online poker is growing massively and I belive that this is the true reason for the share price performance as there is huge scope for more growth. This has brought in the institutions. I don't know if you have played poker online but it is certainly addictive and lends itself well to an online format. The numbers playing the online tables are listed on every poker site, so you can actually keep an eye on whether the site is growing or not.

moneyplus - 20 Jan 2005 12:19 - 21 of 465

This chatroom is addictive enough I'm wary of getting into poker!

hokistar - 20 Jan 2005 14:27 - 22 of 465

You can play with "play money" on most sites, and not get into debt!

Fred1new - 20 Jan 2005 17:54 - 23 of 465

Just Tempted to!

HUSTLER - 20 Jan 2005 19:00 - 24 of 465

my broker informed me today sporting bet are formulating new
online games including a version of backgammon for the asian
market,if that takes off plenty of upside left

regards HUSTLER

hokistar - 21 Jan 2005 09:56 - 25 of 465

Thanks Hustler. There is plenty of upside anyway, as the Paradise aquisition has not been fully integrated. They will either be on the aquisition trail or be aquired themselves. The market is growing fast.

the uptrend is relentless at the moment, so, I do feel that there is likely to be a short term pull back soon though as people take their profits. This will need to be re-rated.

Bones - 01 Feb 2005 15:28 - 26 of 465

For the record, I understand that The Poker Channel will start on the Sky TV Network mid March 2005. That should encourage plenty more willing donors to the internet tables which is good news for me (the poker newbies are easy prey) and good news for Sportingbet and Neteller. Also, don't forget William Hill and Ladbrokes who have big flourishing poker sites already.

Tenereds - 08 Mar 2005 11:22 - 27 of 465

Any views on current sp which has dropped from 350p to circa 313p in last couple of days. I bought @90p last year and whilst appreciating profit taking recently I don't want to lose out again as I did with the fall of OKR sp.

Should I sell now?

Fred1new - 08 Mar 2005 13:25 - 28 of 465

I think if I was sitting on your profit I would take it. It has been trading within a narrow band. I think to-day drop takes it out of its normal band. I believe there was a slightly negative opinion in the IC. Also the ad and obv indicators have turned down ROC also down. Take your profit I sold yesterday at 332p. Luck

You ca buy back in later if the trend is positive for your dealing.

Tenereds - 08 Mar 2005 15:17 - 29 of 465

Many thanks for your views, Fred1new

caballero blanco - 09 Mar 2005 08:55 - 30 of 465

> Tenereds - don't be greedy!

2Bob - 27 Mar 2005 22:41 - 31 of 465

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/03/27/ccbreak27.xml

Online poker is suddenly the biggest game in town. Already this year, it has emerged that two of the world's biggest poker sites, PartyGaming and Cassava Enterprises, which owns the 888.com online casino, are considering floating on the UK stock market.

They hope to tap into the huge investor interest in online gaming stocks that has boosted shares in Sportingbet, the leading online gaming group, by more than 300 per cent in the past year, driven partly by its acquisition of Paradise Poker.

But Sportingbet's shares still look cheap. They trade on 24 times this year's forecast earnings, according to Investec. This may seem racy, particularly compared with other UK gaming stocks, such as Rank, Hilton and William Hill, which trade on multiples of about 14.

But Sportingbet is forecast to deliver earnings growth of more than 40 per cent a year. In contrast, Ebay is forecast to grow earnings by a mere 30 per cent, yet the online auction group's shares trade on 48 times this year's earnings, according to Merrill Lynch.

Why does Sportingbet trade at such a discount to other fast-growing internet stocks? After all, it makes profits and generates huge quantities of cash since it has little debt and is based in Gibraltar where it pays hardly any tax. Nor is there much doubt of its growth potential.

Online gambling accounts for less than 5 per cent of the gross win of the global gaming industry - a figure that is expected to soar as punters become more familiar with online gaming and broadband internet connections rise.

What is holding the shares back is regulatory fears. Sportingbet makes most of its poker revenues in the US, where the status of online gaming is ambiguous. US law prohibits the use of telephones to take bets. Sportingbet, like other online gaming sites, is located offshore, beyond the reach of the authorities.

But regulators have tried to control matters via the banks that process transactions and other affiliated businesses. This can make life more complicated for online gaming sites, but not impossible. At worst, regulators will succeed only in slowing growth. Sportingbet's investors will still be left to share a big pot.

2Bob - 27 Mar 2005 22:41 - 32 of 465

http://www.thisismoney.com/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=399226&in_page_id=19

Big rewards, big risks in poker deal
27 March 2005

ONLINE poker is a red-hot sector for investors. The possible flotations this year of Party Gaming - the company behind the world's most popular poker website - and internet casino owner Cassava have captured the imagination.

Party Gaming, which owns the Party Poker site, could boast a price tag of 3bn, enough to see it into the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies.

Fuelled by lottery-style jackpots offered via online tournaments, the global online poker market is enjoying spectacular growth. It was worth 318m in 2003, 750m last year and is expected to be 1.2bn in 2005. Operators take a cut from each pot, known as the rake. So the more poker hands played, the greater the profit.

A leading UK-listed operator offering excellent exposure to all this action is Sportingbet. It was a large, unloved sports bookmaker until last year's 169m purchase of Paradise Poker.

That transformed Sportingbet, led by chief executive Nigel Payne, adding 775,000 new customers, taking its total to 2.2m, while providing a kicker to the shares. Like its new owner, Paradise's main market is America, where nearly three-quarters of its player base comes from.

Paradise is ranked four in the world but should benefit from being the only live poker site with a sports betting operation. Over time that should also help to protect Paradise's margins, currently a mind-boggling 64%. By contrast the sports betting side has much lower margins - about 5%. Analysts reckon Paradise's profits will overtake those of Sportingbet's core business by next year.

Midas verdict: This is a tough call. The main risk is regulatory. Online poker's legal status in the US is unclear. Some law-makers argue it is a game of skill and should not be legislated like other gaming. But the Justice Department sees it as a game of chance and has stymied efforts to licence internet poker, arguing it violates several federal laws, including the 1961 Wire Act.

Sportingbet is also exposed to the weak dollar and there is also the risk that online poker may be just a passing fad. Sportingbet's shares have had a tremendous run, touching 349p this month before retreating to 271p as profit-takers moved in. But with brokers forecasting pre-tax profits this year of 53m rising to 78.5m in 2006, the stock trades on an undemanding price to earnings ratio of 20 dropping to 15. Having fallen by more than a third from their recent peak, we see an opportunity to invest and recommend a speculative buy

2Bob - 27 Mar 2005 22:42 - 33 of 465

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1543316_1,00.html

Focus: Poker crazy [page 3 of article refers to Sportingbet]

2Bob - 27 Mar 2005 22:43 - 34 of 465

Betfair pair odds on for 700m float

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1542939,00.htmlt

moneyplus - 28 Mar 2005 11:44 - 35 of 465

NLR and GMC are also good companies in for the ride. I foolishly sold out of SBT at 25p when Evil rubbished them he's now trying the same thing with NLR--I won't be falling for his tricks again!!

skreen - 28 Mar 2005 15:25 - 36 of 465

At the moment they are trading on far too high a prospective earnings ratio and are best avoided in favour of better value elsewhere.

Paulo2 - 28 Mar 2005 16:30 - 37 of 465

Quite a statement given both companies are due to report in the next couple of weeks. I'm in both NLR and GMC and happy to be so. Will re-evaluate when I see the figures.

pension271 - 08 Apr 2005 07:48 - 38 of 465

Good new for this sector:

Sportingbet PLC
08 April 2005

For immediate release
8 April 2005

Sportingbet Plc
('Sportingbet' or the 'Company')

The Board of Sportingbet notes the publication yesterday of the World Trade
Organisation ('WTO') decision to uphold the principal original rulings in the
trade dispute between the United States and Antigua over online gambling. These
rulings found that the United States has not complied with its obligations under
the General Agreement on Trade in Services ('GATS'). In yesterday's ruling, the
Appellate Body of the WTO recommended that the Dispute Settlement Body request
the United States to bring its measures into conformity with its GATS
obligations.

Sportingbet welcomes this development and looks forward to continuing its
efforts to promote the regulation of the industry in the United States.

The Board also notes the successful passage of the UK Gambling Bill, which
includes provisions for the regulation of online gambling. Sportingbet looks
forward to working with the new Gambling Commission and awaits with interest
clarification of the new regulatory framework and the level of taxation that
will be levied on UK licensed online gambling operators.

pension271 - 08 Apr 2005 08:36 - 39 of 465

Times:8.4.05:
Sportingbet, the AIM-listed online gambling company, added 14p to 275p as dealers mulled over the implications of a World Trade Organisation ruling in favour of Antigua in a protracted dispute with the US. The ruling was hailed as a landmark victory that brings the legalisation of internet gambling in the US, where Sportingbet is one of the biggest players, a step closer.

pension271 - 29 Apr 2005 07:50 - 40 of 465

Sportingbet said it has enjoyed a good third quarter and expects operating profit before interest and goodwill amortisation for the period not to be less than 19m.

In a trading update, the company said sports betting volumes during the period have been strong and there has been some improvement in margin compared with the first half.

The poker, casino and gaming have also continued to perform well.

Sportingbet will announce its third quarter results and cumulative results for the nine months ending April 30th 2005 on June 2nd.

Hope this is good for the sector on the whole - what with NLR pain of last few days??
Any one anything to add?

ateeq180 - 03 May 2005 15:16 - 41 of 465

Looking good,with some good buying in the last half hour.

pension271 - 16 May 2005 10:54 - 42 of 465

16 May 2005

SPORTINGBET PLC

Notification of Third Quarter Results

Sportingbet Plc will be announcing its third quarter and cumulative results for
the nine months ended 30 April 2005 on Thursday 2 June 2005. There will be a
presentation for analysts at the offices of Ashurst, Broadwalk House, 5 Appold
Street, London, EC2A 2HA at 09.30.

Chiva20 - 16 May 2005 12:13 - 43 of 465

Hi 271,

Do you hold Sportingbet? Do you think this caused the drop today? If so any ideas why? TA suggests it should start climbing back to 320 resistance. Sportingbet have fabulou scredntials and profits are alledgedly soaring, any idea what's holding the sp back?

pension271 - 16 May 2005 13:19 - 44 of 465

Hi Chiva
Yes i hve been a fan for a long time , though bought in also at the ressistance level at aroung 3.20 at a time . Have added on weakness twice since then. Mid April and late April, shares mag and some news through Digitallook set a target price of around 3.75. Current weakness I think is due to the sector as whole suffering, I also hold some in UKB,WMH, NLR( which accepts payments for this sector). All these too are down. No particular news I know for the drop - but if you look at buys/sells last 20 odd days - the buys have far outweighted the sells.
p/271

Chiva20 - 16 May 2005 13:27 - 45 of 465

Suspected it was sector sentiment. I hold NLR aswell and hence have greyed horrendously the last few months. Fingers crossed for a lift in the next couple of weeks building up to results. Thanks for the feedback.

Chiva

daves dazzlers - 16 May 2005 14:00 - 46 of 465

Afternoon all , first visit here but i notice its below the 2.65 ,am i right in thinking a director bought 35.000 at that price .. 2.50 would be a good entry point but its just one i am watching at the moment lol..

pension271 - 19 May 2005 11:23 - 47 of 465

News from shares mag - 19.5.05
Spreads on the 100 largest AIM stocks are set to narrow as new AIM indices unveiled this week prompted higher trading volumes and attracted more institutional investors. The LSE says institutional investors are waiting to create tracker funds based on the AIM 100 and AIM UK50 - the 50 largest UK AIM stocks, headed by 870m SPORTINGBET (SBT:AIM)
Having an AIM50 will encourage some index funds to follow and that could have a positive effect in share prices.
Others near the top of the AIM UK 50 are NETeller(NLR:AIM), Monsoon(MSN:AIM),Regal Pet(RPT:AIM) and Peter Hambro Mining (POG:AIM)

pension271 - 19 May 2005 12:02 - 48 of 465

Also at shares mag. : Buy @ 262.5 Target 305
2006 growth forecast 45%

Fred1new - 19 May 2005 13:14 - 49 of 465

I know it is up at this moment (probably result of Shares focus) but the overall trend at the moment is down. If you have caught the bottom of the market good for you but I think it will go down further over next 5-10 days.

pension271 - 19 May 2005 13:56 - 50 of 465

Fred1New - with respect - do you know of some facts that back up your comment - it would help - as at least two sources recent are very upbeat about this. I normally rely on such reports ( not that they are always correct).
Thanks. p/271

Fred1new - 19 May 2005 16:09 - 51 of 465

Pension, I admit to following the charts more and more and buying and selling on changes in trend etc.. But before I buy I do check some of the fundamentals to try avoiding a pig in a poke. I don't think SBT is such.

I bought SBT 20/1/05 at 208 and 24/1/05 at 221p selling 7/3/2005 at 332p. I have been following it fairly regularly since but the trend to me is still down
There is a bounce to-day but I would wait for further evidence of trend change. ICV I believe from memory was a little luke warm to the "gaming online" shares a few weeks back, although i still think they are good cash delivering possibles. I stand to the side for a little while.

pension271 - 19 May 2005 16:56 - 52 of 465

Thanks Fred1 - p/271

jimmy b - 24 May 2005 13:55 - 53 of 465

SBT have Q3 results out on June 2nd ,, does anyone have any info

Fred1new - 24 May 2005 14:39 - 54 of 465

On the 6/4/2005 M Blandford (DCH) sold 6.5 million. Not sure why but a little suprised the share price hasn't dropped further. I don't at present hold any. Just watching.

jimmy b - 24 May 2005 14:48 - 55 of 465

It,s on the up, but thats worth further research , thanks Fred.

Sequestor - 24 May 2005 14:52 - 56 of 465

held these for years since they were Rodime, still looking for a takeover-lol!!!

dikytree - 24 May 2005 17:41 - 57 of 465

Added more of these today - Great future!

dikytree.

dikytree - 25 May 2005 10:40 - 58 of 465

Added again!

pension271 - 25 May 2005 11:36 - 59 of 465

dikytree - just to make you feel that you are not alone - been with SBT for long time now and have been adding on , on any weakness - lets hope early June rewards the patience.
p/271

pension271 - 03 Jun 2005 08:25 - 60 of 465

With such good results other day and high up predictions as well - it is difficult to understand the drop in price - can anyone throw some light as to why??? p/271

gallick - 03 Jun 2005 13:25 - 61 of 465

Perhaps the pending arrival of Party Poker on the scene.

Pond Life - 03 Jun 2005 20:52 - 62 of 465

Problem solved for the time being - we're now moving north again.

Chiva20 - 24 Jun 2005 14:32 - 63 of 465

Anyone know why this is shooting up again? Poised if it breaks through 350 ..

Pond Life - 24 Jun 2005 21:07 - 64 of 465

As above Chiva. Party Poker floats on Monday 2-3 times oversubscribed. Spotlight is on the sector and doubts over SBT while the Party book was being filled have now evaporated. SBT has some catching up to do. Through resistence at 300 and 320, now onwards and upwards to 350 and new highs. Nice!

lanayel - 17 Jul 2006 09:36 - 65 of 465

The whole gaming sector seems to have been marked down today. As far as I can see only due to the detention of the BSS CEO on his way to Costa Rica via the US mainland !!!!

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=1405941

With SBT marked down by 11% at around the 286p level this appears to be a opportune time to stash a few away.

Ian

kitosdad - 17 Jul 2006 12:07 - 66 of 465

This is blatent manipulation. drastically oversold. STINKS.

lanayel - 17 Jul 2006 12:14 - 67 of 465

The market makers have marked everything down to scare people into selling. The mark down will trigger some stop losses so that foolish PI's will also get stung.

Once today is out of the way then everything will get marked up tomorrow.

Have bought three tranches today at 286, 288.5 and 292.25p.

Fully expect 300p + tomorrow (possibly even later today).

Ian

kimoldfield - 17 Jul 2006 15:34 - 68 of 465

Ianayel

Don't the Yanks make you want to laugh (with appologies to the genuine ones!)

In a note to clients, Canaccord said the move is likely to be 'politically motivated'.

The broker said it it is too early to say if this is part of a broader strategy on the prevention of Internet gambling in the US or if it is the Department of Justice 'flexing its muscle and trying to influence legislation'.

So when are they going to nuke Las Vegas??!!!!!

kim

lanayel - 17 Jul 2006 22:21 - 69 of 465

http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1095

Breaking news of BETonSPORTS plc CEO David Carruthers's detention in Miami travelled lighting fast this morning, shocking the entire gaming industry and negatively affecting gaming stocks on the UK Stock Exchange. TheOnlinewire.com Costa Rica and U.S. sources report that Carruthers' detention is unlikely related to the online gambling ban (HR 4411) approved by the House last week but is more likely related to the federal investigation on BETonSPORTS's former owner Gary Kaplan.

It was known within the industry that Gary Kaplan was under federal investigation for his actions while at the helm of BETonSPORTS before the company went public in 2004. Sources report that federal authorities want to clearly identify possible criminal activities directly related to credit business ran by BETonSPORTS at the time Kaplan was at the helm of the company.

According to the same sources Carruthers' detention is related to the mentioned federal investigation. Investigators believe Carruthers might be in possess of information that could lead to Kaplan's indictment.

Gary Kaplan is rumored to be the real main man behind Igotsportsbook.com, a sportsbook established last year after Kaplan sold his remaining shares in BETonSPORTS.

If this arrest is indeed relating to Gary Kaplan then all the other gaming companies that were hit today will recover strongly tomorrow.

Ian

JT Master Investor - 18 Jul 2006 16:10 - 70 of 465

LONDON (Reuters) - Fears of a crackdown on online gambling in the United States knocked another 600 million pounds off UK gaming stocks on Tuesday after the FBI moved to shut down the U.S. operations of BETonSPORTS.
Gambling executives in the $12 billion (6.56 billion pound) industry were also assessing their personal exposure after BETonSPORTS said it had been unable to contact Chief Executive David Carruthers, who was detained on Monday and is being held in Fort Worth, Texas.
A U.S. indictment seen by Reuters laid out criminal charges against a number of individuals including Carruthers, who had spearheaded a campaign to defeat a Republican-written bill to crack down on online gambling, and BETonSPORTS founder Gary Kaplan.
After losing over 300 million pounds on Monday, stocks in the sector fell again after BETonSPORTS asked for its shares to be suspended. Sportingbet was down 12 percent at 1134 GMT (12:34 p.m. British Time), PartyGaming down 7 percent, and 888 Plc and BETandWIN both down 10 percent.
NATWEST THREE
"The language used in the Department of Justice release suggests to us there is the possibility that other Internet sports books could be targeted," said leisure analyst Richard Carter at Numis Securities.
BETonSPORTS said it was urgently trying to clarify the situation and assess the impact of a temporary restraining order on its business in the U.S., its biggest market.
"This comes a week after the extradition of the NatWest Three, and a lot of companies will be looking at their travel plans," said leisure analyst Wayne Brown at Altium Securities, referring to three British bankers extradited to the U.S. last week on fraud charges linked to the defunct energy giant Enron Corp.
"It's not just travel," said one UK gaming executive who declined to be named. "The U.S. has proved it can get to anyone it wants in the UK. A lot of executives are feeling very uncomfortable."
Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman declined to comment when asked whether gaming executives could be extradited to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday that BETonSPORTS was among 11 individuals and four corporations facing various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud.
The founder of BETonSPORTS.com, Gary Kaplan, 47, was also charged with 20 felony violations, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, it added.
"BETonSPORTS.COM and other gambling Web sites operated by Gary Kaplan and his co-defendants offered gamblers in the United States illegal wagering on professional and college football and basketball," said a copy of the indictment seen by Reuters.
The indictment lists violations from 2001 to as recently as April, 2006.
It includes violations of the "Wire Wager Act", which gaming companies such as 888 and PartyGaming have always viewed as a reason not to enter the U.S. sports betting market.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has instructed four telephone companies to stop providing services to BETonSPORTS, the company said, citing the U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States has also filed a civil case ordering BETonSPORTS to stop taking sports bets there and to return money held by U.S. customers in their gaming accounts. A hearing in the case could be held within 10 days.

hlyeo98 - 18 Jul 2006 19:12 - 71 of 465

This is a massacre market...

hlyeo98 - 18 Jul 2006 20:13 - 72 of 465

BETonSPORTS says anti-gaming move to fail
Fri Jul 14, 2006 09:59 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Online gaming group BETonSPORTS (BSS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is confident an attempt in the United States to ban Internet gambling will fail, it said on Friday, adding that the World Cup tournament had boosted its Asian operations.
It said current trading had followed the positive outlook it gave in May and that the World Cup had delivered over 10,000 new Asian players for its Easybets, Hooball and 777ball sites.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a Republican-written bill to crack down on Internet gambling, in what critics said was an election-year appeal to the party's conservative base.

"We continue to believe that the likelihood of the bill passing the Senate is remote," said Chief Executive David Carruthers.

BETonSPORTS shares fell 1.4 percent to 145 pence by 0838 GMT, against a broadly weaker leisure sector, valuing the group at around 130 million pounds.

"Hooball.com and 777ball.com have high soccer profiles, and I am in no doubt that through these brands the World Cup has given instant impetus to the business," Carruthers said.

Analyst Wayne Brown at Altium Securities called the Asian customer acquisitions impressive but noted that the region accounts for less than 6 percent of group profit.

"We await a further update where we can get a clear indication of whether the impact of the World Cup is a spike or whether current momentum can be maintained," he said in a research note.

Altium set a target price for the stock at 180 pence based on a calculation of 9.8 times its estimate of BETonSPORTS's 2007 earnings per share.

"We believe the sub-sector will be re-rated when it becomes apparent that prohibitive legislation will fail to pass the U.S. Senate," said Brown.

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Laila25 - 18 Jul 2006 21:27 - 73 of 465

Oops Lanayel....u got it wrong......sub 200 pence today....better off sticking with DMR.

PS. Your comment was a bit of a rampish nature.

ptholden - 18 Jul 2006 21:41 - 74 of 465

There (LaLa) speaks (types) the biggest ramping pump and dump git on the internet Best thing you can do with DMR is stick it up yer arse!

Peter123 - 18 Jul 2006 21:54 - 75 of 465

unbelievable!!! what a fucking day.

lanayel - 18 Jul 2006 23:33 - 76 of 465

SueHelen posting on a proper thread !!!
Good grief.
Yes I admit I have been hit very hard with this one.
Normal research goes out of the window (unfortunately) when the Americans get a bee in their bonnet.
I can afford to hold (which I fear may not be the case with many shareholders).
Common sense suggests the fall in the SP is a huge over-reaction but how long it will continue is anybodys guess.

Ian

HARRYCAT - 30 Jul 2006 12:28 - 77 of 465

I think this is yet another case of doing your own research & investing in companies which have a strong management structure & are well run. All gambling stocks are risky, but SBT is one of the least so.
For those people who have some spare cash, SBT & others are a good buying opportunity, but keep locking in profit. The problem of the Americans trying to ban internet gambling in the U.S. is not going to go away, so every time this hits the headlines, the share price will take a big hit.
A company called PLAYTECH suffered the same fate as all the others, but has absolutely nothing to do with the BetonSports fiasco.
So, based on the risk factor, I cannot see any arguement for holding on to this stock for a long term investment. Regular trades, locking in regular profit.

Harry

R88AVE - 03 Aug 2006 17:03 - 78 of 465

Hi has anyone recently bought or kept these shares ahead of tomorrow's US law bill supposingly to be passed. Does anyone think the shares are going to fluctuate like crazy before the outcome?

How or when do we find out whether the bill has been passed?

HARRYCAT - 03 Aug 2006 22:21 - 79 of 465

This is one of the best places to find news on gaming companies.
Nothing there yet.
www.theonlinewire.com/articlelistall.aspx

R88AVE - 03 Aug 2006 22:30 - 80 of 465

Harrycat found this interesting read

http://www.onlinecasino.org/news/poll-91-in-usa-dont-want-a-online-gambling-ban-hr-4411-1311.php

HARRYCAT - 03 Aug 2006 22:38 - 81 of 465

Hmmm.
That's all very well, but popular opinion doesn't always affect policy decisions.
(Most people want the death penalty reintroduced & community charge to be scrapped. Neither will happen in our lifetime.)
However, one arguement is to tax gambling revenues in the U.S. Once they find a way of doing this effectively, then they may change their minds.

moneyplus - 04 Aug 2006 10:51 - 82 of 465

SBT has very good results and the recent trading update was encouraging. I jumped in as soon as the fuss started and bought SBT and PRTY there's been a nice bounce up so far and IMO much higher to go. The Senate has broken up for the summer now and there's not much support for the bill anyway so unlikely to rear it's head again until after the Nov elections over there. I'm holding and hoping!

HARRYCAT - 04 Aug 2006 15:09 - 83 of 465

There is normally a restistance level of 300p & then 400p for this stock.
I am still holding and am targeting just under 300p for my first sell.
Keep locking in profit.

R88AVE - 06 Aug 2006 17:08 - 84 of 465

Harrycat and moneyplus....
what did you guys think of the big jump in shares late Friday, I was surprise by the speed of the rise. I think the conifidence is returning in internet gaming sector, for the likes of 888, PRTY and SBT. However it will remain volitile whenever there is news relating to the Bet on Sport.

HARRYCAT - 07 Aug 2006 09:29 - 85 of 465

Exactly that. I can see no reason that SBT shouldn't reach it's 400p level as confidence comes back to this sector. In november, when the americans start looking at this again, then maybe that is the time to get out & take profit, but don't forget that the SBT dividend date is late december.

lanayel - 07 Aug 2006 10:07 - 86 of 465

it is unlikely to reach 400p this year purely on the basis that the americans will start investigating again later this year. However the current share price of 272p does offer scope for at least a 15-20% gain in the next 3 months.
Not bad in the great scheme of things.

Ian

HARRYCAT - 07 Aug 2006 11:26 - 87 of 465

The price has reached 288 this morning, partly due to a big trade of 125000 shares. I think that your estimate of 15-20% is a little understated, particularly as the main reason for the fall in the first place was the BetonSports fiasco. But, as you say, 20% is a very good return.

HARRYCAT - 08 Aug 2006 17:00 - 88 of 465

The saga rolls on & gets worse for some.
Hopefully the fallout from this will not affect SBT again:

http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1251

HARRYCAT - 11 Aug 2006 23:22 - 89 of 465

For those of you who are interested, it would appear the boss of SBT has other interests in these troubled times!!!

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=411629&in_page_id=2

Laila25 - 11 Aug 2006 23:34 - 90 of 465

Back to 200 pence soon lanayel...wot a stinker of losses you've had with this one. No wonder u bitter and taking it out on others.

HARRYCAT - 15 Aug 2006 13:03 - 91 of 465

More possible fallout which may affect SBT:

http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1307

Maybe that's what is knocking the share price at the moment???

HARRYCAT - 22 Aug 2006 21:10 - 92 of 465

Anyone out there familiar with interpretation of graphs?
If I am not mistaken, the current head & shoulders will signify a downturn.
For those who have not already taken profit, perhaps now best to wait until after the quiet summer months (U.K.) .

ptholden - 23 Aug 2006 00:52 - 93 of 465

Harry

I seem to be following you around, honest I'm not stalking you!!
I haven't had any real interest in SBT until I noticed your remark re the head and shoulders formation. I think you are absolutely correct, classic formation, with only the right shoulder to be completed. This should take the SP down to 165p. All the other TA indicators also point down. MACD histogram and EMAs in a down trend.

Of course I may be proved wrong, and I do realise that my comments will not be popular with those who are long.

Short time tomorrow with a stop at 260p, initial target 165p.

Good luck.

pth

HARRYCAT - 23 Aug 2006 09:18 - 94 of 465

Hi pth.
Over the last few years I have done very well out of SBT.
It is a very well run company with strong management, but sadly this market is very susceptible to the merest hint of bad news.
I still hold both short & long positions.
If only SBT would make it clear that they have no connection with BetonSports, the SP should recover again.
One grey cloud on the horizon is the future of internet sports gambling in the U.S. which is an arguement for only holding a short position.
Sub 180p may be a short term buy again.

ptholden - 23 Aug 2006 21:49 - 95 of 465

Harry

With the exception of Gaming Corp I haven't bothered with the betting companies at all, which considering their volatile nature is probably not a bad thing!

As far as the short is concerned, so far so good; the fall today means that I can move my stop to ensure a risk free punt or nearly so. Nothing has changed my opinion of a 165p target and I may add along the way.

pth

ptholden - 23 Aug 2006 22:15 - 96 of 465

Also just noted from the Trades page, 1,000,000 sell at 225.01, hmm, wonder what will happen in the morning? Mind you dunno if it was a sell or buy.

pth

HARRYCAT - 24 Aug 2006 12:09 - 97 of 465

I missed the 1m trade yesterday.
Today a number of big trades going through.
350k were bought at 11.20 a.m. at 230, so maybe someone is expecting a bounce, which seems logical.
Sadly, I agree that the SP will probably dip below the 200 mark. A bit of a rough ride ahead.

HARRYCAT - 30 Aug 2006 16:52 - 98 of 465

I know charts are only an indication of trends, but the current increase in the sp makes our latest analysis look incorrect.
Still, no bad thing for those still holding on!

Peter123 - 07 Sep 2006 13:56 - 99 of 465

Any news?

lanayel - 07 Sep 2006 15:53 - 100 of 465

Are you being serious ?

The Chairman got detained by the US authorities today and the shares are suspended !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter123 - 07 Sep 2006 15:59 - 101 of 465

Yes I'd know about it? But any news about the chairman.

Peter123 - 07 Sep 2006 19:48 - 102 of 465

I hold shares in this company. What do you think its going to happen? Any opinions would be appreciated.

Peter123 - 08 Sep 2006 15:45 - 103 of 465

Sportingbet Peter Dicks' arrest to serve political purposes

Gambling by computer, this is the charge upon which U.K. citizen Peter Dicks was arrested upon his arrival in the United States. The arrest warrant was issued July 12 and is apparently only one of many still outstanding on the case, said Dwight Robinette, spokesman for the Louisiana State Police.

The so-called crack down on online gambling is being pursued by means of ridicule laws. With Bin Laden still at large, Iran building nuclear bombs, North Korea threatening to test them and while hundreds are being slaughtered in Iraq every day, the U.S. Department of Justice chooses to become the World's favorite joke by prosecuting and arresting non U.S. citizens on such ridicule charges.

Bending local laws to support the political stance behind HR 4411 the DoJ violates doesn't hesitate to violate the International Right to please and appease those hardcore conservatives supporters and sponsors of the Internet Gambling Ban.

The arrest warrant issued July 12 should have been notified via consular channels in the U.K. The DoJ knew United Kingdom would have refused extradition because betting via the computer is perfectly legal in Great Britain. Better to cowardly wait for Peter Dicks to show up at U.S. immigration and arrest him on such ridicule charges, exposing the 64-years-old man to the humiliation of the arrest.

This is the same Department of Justice which stated that any form of online gambling, including horse wagering, is illegal. Unlike Dicks, online horse wagering has strong supporters up the political ladder in Washington, making prosecution of such illegal activity unappealing to the hypocrite DoJ.

Bottom-line we believe Mr. Dicks shall be freed with haste and with apology of all the ones involved in the cowardly actions leading to his arrest. Its also probably the right time for the United Kingdom to join Antigua on the WTO front.

Originally Published September 8 2006 10am EST TheOnlineWire.com

janetbennison - 09 Sep 2006 09:24 - 104 of 465

I hold quite a few shares in partygaming. The arrest of Peter Dicks has come out of the blue. The news of this happening has cast a shadow over the gaming industry. This will be a test case, and may not come to a deal in the end. At the moment it is the uncertanity that will hang over us until things are resolved. It was a silly move for peter dicks ro travel over there in the first place after what happened to carrufers two months ago. Things seemed to have died down since then. The gaming share seemed to be making a decent recovery. I am sorrry your shares have been suspended, but the company needed to do this to prevent the shares from falling more sharply than they have done. How much did they drop on wednesday after the news? leta just keep our eyes on the situation. See what the financial newspapers have to say over the weekend. keeping my fingers crossed on this one. good luck peter.

smiler o - 09 Sep 2006 09:26 - 105 of 465

JB
did you enjoy that Drink !! : )

janetbennison - 09 Sep 2006 09:29 - 106 of 465

just another point, there does not seem to be many people in our share discussion room who held these gaming share. I have been trading them for quite a while now. I will let you know if I hear any news over the week end that I think you shold know about.

janetbennison - 09 Sep 2006 09:36 - 107 of 465

smiler, i did enjoy my drink. I went to the local pub and had a few bacardi and cokes and listened to a live band. It was very good. I got home around 12.30. Needed to relieve the stress built up over the week. I wiil keep an eye on the news re oxus this weekend and let you know also if anything is said that i think you should know about. enjoy your weekend peter and smiler.

janetbennison - 09 Sep 2006 11:22 - 108 of 465

news out channel bbc on television teletext page 102 have a quick look. Peter Dicks ount on bail. Passport taken from him. Back in court next week to try and get permission to get passport back and come back home till court case. in a nutshell.

PW Carnell - 09 Sep 2006 13:21 - 109 of 465

Times on line and independent talk of shares being relisted next weeek -no position at the moment but went on holiday with 2 open positions in this and nlr-apparently sbts execs were in the states in July when they were open,luckily for me they werent caught, thats the last time that happens!.Best of luck if you hold.Ill be trading them when they relist.

janetbennison - 09 Sep 2006 18:14 - 110 of 465

good new if shares are going to be relisted next week. The situation must have now settled down. I do not hold any shares in sportingbet, but I do have a lot of partygaming. Hope shares start to look up then next week.enjoy your weekend.

ptholden - 09 Sep 2006 18:18 - 111 of 465

Closed my short (at a profit) recently, only becuase I won't be around to monitor proceedings. Still think the chart is shit and 1.70 is a good target.

pth

cynic - 10 Sep 2006 10:14 - 112 of 465

soory to bring a bucket of cold water, but huge article in today's Sunday Times (not read it yet) re on-line gaming ...... I reckon shorting almost any company in this sector next week will reap dividends, though my equal guess is that these shares will already have been heavily marked at opening tomorrow.

janetbennison - 10 Sep 2006 13:11 - 113 of 465

peter 123 are you going to hold? I am not sure at the moment. I am getting more concered about the gaming shares. I hope they do not fall too much tomorrow.

PW Carnell - 10 Sep 2006 16:52 - 114 of 465

Janet its really unwise to make trading or investment decisions on random posts by anonymous posters on bulletin boards who may or may not have" huge" agendas.You can read an abridged version of that article on Times on line.

partridge - 10 Sep 2006 17:25 - 115 of 465

Well said PWC. Always do your own research Janet and blame (or congratulate) no-one but yourself.
Cynic - Also in todays Sunday Times (now 2!! - going to view it online at least every other week in protest) is article about "contrarian" fund manager Neil Woodford. Would not be surprised if he is looking closely at some in this sector, as there surely has to be way in the longer term to accommodate the gamblers of the USA.

cynic - 10 Sep 2006 17:25 - 116 of 465

PWC ... your principle is correct, but in fact I for one have no agenda at all .... what I wrote is my own view ..... everyone on here is an adult (self apart!) so take responsibility for their own decisions.

janetbennison - 10 Sep 2006 18:07 - 117 of 465

I have had a read of the article in the times online. and agree with partridge that there has to be a way in longer time to accomoade the gambler of the usa. I myself feel that they have to compromise on this situation. This situation has to be a test case. It is certainly causing a lot of unease in the sector at present. I myself am not feeling very comfortable with this situation, as I currently have a large holding of shares in the company. I am not going to rush and sell at the moment. I will keep a close eye on the situation over the next few days. When this situation happended last time with carruthers the shares dropped quickly from around 1.25 down to at lowest .80p. then two months later say thursday morning went back up to 1.21 at the highest point. This time the share price drop has not been as much, i do not hold sportingbet, but i do hold partygaming. If sportingbet do start trading again tomorrrow, then I would say this is a step in the right direction. On the otherhand I do not like the way they have gone about these two arrests in the first place. Infact it in very bad tase. keep in touch with your opinions. I am always interested in hearing different opionions. take care cynic, partridge, p.w.parnell, smiler and peter 123.

cynic - 10 Sep 2006 19:43 - 118 of 465

JB ... the Americans do not have to compromise at all any more than they did with Prohibition or the death penalty .... good luck with PRTY; it's probably fine in the long(er) term, but be prepared for a very bumpy ride in the immediate future.

Peter123 - 10 Sep 2006 22:41 - 119 of 465

Hi Janet, if SBT starts to trade again tomorrow, i will wait and see. If drops too low (1.80), then may have to take a loss.

lanayel - 11 Sep 2006 08:24 - 120 of 465

SBT has resumed trading - currently around the 140p mark.

cynic - 11 Sep 2006 08:27 - 121 of 465

JB - with sp falling near enough 100 at opening, i guess all you can do is hang on and keep your fingers crossed at least for the minute ..... there is a reasonable chance that the markdown has been overdone, as much as anything else to deter sellers while MMs try to work out what next

janetbennison - 11 Sep 2006 08:32 - 122 of 465

peter i am going to hang on to my partygaming.

cynic - 11 Sep 2006 08:41 - 123 of 465

interestingly, PRTY seem to have scarcely moved unless they have done so in the last few minutes .... However, if you are close enough to break even or better, my own view is that it would be prudent to at least trim your holding for continuing bad reaction to SBT's plight is likely to cause an indicriminate backwash in the rest of the sector.

janetbennison - 11 Sep 2006 09:05 - 124 of 465

cynic I amm holding 80,000 prty at present my average price is 1.166p so I will see how today goes and like you say. I may trim down. I have strong feeling that sbt with recover slowly throughout the day. If peter sells his he will be doing the same as I did with goolast monday morning and that cost me dearly. at the end of the day. At the end of the day. We all make wrong decisions sometimes when we panic. we will all have to wait and see. cup of tea time for me now.

Peter123 - 11 Sep 2006 09:48 - 125 of 465

Janet,

I am holding 20000 shares, i have not sold mine yet, i will wait and see.

hlyeo98 - 11 Sep 2006 10:36 - 126 of 465

Peter Dicks will have to be stupid enough to visit US when all this crackdown in US is going on...what a nerd!

janetbennison - 11 Sep 2006 10:50 - 127 of 465

peter dicks made a very silly move travelling to us. Peter 123 I personally hang in there. Watch closely though. Peter Dicks back in court on thursday. I will keep in touch with you on this one.

hlyeo98 - 11 Sep 2006 11:58 - 128 of 465

Peter Dicks certainly lives up to his name....Dickhead

PW Carnell - 11 Sep 2006 12:30 - 129 of 465

Other executives from sbt travelled to the states without incident in July -the dickheads are the yank lawmakers.Watching like a hawk but maybe therell be a better opportunity after Fridays option expiry ,ridiculously cheap at these levels b market sentiment is poor at the moment.Sept and Oct not that brilliant-job data and inflation numbers out before the weekend, anticipating some even better bargains next week but wtfdik.

maestro - 12 Sep 2006 17:47 - 130 of 465

looks l;ike the yanks are buying after their little sting..must be great to have inside info

HARRYCAT - 12 Sep 2006 18:28 - 131 of 465

I think this is a short term bounce.
If a similar scenario is followed as that of BetonSports, not only will the shareholders get nervous, but the european gamblers on the SBT website may also change allegiance and withdraw their money (I don't think the asian market will take much notice). This will affect SBT profitability (notwithstanding a good 2006 World Cup). I cannot see an upside unless consolidation is a possibility.
I have got to agree that staying out of the U.S.A. would have been a sensible thing to do for the Directors of any internet gaming company, even though Dicks was just going on holiday, link below:
http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1497
However, the media seem to besupporting SBT to some degree, link below:
http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1147
Not for the nervous investor, this one!

maestro - 12 Sep 2006 20:27 - 132 of 465

i disagree...its not a federal law that Dicks has been charged with and he hasn't been to Louisiana for 20 years so what is the fuss about...

HARRYCAT - 12 Sep 2006 20:45 - 133 of 465

Which bit don't you agree with?
I hold SBT shares and have actively traded them since late 2004, but they are very susceptible to the merest whiff of bad news within the industry.

HARRYCAT - 14 Sep 2006 15:52 - 134 of 465

Now lets hope the rest of SBT's employees have the sense to stay out of the U.S.!

hlyeo98 - 14 Sep 2006 17:40 - 135 of 465

Great! We have got rid of Dickhead!

cynic - 14 Sep 2006 17:49 - 136 of 465

but not the problem ..... glad to see a significant bounce, especially for JB ..... not sure how far or for how long this recovery will last, so maybe best to run a trailing stop.

HARRYCAT - 14 Sep 2006 17:57 - 137 of 465

You are correct. Keep locking in profit.
Very volatile. Either set a trailing stop or set a realistic %age & take.

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 08:53 - 138 of 465

yesterday i noticed sbt started to move fast. I have never bought any of these share before. I still hold my 80,000 prty. I bought 10,000 sbt shortly before close at 1.79p. just after i bought them they dropped back .10p per share. to 1.69. Then this morning I sold them at 1.985 p so 2000 prof less expences. I may get back in again. Good luck to all who hold these share. especially peter 123, do you still have your 20,000 share holding? Cynic I agree with your comment about not being sure how long the recovery process will last, as there is still the court case still looming in the background. What does trailing stop mean cynic. good news to hear dicks has resigned. This is very good news.

cynic - 15 Sep 2006 09:07 - 139 of 465

trailing stop means that you set a stop price at whatever level you like .... let's say 35p below your purchase price of 150p ...... as sp moves up, move your stop accordingly ..... thus if sp is now 175p then your stop should have been moved from 115p to 140p.

Not sure how you deal, but you may be able to get this done automatically or you may have to do it yourself manually.

Peter123 - 15 Sep 2006 09:29 - 140 of 465

Hi Janet,

When the news came out about Peter Dick, I went in and bought 10,000 at around 1.63 and sold at 1.95. I still got 20,000 shares in SBT. Thanks for the advice not to sell.

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 13:42 - 141 of 465

peter123 i have just bought back in at 1.78 and 1.8847 this morning there seems to be a lot of people now buying around the 1.75 level. wish i had not bought the ones at 1.8847, but this is the way it goes. may pay you to buyback in around the 1.75 level. see what you think. good luck.

cynic - 15 Sep 2006 13:48 - 142 of 465

i see the price is all over the shop ..... read the article in Shares mag on this company ...... they look to have long term problems as so much income comes from USA ...... that is why I suggested a couple of days back that the bounce was possibly or probably unsustainable ...... why on earth did you buy!!

PapalPower - 15 Sep 2006 13:52 - 143 of 465

The PDF on the link below is worth a read on the gaming sector.

http://www.saturninnovation.co.uk/clients/dsc/CMS/nmanagerpro/attachments/onlinebetting_morning_flash_150906.pdf

..........it should be noted that Sportingbet's shares rose 25% yesterday to 192p, implying an 83p/share value on World Gaming under the previous publicly announced possible bid conditions.................

trader007 - 15 Sep 2006 14:15 - 144 of 465

Hi there its not so bad.......

http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Federal-Laws/wire-act.htm

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 14:22 - 145 of 465

the shares i have boughtthis morning average out at 1.8445p so i will have to wait and see. I am now going to have at look at the above websites mentioned by trader 007 and and papalpower. I shall get back to you later on this one

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 15:01 - 146 of 465

the reason for sbt and prty falling again is some one has just been arrested again to do wit the company d.win i think this may have happened either in france or germany. if you find anymore info out let hear about it. things were looking a lot better this morning, but i am now beginning to think we are back to the worse position again.

HARRYCAT - 15 Sep 2006 15:11 - 147 of 465

Just seen this:
"The main blue chip casualty, however, was PartyGaming -- down 5 pence at 105-1/4.

Several online gambling issues came under pressure after Austria's BWin shares were suspended as the German state of Bavaria followed Saxony's example in ruling against the placing of sporting bets.

On the second line, 888 Holdings and Sportingbet both declined following the news, losing 7 pence at 143 and 18 pence at 174, respectively."

This sector is becoming very volatile.

Peter123 - 15 Sep 2006 15:22 - 148 of 465

This is becoming a f****** joke.

cynic - 15 Sep 2006 15:30 - 149 of 465

why on earth are you all surprised at this sector's volatility?

Peter123 - 15 Sep 2006 15:35 - 150 of 465

Well I'd know, there is risk attached to gaming sector but not bad news on a weekly basis.

HARRYCAT - 15 Sep 2006 15:44 - 151 of 465

Weekly basis!
The Americans have got 50 more warrants to serve, so there are 50 more sharp dips in the sp to start with.
Now that the Europeans are starting to outlaw gambling as well, the incidence of bad news is going to increase even further.
I repeat, play the bounces, but only hold a short position.

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 15:45 - 152 of 465

if i was you peter i would just sit tight at the moment. A lot of people who have spare money will be topping now at a much lower price. there are a lot of people out there who making a lot of money out of this situation. I am not buying any more at the moment. I have 80,000 prty and 20,000 sbt. If i was to be silly and sell now i would make terrific losses. It is depressing to watch the quick movements of price on the screen. You have not actually taken your loss on paper until you sell. I am facing the facts now that i am in it, so i am now going to sit it out. a lot of people are going to be really fed up about this over the weekend. i will be back in touch again soon. keep your chin up.

cynic - 15 Sep 2006 15:51 - 153 of 465

my advice is if you are not already caught up then stay well clear. can find you plenty of ways of losing money, but with far less certainty of doing so!

janetbennison - 15 Sep 2006 15:58 - 154 of 465

unfortunatly cynic i am one who is caught up in the trap until the time comes when i can escape. have a lovely weekend everyone. I am going to start mine now.

cynic - 15 Sep 2006 16:04 - 155 of 465

phew! well good luck JB, though I am afraid you really should not have bought this morning ...... suppose you had better clench the buttocks and hope for a decent bounce to allow you to get out at no worse than a minimal loss.

HARRYCAT - 15 Sep 2006 16:37 - 156 of 465

I am sure you have all seen the news, but just in case you haven't, link below:
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=1505987

maestro - 15 Sep 2006 16:44 - 157 of 465

just rumours again though ..press hand in glove with market makers,spread bet firms i reckon

maestro - 15 Sep 2006 16:54 - 158 of 465

this old news - bwin had this licence disputed almost two months ago.

It's old and needed to be renewed - problem is bwin won't be given a new one from what I agther.

HUB
company specific news.

janetbennison - 18 Sep 2006 08:51 - 159 of 465

peter 123 have you still got yours. I have still got mine. my sportingbet 20,000 shares stand me at 1.8445p each. I have still got all my prty as well. I am pretty sure you will be okay. Every time some news comes out about some one being arrested, it sends shivers through the market. I may well consider selling them soon though as I do not need the headache of things getting back to normal, and then someone else getting arrested, and then it all starts to happen again.I am sitting tight for the moment though. They are on the way back up again today. Good luck all who are holding these shares.

Peter123 - 18 Sep 2006 09:54 - 160 of 465

Hi JB,

I still hold mine, so I may have to ride with the wave.

janetbennison - 18 Sep 2006 10:25 - 161 of 465

sit tight

cynic - 18 Sep 2006 10:46 - 162 of 465

I don't have my Shares mag with me, but from memory the article on on-line betting shares put an large amber flag against SBT because so much of its income derives from US sources, and that is certainly a very uncomfortable position for the company to be in ..... said it before, but i'll say it again ..... stay in at your peril; sell into any rally, which seems to have occurred already ..... but your money, not mine!

janetbennison - 18 Sep 2006 17:05 - 163 of 465

got back from work at 4.15 to find that while i was out sbt fell 6.5p to my disapointment. I must say cynic you are correct with what you have said. we will have to wait now to see what tomorrow brings.

cynic - 18 Sep 2006 17:07 - 164 of 465

i am quite good at giving others good advice but total crap at taking my own!

janetbennison - 18 Sep 2006 17:20 - 165 of 465

never mind we win some and lose others.

kitosdad - 19 Sep 2006 08:42 - 166 of 465

The whole of the gaming sector will remain very volatile until this bloody Bill is put out of its misery. SBT and others are just becoming a day-traders territory.

PapalPower - 20 Sep 2006 01:39 - 167 of 465

Backdoor Move to Ban Web Gambling Fizzles
19 September 2006
by Tony Batt

Las Vegas Gaming Wire

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., tried to attach an Internet gambling ban to a defense bill last week but was rebuffed by two powerful senators, congressional sources said Monday.

Despite the setback, advocates said GOP leaders will keep trying to add an online wagering prohibition to must-pass legislation until Congress adjourns this year.

Frist approached Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and asked him to add an Internet gambling ban to a defense authorization bill, according to congressional staffers who requested anonymity.

But after checking with Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the committee, Warner rejected the idea because an online wagering ban would not be relevant to defense legislation.

A source close to Frist confirmed the majority leader made the proposal to Warner, but declined to elaborate.

After hearing of Frist's proposal, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., sent Warner a letter urging him to reject any amendment that would ban online betting.

"We must not use this important (defense) bill as a convenient vehicle for political pet issues such as a ban on Internet gaming," Berkley said.

Berkley opposed an Internet gambling ban that passed the House 317-93 in July.

Although the Department of Justice has said Internet gambling is illegal, the $12 billion industry continues to grow, with more than 2,300 Web sites.

Frist, who has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2008, criticized online wagering during an August visit to Iowa.

While in Iowa, Frist joined Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, one of the two main sponsors of the ban that passed the House, in conducting an informal field hearing critical of Internet gambling.

On Sept. 5, the day Congress returned from its August recess, Frist made a speech on the Senate floor and listed an Internet gambling ban as one of his priorities as Congress rushes toward adjournment. Frist's second term expires this year, and he is not running for re-election.

Source: http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=161151

PapalPower - 20 Sep 2006 08:07 - 168 of 465

Fund Managers can't make their minds up! Although the evidence from recent dealings shows buys vastly outweighing sells.

Online investors hedge their bets

Published: 07:00 Wednesday 20 September 2006

By Tony Bonsignore, New Model Adviser News Reporter

Fund managers and investors are at odds over the prospects for the online gaming sector after the recent high-profile troubles at Betonsports and Sportingbet.

While most investors agree on the potential growth of gaming businesses, they are divided on whether they are now worth the risk, given the recent clampdown by the US authorities. For some, the threat posed by the regulators represents a gamble too far.

Colin Morton, investment manager at BWD Rensburg, said: To us, this is now more about gambling on US litigation than it is about investing.

Previously, we could see great potential in the business models of these companies and this outweighed any risk of action from the US authorities.

But once they moved against Betonsports, the whole logic changed and it just wasnt worth the risk any more. Most of these new entrants targeted the US aggressively and without the business from the US, most would be loss-making.

Morton sold out of the entire sector immediately after the arrest of David Carruthers, chief executive of Betonsports , in July. Morton had previously owned some Sportingbet, Partygaming and 888 across a number of the portfolios.

We have no plans to re-enter this market, though we would never say never, said Morton.

Jeremy Batstone, director of private client research at Charles Stanley, is similarly bearish.

Our view is set against a darkening economic backdrop. As consumers become more indebted they will look at ever more imaginative ways of extricating themselves from the mess they are in.

Less experienced gamblers, in particular, will be attracted to these sites. And once this happens we can expect a fierce backlash, as we are already seeing. There is a strong moral argument against this type of business.

But other investors believe the negative publicity surrounding the sector may have created buying opportunities. Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, believes Partygaming, particularly, looks attractive.

Earlier this month we saw some more excellent figures for Partygaming. This is a business that generates enormous amounts of cash and this feeds straight through to the bottom line.

Managers have also made moves to reduce their reliance on the US, although it is still early days. Any acquisitions might also help in this regard.

If it turns out that they are unaffected by the action from the US regulators, as it might, then the share price will be like a coiled spring.

James Ridgewell, manager of the New Star UK Special Situations Fund , says he will definitely not be selling any of his investments in this sector. He holds Sportingbet , 888.com and Betonsports.

Were currently running through the numbers but were close to buying more Sportingbet, says Ridgewell.

Despite the recent problems its looking increasingly as if the company will be able to continue operating. This industry is here to stay and in the long term it will be legalised. However, there might be some volatility along the way, as we have already seen.

The numbers are compelling. What has happened is that the market has
over-reacted, as markets tend to do. That is when stocks become cheap and create buying opportunities.

Source: http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticlePrint.aspx?VersionID=85080

janetbennison - 20 Sep 2006 20:18 - 169 of 465

sold all my sbt this morning before going to work. I managed to get 1.84 back per share I lost a little. THIS SHARE SEEMS TO GO UP AND DOWN LIKE A YO YO. I may consider buying some more if they go back down to the 1.70 level. Are you still in there pete?

cynic - 20 Sep 2006 20:37 - 170 of 465

wise move JB ..... takes off all the pressure .... think i must have ditched this week's Shares mag, but recommend you get hold of a copy before reinvesting in this sector .... and i am 95% certain SBT is one to avoid, at least in the near future

janetbennison - 20 Sep 2006 20:50 - 171 of 465

cynic i have still got my 80,000 prty. I am a lot of money down on the party gaming they have dropped .17p per share on me. I do not think that are as risky at the sportingbet ones, but having said that the spb be still seem to be a very popular share at the moment. Peter your losses must be soming down quite a bit at the moment to say they dropped down to 1.42 a little while ago. Cynic i am now going to send you a little message on goo, so have a look. best of luck to peter. I would only consider buying back into sbt on a daytrading buy now.i will be back in touch again soon.

moneyplus - 20 Sep 2006 22:34 - 172 of 465

janet-have a look at 888-they have been hit as well but came out with excellent results and a generous dividend on 13th october.

HARRYCAT - 20 Sep 2006 22:44 - 173 of 465

BUT, don't forget that all the profits being announced by betting companies are probably artificially high due to good results from this years World Cup. The next 12 months may not be as good.

maestro - 21 Sep 2006 19:00 - 174 of 465

US GAMING BILL DEAD AND BURIED...SBT WILL HIT 240P TOMORO!

BUYUS Gambling Bill junction3
courtesy of "letthegoodtimesroll"

http://www.pokerlistings.com/frist-fails-in-bid-to-attach-online-gambling-ban-to-military-bill-9065

janetbennison - 21 Sep 2006 19:09 - 175 of 465

this is really good news. I sold my sbt yesterday, but I have now 100,000 prty. I topped up yesterday with another 20,000 at 1.007p per share. I am pleased for pete that these are coming back well. If the americans have failed to gen an online gambing ban, then this should bring faith and trust back to the gaming market. Maestro I am now going to have a look at the news on the above website.

Peter123 - 21 Sep 2006 19:10 - 176 of 465

Sorry JB for not responding early, lets hope so. Keep our fingers crossed!!

fliper - 21 Sep 2006 19:11 - 177 of 465

Janet if you like this kind of stock , look up btx , moving in the right direction .

janetbennison - 21 Sep 2006 19:25 - 178 of 465

fliper i have taken note of your tip of btx. I have now put it on my stock list, I will now keep an eye on it for a while. Maestro, sorry i could not find the gaming news you mentioned. I will have a look out for it now though.

maestro - 21 Sep 2006 19:26 - 179 of 465

Frist fails in bid to attach online gambling ban to military bill
2:40 PM, Wednesday, September 20, 2006 by

The National Right for Online Gaming (NROG) confirmed through their sources in Washington D.C. that Senator Bill Frist failed in his attempt to add the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act to a Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill.

The Senate Majority Leader was attempting to push the online gambling ban through the Senate by attaching it to a bill that authorizes military operations such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. The move would have moved it through the Senate without having it taken to a floor vote.

The NROG has three sources they're working with to gather information about what's going on with the bill. Jason Bailey, NROG director of development, said one of their sources knew as early as Friday that Frist's effort had failed, but it was confirmed by all of their sources this week.

"We were hesitant to announce this 'victory' until all three of our sources confirmed it," Bailey said. "The actual DOD bill will be out of conference today, but we are confident in our sources that the gambling language has been removed."

Frist came up against opposition from both sides of the online gambling issue as well as from both the Senate and the House during his attempt. According to the NROG some people wanted all of H.R. 4411 added to the DOD bill, not just the payment process part, while others didn't want it at all.

"Most opposition came from those on the Armed Services Committee," Bailey said. "Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Senator John Warner (R-Va.) were the two most influential, although it's important to note there were several other key players that stopped him - this time."

Frist will likely continue to look for another bill to attach the online gambling ban to as the remaining days of the session wind down for the year and time runs out for the Senate to bring the bill to a vote.

"I believe Frist will try to keep it closer to the vest this time to avoid the outrage that he received when he went after the DOD bill. I don't think he expected it to raise as many eyebrows as it did," Frist said. "Expect him to take a much more quiet approach if he tries it again. Our sources tell us he has every intention of doing so."

The NROG, a nonprofit organization created to help fight an online gambling ban, is urging people to continue their efforts to make their voices heard on the online gambling issue by calling, writing, an e-mailing their representatives in Congress in order to prevent the bill from passing or being attached to other legislation.

janetbennison - 22 Sep 2006 07:46 - 180 of 465

very interesting. Thankyou for posting this to us. Are you holding any gaming shares at present?

e t - 30 Sep 2006 09:34 - 181 of 465

Reuters - Sat Sep 30, 2006

US Congress approves Internet gambling ban bill - By Peter Kaplan
(Updates with final approval of House)

Most forms of Internet gambling would be banned under a bill that received final U.S. congressional approval early Saturday.

The House of Representatives and Senate approved the measure and sent it to President George W. Bush to sign into law.

The bill, a compromise between earlier versions passed by the two chambers, would make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.

Democrats had accused Republicans of pushing the bill to placate its conservative base, particularly the religious right, before the Nov. 7 congressional elections.

"It's been over 10 years in the making. The enforcement provisions provided by this bill will go a long way to stop these illegal online operations," said Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican and a chief sponsor of the measure.

Negotiators from the Republican-led House and Senate reached a deal on the legislation Friday and attached it to unrelated legislation to bolster port security, which the Congress approved.

The final bill dropped earlier provisions opposed by some gaming interests that would have clarified that a 1961 federal law banning interstate telephone betting also covers an array of online gambling.

Investors in British-based gaming companies such as BETonSPORTS Plc (BSS.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Partygaming Plc (PRTY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and 888 Holdings Plc (888.L: Quote, Profile, Research) have tracked the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican and potential 2008 presidential candidate, recently appeared at a hearing in Iowa -- the state that holds the first presidential nominating contest for the 2008 election -- to listen to concerns about Internet gambling.

e t - 30 Sep 2006 09:41 - 182 of 465

can't wait to buy in on monday .......probably around the 20p mark!!

maestro - 30 Sep 2006 09:45 - 183 of 465

that reuters news is very misleading...the final update says internet gambling is not banned..typical thick city hacks

PapalPower - 30 Sep 2006 17:26 - 184 of 465

Update from NROG: National Right For Online Gaming

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE: The United States Congress has passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. After review (Click Here To Download) this bill is largerly ceremonial and it DOES NOT amend the Wire Act. The UIGEA deal only with payment methods inside the U.S. including banks wires, checks, and other US internet payment companies. Thankfully it appears to be business as usual for the most of the industry, but please understand the Wire Act Amendment is an issue that can easily be raised again. This fight is not over until that threat is gone.

http://www.saveonlinegaming.com/

PapalPower - 01 Oct 2006 06:33 - 185 of 465

It was a minor victory for gaming companies, in that Frist dropped the important Wire Act part (as he knew this COULD NOT go through) and went underhand to put in place "toothless" legislation that is face saving for him.

This will have no effect on gaming, given what it says and how its going to go, and in fact should REMOVE a lot of the uncertainty, in that Frist and his Wire Act clarifications (which could effect the gaming world) had to be removed and is likely not to surface for a long time again.

Celebrate that this is a minor victory for the gaming companies, and their future is now a bit more secure IMO.

Measure to curb internet gambling falls short of applying existing laws to web

http://www.gambling911.com/internet-gambling-093006.html

Even House Homeland Security Committee Peter King Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., who headed House-Senate negotiations on the port security bill seemed taken aback by the internet gambling measure.

The bill falls short of adding clarity to an already existing 1961 Wire Act that prohibits betting via phone across state lines and failed to apply that law to gambling on the web. This is being viewed as a slight victory for the online gambling community as it is now unlikely such revisions will ever be added in the future.

PapalPower - 01 Oct 2006 06:43 - 186 of 465

Internet gambling bill could get tied up in litigation...

http://www.gambling911.com/internet-gambling-bill-093006.html

janetbennison - 01 Oct 2006 07:54 - 187 of 465

Peter, have not heard from you for a few days. Since I last sent you a post I bought another 7097, at 1.765 and I sold them on wed at 1.8625. I made 608.32 on that deal. I bought 10,000 on 11.10.06 at 1.75 and sold them at 1.7822. Made 214 profit on this deal. if I had sold the ten thousand in the afternoon when I sold the 7097 I would have made appprox another 800. Its all to do with timing. Unfortunatly this is something we will never know when it is right time. Anyway I made a quick 822 profit on both deals. I may buy more monday morning. Are you still in? I have now reduced my holding of 100,000 partygaming to 80,000. I may top up on this agin tomorro as they go ex div on wednesday. Good look to you peter.

e t - 01 Oct 2006 08:55 - 188 of 465

Sunday Telegraph
US Congress acts to ban online bets
By Richard Northedge and Louisa Gault
(Filed: 01/10/2006)

A bill making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process payments to online gaming companies was unexpectedly approved by the US Congress yesterday, threatening to devastate the business of British companies such as PartyGaming, 888 Holdings and BetonSports.

The bill now needs only the approval of President George Bush to become law, and he is widely expected to sign it before the November 7 congressional elections to gain support from the political right.

A ban on online gaming payments will be a crippling blow to a fast-growing UK industry already reeling from the arrest of executives in America for allegedly breaching gaming laws.

PartyGaming was floated on the London Stock Exchange last year despite its prospectus containing 33 pages warning of risks such as a block on money transmission. The FTSE100 company earned 85 per cent of its revenues from US clients using its internet services.

Its shares have been highly volatile as the price reacted to threats to its business. They have fluctuated between 180p and 71p and were already 9p below their 116p flotation price before yesterday's move; they are expected to fall further this week along with smaller rivals.

The main losers will be the company's founders, even though they have sold 1.2bn of shares in the flotation and subsequently. Other investors include Coral Ventures, with an 8.6 per cent stake worth 369m on Friday, and Barclays with a 3 per cent holding.

US politicians have been trying to ban remote gaming for more than a decade and yesterday's move makes it almost certain that they will attain their goal. Previously, the Senate has resisted such efforts but Republican leader Bill Frist secured a breakthrough at the last minute by attaching the gaming provisions to an unrelated bill dealing with port security.

Frist said: "Gambling is a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams and frays the fabric of society. For me, the bottom line is simple: internet gambling is illegal. Although we can't monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling, we can police the financial institutions that disregard our laws."

Andrew McIvor, the finance director of Sportingbet, which takes most of its bets from the US market, said last night: "We have not discussed it yet as a board and have not taken on what it really means for the company as yet. Things will unravel during the week."

The company's former chairman, Peter Dicks, was released on Friday after New York's state governor refused to sign an order extraditing him to Louisiana to face charges of illegal computer gambling.

The bill incorporates aspects of legislation put before the Senate earlier this year and was passed despite protests from the banking industry, which said the measures were an impractical and expensive burden. Once passed, financial organisations will have to block electronic transfers of funds to the gaming companies.

Although some clients may find alternative payment routes, the banks' clampdown would affect the majority of the companies' US business.

The port security bill was being debated on Friday when Frist added his gaming amendment. Debate continued until yesterday but despite Democrat opposition, members were reluctant to lose the core of the bill and passed it with the online gambling provisions. The House of Representatives and Senate both approved the bill early yesterday before passing it to Bush.

cynic - 01 Oct 2006 14:50 - 189 of 465

JB .... 100k in PRTY .... well at least that is not as risky as some others in the sector, but 100k tied up in the sector looks dead risky to me, especially if you are pleased to realise profits of just a couple of hundred quid ...... sorry, but sounds as though you are well overstretched ..... be very very careful!

janetbennison - 01 Oct 2006 20:08 - 190 of 465

cynic has a look in your email box.

ateeq180 - 01 Oct 2006 20:13 - 191 of 465

I think sbt will be ok,with a bit of positives,and heavy buying prior to close on friday,because with heavy buying people knew what could also happen,so why should investors risk there cash in a big way if they were not confident,may be drop in the morning and once the dust settles,could be back to where it was on friday,it could be day traders paradise tomorrow,any way good luck.

cynic - 01 Oct 2006 20:23 - 192 of 465

JB - replied to both!

e t - 02 Oct 2006 07:08 - 193 of 465

The Times
October 02, 2006
Gambling online faces collapse in US after Senate ban
By Dominic Walsh

AMERICAs $6 billion (3.2 billion) internet gambling industry is facing meltdown after the US Senate pushed through a Bill at the weekend outlawing the processing of bets by banks and credit companies.

The surprise move, which is expected to spark a massive share sell-off, will prompt London-listed 888 Holdings to announce this morning that it is halting its entire US-facing operation, accounting for half its business.

PartyGaming, the worlds biggest internet gambling company, said last night that it was still evaluating the situation, although industry sources believe it will also announce a cessation of its services to American punters.

However Sportingbet, which was celebrating on Friday after a New York court released its former chairman, who had been facing gambling charges, will tell investors that it is still digesting the implications of the Bill.

Despite the Bills prescriptive nature, it excludes local online betting on horseracing, fantasy leagues and lotteries. It also has no impact on the hundreds of casinos and gambling emporia that dot America, ranging from the neon palaces of Las Vegas and Atlantic City to the riverboat casinos that ply their trade on the Mississippi.

One senior internet gambling executive said last night: This is the worst form of protectionism I have ever seen. This will drive internet gambling underground and consumer protection will go out of the window. The religious groups that lobbied for this may live to regret it.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Bill needs only to be signed by President Bush to become law. Legal sources predict that he will do so in the next two weeks, possibly as early as Wednesday.

The passing of the Bill in the early hours of Saturday surprised the industry. Although it had successfully negotiated Congress, its passage through the Senate looked likely to be blocked through lack of parliamentary time.

However, Bill Frist, the Republican leader in the Senate, got the measure through by attaching it to an unrelated Bill that enhances port security.

Gambling is a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams and frays the fabric of society, Dr Frist said. The bottom line is simple: internet gambling is illegal. Although we cant monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling, we can police the financial institutions that disregard our laws.

The ban may drive some small companies out of business, although big operators such as 888 and PartyGaming will highlight the strong prospects of their non-US business.

However, 888 is expected to warn its shareholders in a Stock Exchange statement this morning that its withdrawal from America will force it to pare back its cost base, resulting in a significant hit against this years profits.

e t - 02 Oct 2006 07:18 - 194 of 465

The Times
October 02, 2006
Need to Know: Global Business Briefing

The internet gambling industry is preparing itself for a massive share sell-off after the US Senate pushed through a bill outlawing the processing of bets by banks and credit companies.
888 Holdings, which is listed in London, will announce that it is halting its US-facing operation.

e t - 02 Oct 2006 07:44 - 195 of 465

PartyGaming may suspend U.S. gaming business
Mon Oct 2, 2006 7:20 AM

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Online gaming group PartyGaming Plc said on Monday it would stop doing business with U.S. customers if legislation passed there aimed at preventing gambling over the Internet was signed into law.

"If the President signs the act into law, the company will suspend all real money gaming business with U.S. residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely," it said in a statement.

"Any such suspension would also result in the group's financial performance falling significantly short of consensus forecasts for 2006 and 2007," it added.

e t - 02 Oct 2006 07:46 - 196 of 465

Sportingbet warns on gaming ban, scraps merger
Mon Oct 2, 2006 7:29 AM

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Online gaming group Sportingbet Plc said on Monday it would scrap a planned merger and might stop doing business with U.S. customers after legislation was passed there aimed at preventing gambling over the Internet.

"Should Sportingbet's non-U.S. international banking partners determine that the act applied to them, then Sportingbet would no longer be able to take deposits from U.S. residents and this would have a material impact on the company's trading performance," it said in a statement.

"The boards of Sportingbet Plc and World Gaming Plc have discontinued any discussions with regard to a potential offer by Sportingbet for World Gaming," the two groups added.

e t - 02 Oct 2006 07:56 - 197 of 465

SBT down 74% and falling !!!!!!

PRTY down 32% and falling !!!!!!

888 down 40% and falling !!!!!!

HARRYCAT - 02 Oct 2006 08:59 - 198 of 465

And also associated companies, Neteller, Empire etc down 50%.

anotherxiii - 02 Oct 2006 09:41 - 199 of 465

but rising already!

janetbennison - 02 Oct 2006 11:25 - 200 of 465

peter do you still hold your shares?

cynic - 02 Oct 2006 11:51 - 201 of 465

GET OUT AND STAY OUT is my advice

HARRYCAT - 02 Oct 2006 13:05 - 202 of 465

This is very high risk now, with revenue flow due to be cut in half.
But, for the brave ones, you could have made 40% on this stock this morning!
888 looks a bit more secure, but Partygaming taken a bad hit.

Peter123 - 02 Oct 2006 16:07 - 203 of 465

JB

I read the news over the weekend and i could stop thinking about the legislation. This morning i sold out at 1.20. Took a massive loss!!

cynic - 02 Oct 2006 16:09 - 204 of 465

peter ... though that may have been painful, it was (imo) absolutely the right decision .... no recovery is likely within the immediate future if at all

janetbennison - 02 Oct 2006 17:34 - 205 of 465

hello peter, I am sorry to hear your news regarding your big loss. I was advised at 8.00 this morning not to sell my prty they were at .42p then. I have a financial advisor in London. I very nearly sold first thing, but for the phone call. I was told to sit tight, and wait to see how the market went. This was for my prty. I was told that if things started to look any worse, then I would get another call immediately. I did not get another phone call today. So I am still holding. I sold all my sbt on thursday. I did not buy them back. I still hold 80,000 prty. I have had an headache since I got up this morning. they have dropped 50k since friday close. This is as bad as when vog dropped .70p in one day not so long ago. I am not having much luck at the moment. I wish you luck with your future investments.

cynic - 02 Oct 2006 17:41 - 206 of 465

JB ..... well thank goodness you got out of SBT at least ..... with VOG I remain pretty sanguine and i think they'll come good .... PRTY i think i should decline to comment

janetbennison - 02 Oct 2006 18:59 - 207 of 465

peter I think you did excellent to get out of the shares at 1.20 that was at the height of the day. well done.

R88AVE - 02 Oct 2006 21:17 - 208 of 465

Just wondered, dont these online gamers deal with customers in SE Asia or China? Surely there would be more people there then just the US. Is there restriction in place as well?

maestro - 02 Oct 2006 21:28 - 209 of 465

r88ave..no restriction...people and the city just think the whole world revolves round Yankeeland...myself,i wouldn't go to that nazi shithole if you paid me

R88AVE - 02 Oct 2006 21:41 - 210 of 465

Maestro, the all thing is just pathetic its just got to be fixed!

ateeq180 - 02 Oct 2006 21:47 - 211 of 465

NEED SOME POSITIVES FROM TODAY,IS THE PRICE GONNA BOUNCE TOMORROW,OR ARE WE GOING TO HAVE MORE HEADACHES LIKE TODAY.

maestro - 02 Oct 2006 21:50 - 212 of 465

well judging by IG's spread on LNG today 10p offer ,6p bid..they want to deter buyers...you'd think that company with all the milions they make would make a fairer spread than that...greedy gits!

HARRYCAT - 02 Oct 2006 23:48 - 213 of 465

I think I am right in saying that 50% of SBT revenue comes from the U.S.
I saw a report today that there is a risk that as PRTY is 85% dependent on the U.S. then the shares are almost classified as junk stock now that they have lost a huge part of their revenue source, sp down 60% & revenue yeild now calculated at 12.5%
SBT & 888 should survive, but I wouldn't be surprised if, now that supply now outstrips demand, that consolidation maybe on the cards. There may be too many internet gambling companies chasing too few customers.

e t - 03 Oct 2006 07:01 - 214 of 465

Citywire. On-line gaming devastated as US plans to ban banks making payments

The signature of US president George Bush on a shock piece of legislation will effectively outlaw payments for on-line gaming and turn a booming industry into one of potential bust.

Big players like PartyGaming, Sportingbet and 888 Holdings have been rushed into issuing profit warnings and say they are likely to pull out of the US market which is where most of their income comes from.

All the shares were hit hard. Market leader PartyGaming saw its share price crash by over 60% before settling at 47.75p, down 59.375p or 55.49%.

On Saturday the US Congress approved The Safe Port Act which was passed to the House of Representatives and Senate which forwarded it to the White House for the president's signature which will make it law.

When passed, the act will simply make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to approve payments for on-line gambling sites.

Given that the US authorities have made their disapproval of on-line gaming clear with the arrest of Sportingbet chairman Peter Dicks in New York last month and BETonSports chief executive in Dallas in July, the president's signature is expected in the next two weeks.

Efforts to outlaw on-line gaming in the US have been getting nowhere fast. The Safe Port Act has caught the industry by surprise in that it doesn't outlaw on-line gaming, but prevents the participants from paying for it.

Provisions in the bill, in a section labelled the 'Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006', outlaw the processing of payments between US gamblers and on-line gaming companies.

Although the act makes unlawful the receipt by a gambling business of proceeds or money in connection with unlawful internet gambling, it does not clarify the definition of unlawful gambling.

But PartyGaming says that if the bill is signed it will be practically impossible for it to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites.

'If the President signs the act into law, PartyGaming will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation' it says in a statement to the Stock Exchange.

Scott Longley, editor of Egaming Review said: Theres going to be no dead cat bounce on this one. This pussy is well and truly flattened'.

PartyGaming PR man John Shepherd shares Longleys pessimism: The measure outlaws the processing of payments between US customers and on-line gaming companies. It makes it practically impossible for us to provide any US resident with our real money online gaming service.

Sportingbet is more optimistic. It points out that its 'non-US international banking partners' will first have to determine whether the new act applies to them.

It also notes that the law explicitly exempts US gambling interests and it is seeking clarification as to the legality of this under US commitments to the World Trade General Agreement of Trade and Services.

But the stock market has assumed that the on-line gamblers will lose all their US revenues and has cut share prices by the percentage of business which comes from the USA.

Lumley reckons that PartyGaming will lose 60% of its business. He thinks 888, down from 146.5p to 95p, and Sportingbet, down from 184.25p to 79p, have similar percentage shares from the USA.

He says the percentage will be even higher for Leisure and Gaming, down more than two thirds from 38p to just 12p, and adds that World Gaming, down from 64p to 12.75p, is practically entirely US-based.

Of the larger on-line operators only Ladbrokes and William Hill have no US customers. William Hill shares were down 2p at 641.5p, while Ladbrokes was up 1.5p at 390.5p.

The big question now is whether other countries follow the US lead. And is there any sort of fight back in the US?

Longley claims that other European countries cant simply ban something which is perfectly legal in the UK, and says that EU law makes it hard to ban on-line gambling.

Both he and Shepherd claim that the Safe Port Act has been pushed through to protect US gambling monopolies including state lotteries, horse racing and Las Vegas.

Citywire verdict: Although the new act has caught the industry by surprise, the writing has been on the wall for sometime and the big players have been expanding outside the US as fast they as can.

As the US has always regulated gambling, the question has often been posed about how long it would allow a new bunch of web-based players near unlimited access to its wallets of its gambling addicted citizens?

The Safe Port Act doesn't outlaw gambling so much as they way it is paid for, so it will doubtless be challenged in the courts.

Although the moral standards may be duplicitous, given the strength of the Christian Right in the US and the countrys puritan past, it is difficult to imagine a successful legal challenge.

elrico - 03 Oct 2006 07:28 - 215 of 465

We'll start with the good news for those of you who hate on-line gaming related firms for all the addictive traits associated with gambling. It is ironic that the US authorities are striving to protect its residents from the evils associated with anti social habit of gambling, by targeting company directors of listed companies with US facing on-line gaming businesses...arresting and charging them with racketeering and the taking of illegal bets, and tax evasion. Perversely, another gambler has been hit rather hard today....the ordinary investor, fund managers, etc.

The wrong kind of interest has hammered gaming associated stocks hard today, and the blood letting may not be over. I sure its not.

US Congress unexpectedly passed a bill this weekend that could help outlaw on-line gambling. The new proposals would make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to settle payments to on-line gambling sites.

The measures were tacked on to a bill aimed at enhancing port security, and passed on Saturday. The bill needs to be signed by President George Bush to become law.

For example, Nobody was partying at *PartyGaming or *888 Holdings as related companies plummeted today, with *PartyGaming lost 62p to 45p and 888 fell 38.25p at 108p. *Sportingbet lost a massive 134.5p to 49.75p, while Gaming VC, be it a European facing business, was also hit rather harshly, plummeting 30.5p to 108.5p. The U.S. legislation came as a shock to everybody, especially as in the last 8-years the bill never got through. Although early trading looked even worse, this will not be any comfort to anyone holding on-line gaming related stocks.

* Not Lemming Investor stocks

As we previously warned in mid August. The main battle is in the US where there is a ban in most states. The US has been a heated battleground surrounding moral issues for a few years now. An estimated 20 million Americans - well over half of those betting globally - visit on-line gambling sites - the Bush Government wants to keep the ban in place, arguing that Internet gambling threatens public morals and contributes to the spread of crime. With the US taking no prisoners (well, actually they did), the ante has been raised against US targeted gaming sector. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that prohibits the use of credits cards for gambling. Professor Joseph Kelly of the State University of New York, a leading US consultant to on-line gaming industry, believes "You can't enforce it. People will just use electronic cash entities like NETeller." This has been the cornerstone of our Bull argument for NETeller. So we thought. Unfortunately, the company has been hit harder than most related companies.

NETeller said the new US gaming legislation unexpectedly passed by the US Congress this weekend 'may have a material adverse effect' on its US facing business.

The company said it is considering the potential impact of the Act and once it has more information about what the regulations will stipulate, it will have a clearer view of which companies are affected, how those companies will be expected to comply, and any possible resulting impact on NETeller.

NETeller, which draw a large chunk of their income from money transfers to on-line gambling companies, were also badly impacted by the legislation. NETeller fell 214.5p to 140.5p.

On-line gaming software developer, Cryptologic also took a hit. Though not as harsh in percentage terms, nevertheless, the shares fell 245p at 957p. The company said Licensees will no longer take U.S. bets; after five years of planning have been hit. With more than 70% of its licensees' revenue now coming from outside the U.S. CryptoLogic is one of the industry's most geographically diversified businesses. In an attempt to quash investor fears, CEO Lewis Rose said, 'Since 2001, CryptoLogic has been shifting its business to Europe, and our record revenue and earnings in 2005 and 2006 to date flow from our success in the markets that embrace Internet gaming. 'While the new U.S. developments will be a challenge for the industry, our company's diversification, strong balance sheet, thriving European customers and potential new business in emerging markets enable us to face the future with confidence.'

http://www.lemminginvestor.com/newshub.html

Frampton - 03 Oct 2006 17:22 - 216 of 465

Hi Janet B,
I am very sorry to hear about your losses, it seems you haven't had a lot of luck recently. The thing I'm surprised about is why you have such huge exposure to so many risky stocks such as PRTY, GOO, VOG and IOT, particularly considering, if memory serves me correctly, you had to remortgage your house earlier this year due to margin calls on VOG. If your financial advisor told you to panic sell GOO at the lowest price the other week, then panic buy it back when it was much higher then I suggest you ditch him immediately. Have you received a call telling you to sell PRTY now? - Losing the dividend definitely implies things are only going to get worse there. Prehaps you ought to reconsider how much risk you can afford to take. Whatever you do, don't expose yourself to even more risk in the hopes of winning back your losses - it will almost certainly only compound the problem.
Best of luck, Frampton

janetbennison - 03 Oct 2006 17:33 - 217 of 465

Hello frampton. I have read your thread and am taking note of it. I have had a really bad time just lately. My financial advisor did not advice me to sell goo when I did, I just panicked at the time. Then I decided to buy them back again. Unfortunatly at a higher price. They will now need to go up ot 17p for be to break even on that one. with regards to the others I still have them as well. Prty seems to be getting worse. I noticed a lot of buyers at the end of the day. I will see what happens tomorrow. Good luck to you.

hilary - 03 Oct 2006 20:22 - 218 of 465

Janet,

I've read some of your posts. I think you should change your financial advisor. With friends like him, you certainly don't need any enemies.

maestro - 03 Oct 2006 21:38 - 219 of 465

Frist welcomes Taliban after sneaking internet gambling measure into port security bill
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist pulled a "Taliban" of his own Friday night by sneaking unrelated internet gambling provisions into a port security bill while removing key measures that would secure the nation's mass transit system.

A number of Democrats were outraged and vehemently opposed the addition of the internet gambling measure but voted on the bill unanimously in order to ensure port security.

Democrats had accused Republicans of pushing the bill to placate its conservative base, particularly the religious right, before the November 7 congressional elections.

Frist spoke like a Taliban when he addressed online poker as "a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams, and frays the fabric of society".

While Frist was pursuing the scourge of online poker and its adverse affect on families, a colleague, Mark Foley, resigned after learning his sexually charged internet exchanges with a young male congressional page were about to go public. Foley today blamed his behavior on alcoholism. And here we were thinking his perversions may have been brought on by internet poker.

Bill Frist is currently listed with odds of 30-1 to become the next US President at Sportsbook.com.

Frist' ideal America?

More than 10% of the American public are believed to play poker online. The Powerful Poker Players Alliance urged its nearly 100,000 members not to vote for any politician who favored a ban on internet poker.
Frist' next bill: Women must cover up their faces?

Now for those of you who thought that Bill Frist acted in a sorta "Taliban-like" fashion this past Friday night.....put your seat belts on!

Bill Frist is calling for the Taliban to come back into power in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press reported Monday that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government.

The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.

Afghanistan is suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since a U.S.-led military force toppled the Taliban in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

According to an Associated Press count, based on reports from U.S., NATO and Afghan officials, at least 2,800 people have been killed nationwide so far this year. The count, which includes militants and civilians, is about 1,300 more than the toll for all of 2005.

Maybe Frist should stick to sticking provisions such as restrictions on internet gambling to bills where they do not belong instead of sticking his foot in his mouth. Next thing you know we'll have Talibans in the Senate.

David Goldstein of the Huffington Post explains the State of the Republicans under Bill Frist:

"Not since the 1919 Black Sox have we seen a more determined effort to throw a game than that of the current Republican leadership. The Keystone Cops routine performed by Hastert, Reynolds and Shimkus seems designed to exacerbate and extend the Foley scandal as much and as long as possible, while the stupidly self-destructive deflections of White House Press Secretary Tony "Naughty Emails" Snow and GOP surrogate blowhard Matt Drudge (blaming Foley's downfall on "these 16 and 17 year-old beasts") couldn't have been more outrageously scripted by the satirical mind of Jesus' General.

"If the GOP wants to ensure a Democratic sweep in November, this is exactly how to do it.

"Yet apparently, political ambition knows no bounds, for even in the midst of this unrelenting firestorm, the title of Republican Idiot King continues to draw stiff competition, most notably today from outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a man who has made a hobby of repeatedly dashing his presidential hopes on the rocks of his own political mediocrity.

"The point is that the GOP's number one man in the Senate could possibly be so stunningly, politically tone deaf."

---

Christopher Costigan, www.gambling911.com

Originally published October 2, 2006 11:25 pm ET

HARRYCAT - 03 Oct 2006 22:13 - 220 of 465

What's your point maestro?
Do you support the opinions expressed above or are you feeling bitter about suffering losses.

maestro - 03 Oct 2006 22:26 - 221 of 465

harry..i hate all the yanks who are against freedom..nuke 'em!

megainvester - 03 Oct 2006 22:28 - 222 of 465

need to re employ Biladen to go after yanks

maestro - 03 Oct 2006 22:41 - 223 of 465

Sportingbet chief asks for support from United Kingdom and other online gambling jurisdictions
Sportingbet.com indicated on Tuesday it has every intention of staying in the US market following a bill passage late Friday that would limit some forms of online gambling transactions, specifically credit cards. The banking sector announced Monday that checks would be exempted.

But Sportingbet CEO, Nigel Payne, has asked for support from those countries who host online gambling operators such as his. He directed his Radio 4 comments more specifically to the United Kingdom, which begins licensing internet gambling businesses starting early 2007.

"We have the technological capability to carry on trading," Payne told BBC's Radio 4, adding, "The industry is just too vast ... and banks around the world don't take the same view as American legislature."

"(But) in the absence of tangible support from the U.K. government or the European Union, carrying on is much more difficult.

"There is the technology, but if the government doesn't say that this is absurd protectionism, then it's very difficult to carry on," said Payne.

Sportingbet, whose former non-executive chairman Peter Dicks was recently detained in the U.S. as the crackdown on gaming began, abandoned takeover talks with its smaller rival, World Gaming PLC (WGMGY), after Friday's move.
The news sent shares tumbling.

PartyGaming - the world's biggest online gaming company and a constituent of the FTSE 100 - closed at 45 pence, vastly below last year's initial public offer price of 116 pence. That company announced yesterday it would be leaving the US market.

Sportingbet ended at 66p, while 888 Holdings PLC (888.LN) closed at 108.25p. U.K. online money transfer company NETeller PLC (NLR.LN) also felt the heat, closing much lower on the day.

Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort said: "We do not believe this [law] is the end game. This could be construed as a violation of civil rights and promoting a chilling effect on free speech in the US." Experts highlighted that the bill includes carve-outs for a number of other online gambling activities including horse racing, Indian tribes, intrastate activities and fantasy sports.

"This represents protectionism and is in contradiction of the World Trade Organisation ruling in the US versus Antigua and Barbuda case," said Dresdner. The WTO ruled in 2004 that the current US administration was infringing on the trade rights of Antiguan online gaming and poker sites.

Even the American Gaming Association, which represents the traditional casino industry in gambling mecca's like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, said the new bill was a "bad idea." AGA chief executive Frank Fahrenkopf said his group wanted a federal commission to study whether the technology exists to go after under-age gambling on the Internet while regulating and taxing above-board websites.

"I still think the next Congress will pass such a measure," he said.

----

Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published October 3, 2006 8:02 am ET

Pommy - 04 Oct 2006 07:21 - 224 of 465

Did anyone kill 5 Amish kids with an internet gaming casino chip bought with a credit card.

Of fucking course they didnt!!

Why dont those fucking yanks take one of their guns and shoot that conceited waaanker Bush. His religious crusade is worse than anything islam throw at us.

I dont hold gaming shares!

seawallwalker - 04 Oct 2006 07:36 - 225 of 465

.

Frampton - 04 Oct 2006 09:32 - 226 of 465

Hi Janet,
looking at GOO, with good news they could well get to 17p and beyond, so fingers crossed for you there.However, with these high risk shares you have to accept any bad news will also impact heavily on the price. Can you afford to take another loss, or will that finish you off? I hope some of your shares start moving in the right direction soon! (Be thankful you got rid of SBT last week).

janetbennison - 04 Oct 2006 09:54 - 227 of 465

on thursday last week I sold all my sbt one lot at 1.78 in the morning and 1.86and a quarter in the afternoon. a total of 17,097 shares. In the afternoon I sold 20,000 prty at 1.05 per share. This left me hold 80,000 prty. A pity I did not sell the lot. I am devasted at a my loss on prty. I do not think I am on my own. I have never been to America, and now this has happened, I do not think I will ever want to go there. My shares are doing terrible at the moment. must go now.

hilary - 04 Oct 2006 09:58 - 228 of 465

I wouldn't worry about going to America, Janet. I think they're only looking to arrest senior executives of online gambling firms. The ordinary shareholders are probably quite safe.

:o)

TheMaster - 04 Oct 2006 12:51 - 229 of 465

Bought in this week, as oversold and the house broker did state previously that the SBT were worth 150p without the USA income.
The sector will be consolidated now and SBT were this year being watched by other gaming companies with a view to a buy out.

janetbennison - 04 Oct 2006 13:02 - 230 of 465

I have heard the same about takeovers in the gaming companies yesterday rumours going around the stock exchange, but they do not think this will happen till later on in the year. If I hear any more on this then I will let you know.

HARRYCAT - 04 Oct 2006 13:21 - 231 of 465

Consolidation may therefore be an arguement for hanging on to your stock instead of realising a big loss.
Fortunately, I sold most of my SBT before the bad news, but still hold some. If they were to be re-issued as ?????? (Maybe 888) then that would not be such a bad outcome. So long as they don't become worthless, of course, which is another possibilty, though unlikely imo.

TheMaster - 04 Oct 2006 14:37 - 232 of 465

Things are about to get a whole lot better with the US banks on our side!

'The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), a leading trade group in Washington D.C., is fighting against the proposed law that would block electronic transfers between U.S. gamblers and Internet casinos, Onlinecasinocrawler.com has learned.

"ICBA recognizes the concerns that some of your colleagues have raised about Internet gambling," a spokesman for ICBA said. "We urge Congress to recognize that the nation's banks have already taken on major responsibilities to help detect and prevent terrorist financing and illegal money laundering. Attempting to monitor and block gambling transactions, particularly given the limits of the current payment technology, could detract from those efforts."

A letter voicing these, and other, concerns, was presented to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). A copy of which was provided to Onlinecasinocrawler.com

The association said that smaller banks simply do not have the capability to stop gamblers from using paper-checks to move money into gambling accounts. The proposed law might require them to do so, however.

Although the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act (IGPEA) would require more regulation of banks, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department would have to devise a way to make complying with the law not overly burdensome, said Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa), sponsor of the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Constant Updates

Banks, if the law was passed, would need a continually updated lists of names of online casino operations to comply with the law, somewhat akin to what is done to monitor payments to alleged terrorist organizations and would-be drug dealers.

According to the ICBA, unlike credit card transactions, which include a code that identifies the type of business receiving payment, uncoded transactions -- electronic payments and personal checks -- don't provide this information. Though it's feasible to monitor and block certain types of credit card transactions, a bank cant do so with completely uncoded transactions.

Another reason the ICBA opposes the bill is that the legislation will subject banks and electronic processors to criminal liability for routine processing of financial transactions which today is their core business operation'

TheMaster - 04 Oct 2006 20:23 - 233 of 465

Lots of buys after the bell today, perhaps tomorrow we will find out why.

cynic - 04 Oct 2006 20:38 - 234 of 465

could very easily be bears locking in profits

maestro - 04 Oct 2006 20:41 - 235 of 465

why don't they investigate put options a few days before 911...i bet Frist had a few on airline stocks along with Bush and his cronies

HARRYCAT - 04 Oct 2006 21:59 - 236 of 465

maestro - Let go mate! It will only eat you up inside!!!

e t - 05 Oct 2006 07:27 - 237 of 465

Daily Telegraph - 05/10/2006

Credit card punters face online betting ban - By Simon Goodley

Millions of UK credit card users could be blocked from betting online in the wake of the US Congress passing laws curbing payments for internet gambling in America. Two of the UK's most popular credit cards - MBNA and Capital One - have refused to rule out barring customers from gaming sites.

The news emerged after weekend moves to outlaw payments to online gambling sites by US-based banks and credit card firms - a development that saw the value of online gambling companies listed in London drop by 3.5bn on Monday.

APACS, the payment industry's trade association, predicted that some American companies operating in the UK could now look to impose a ban.

"They may take the decision because of corporate structure, if a chief executive knows that he risks arrest next time he steps off a plane in the US," said Sandra Quinn, the director of corporate communications for APACS.

A spokesman for MBNA, which has seven million credit cards out of a total British market of 69.9m, declined to rule out a policy change. "We're watching the developments in the US regarding the new legislation. It is a bit too early to say anything at the moment, but we will keep an eye on it," he said.

Meanwhile, Capital One, which has headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, and has more than four million UK customers, said it was unable to make a comment, although Morgan Stanley insisted it had no plans to introduce a ban.

Despite online betting being completely legal in the UK, American Express blocked its card holders from placing online bets 10 years ago. Citibank followed lead two years ago when it justified its actions by saying it was applying "best practice established by Citi Cards in the US".

At the time, it added: "We believe that our action will help limit potential risks of fraud, money laundering and the often undesirable financial impact that gambling on credit may have on individuals, and is therefore in the best interests of Citi Cards UK and its customers."

TheMaster - 05 Oct 2006 08:53 - 238 of 465

Nice rise in the sp today, after large buys after the bell yesterday.
Oversold and the market getting back in with the mm's winners again.

Uranus Asset Mgt - 05 Oct 2006 08:57 - 239 of 465

False spike. Fund managers still to sell.

HARRYCAT - 05 Oct 2006 10:40 - 240 of 465

The market is starting to consolidate already.
UKB have been approached by someone. Could be SBT, PRTY or 888.

TheMaster - 05 Oct 2006 12:41 - 241 of 465

Looks like UKB and SBT have both been approached, since their sp both up by 12%.
When will SBT advise the market of this bid, RNS later today?

HARRYCAT - 05 Oct 2006 13:03 - 242 of 465

Nearly all gaming stocks are up today. GGK up 25%.
It's just speculation not necessarily confirmed approaches.

TheMaster - 06 Oct 2006 08:52 - 243 of 465

Looks like SBT is fighting back:

'Sportingbet chief executive Nigel Payne has been in Antigua since Tuesday afternoon and is understood to be meeting the Antiguan authorities to discuss the US legislation. Sportingbet has a licence in Antigua, which allows it to operate servers and customer support in Costa Rica for its US customers.'

Enjoy the ride today.

TheMaster - 06 Oct 2006 13:07 - 244 of 465

Better rise then expected, huge volumn today, somethings brewing?
Sould get good coverage in this weekends press

moneyplus - 06 Oct 2006 14:17 - 245 of 465

got a buy rec. on Tom W's new show today!!

PapalPower - 06 Oct 2006 14:51 - 246 of 465

Worth a read :

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_news/news_story/1446?class=PokerNews

Haystack - 06 Oct 2006 16:09 - 247 of 465

An interesting read, but the upshot is still the same. It will be very difficult for most people in the US to play online poker etc. There has been plenty of warning about the impending legislation (more than a year). It should be no surprise that stocks like SBT will need serious revaluing. SBT and similar stocks have plenty to fall yet.

janetbennison - 08 Oct 2006 08:06 - 248 of 465

sunday times online today announces that labour bids to put uk at teh heart of online gambling. Sportingbet have received takeover approaches for their us business. The firm have been contacted by several people wanting to buy its us operations, although a sales is not the only options been considers. Have a look there is more. Sorry I do not know how to download this article on to this thread. Good luck to all who still hold. Peter just out of interest did you buy yours back at a much lower price? Cynic I will be in touch later about the cfd details.

maestro - 08 Oct 2006 10:03 - 249 of 465

pity they didn't buy them before all the fuss...anyone would have thought they did it on purpose to get the prices down...surely christian loving yanks wouldn't be so devious?

TheMaster - 08 Oct 2006 10:42 - 250 of 465

Here is the Times artical, I'm looking forward to Monday!

The Sunday Times
October 08, 2006

Labour bids to put UK at heart of online gambling
Dipesh Gadher and Matthew Goodman

PLANS to turn Britain into a world leader in internet gambling have been drawn up by ministers, according to internal Whitehall documents.
In stark contrast to America, where online gambling has in effect been outlawed, ministers want to attract offshore companies to Britain.

New legislation will lift the current ban on online gaming businesses in Britain from next year. But documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that a government charm offensive is well under way. They show that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has lobbied the Treasury on behalf of online betting and gaming firms to introduce a favourable tax regime.

Over the past two years, ministers and officials at the department have met representatives of the internet gambling industry on 26 occasions.

In July, Richard Caborn, the minister in charge of gambling, travelled at taxpayers expense to Gibraltar, the headquarters of Party Gaming and 888.com. At the end of the month, Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, will host an international summit of politicians at Ascot racecourse to discuss regulatory standards.

Officials from the United Nations, the European Commission and the major credit card companies have been invited.

The governments desire to take the lead in the online gambling sector is spelt out in a briefing note written for Caborn before a meeting in July last year with Mark Davies, managing director of Betfair, the online betting exchange.

The note says: It is government-wide policy, and that includes HMT (Her Majestys Treasury), that Britain should become a world leader in the field of online gambling, in order to provide our citizens with the opportunity to gambling (sic) in a safe, well-regulated environment.

The meeting took place as the Treasury was deciding a new tax regime for online betting exchanges, which are already allowed to operate onshore. Although bookmakers, such as Ladbrokes and William Hill, were arguing that online companies should pay higher rates of tax, Davies told Caborn such a move would kill Betfair.

Six months later, the chancellor announced a 15% tax on gross profits for online operators the same regime that applies to traditional bookmakers. The move apparently delighted Betfair, according to another DCMS document.

Documents released by the Treasury under the Freedom of Information Act showed officials are considering ways to attract betting firms.

Briefing notes for one speech said: The industry needs clarity on taxation issues, as this is a crucial factor shaping investment and location decisions, especially for remote operators.

Luring online poker and casino firms into Britain may prove difficult. The industry has told Caborn that anything more than a 2% tax on gross profits would be unacceptable. Some companies have asked the government to consider a system of secondary licensing, which would give them the British regulatory stamp of approval while retaining the tax benefits of remaining offshore.

Sportingbet, whose shares fell 64% last Monday in the wake of the new American law, has received takeover approaches for its US business.
The company has commissioned legal opinions to determine the impact of the American legislation.

The firm has been contacted by several people wanting to buy its US operations, although a sale is not the only option being considered.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2393518.html

Haystack - 08 Oct 2006 11:05 - 251 of 465

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5412980.stm

Who is really in charge of the internet?

US laws to clamp down on online gaming show that the internet can be controlled, argues Bill Thompson.
The myth of the borderless internet, never very credible to those who had any real understanding of the interplay between politics and technology that underpins the network, took another hit last week when the US Congress voted to ban bank and credit card payments to gambling firms.

If President Bush signs the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act into law, as he is expected to do, then within months US credit card companies and banks will be forced to check for and refuse payment for most forms of online gambling.

This has already had a catastrophic effect on UK-based companies like Sportingbet and PartyGaming, who face the loss of a major part of their market. Share prices are tumbling, directors are worried and revenue projections are being hastily scaled down.

Whether or not you approve of gambling or online gambling, and whether or not you think that this move smacks of hypocrisy or is a blatant attempt to protect the US gaming industry from overseas competition, the law provides a good example of how governments can control the internet.

Instead of trying to manage the technology by banning poker-playing software or insisting that service providers block online gaming sites - neither of which would be effective anyway - the law puts pressure on the banks who actually move the money around.

janetbennison - 08 Oct 2006 14:18 - 252 of 465

what do you think the market reaction is going to be on this matter tomorrow.

janetbennison - 08 Oct 2006 15:15 - 253 of 465

news just come out 2.45 title partygaming but this news will concern all gaming companies.

maestro - 08 Oct 2006 15:34 - 254 of 465

SBT BID AROUND 200P IMHO

janetbennison - 08 Oct 2006 15:37 - 255 of 465

maestro where have you got this bit of news from?

MightyMicro - 08 Oct 2006 18:21 - 256 of 465

Janet:

Probably dreamt it after partaking of "certain substances" . . . :)

maestro - 08 Oct 2006 20:37 - 257 of 465

janet..value of business without US

MightyMicro - 08 Oct 2006 23:58 - 258 of 465

The market is currently valuing SBT at a spread of 69.75/70.50 without the U.S. business. I fail to see why a bid would be at 200.

janetbennison - 09 Oct 2006 08:12 - 259 of 465

so do I , but who knows. maestro, I am just wondering how you have valued sbt at 2.00.

Paulo2 - 09 Oct 2006 09:43 - 260 of 465

I think he used a pin.

In since last week @ 63p and would be happy to see 1 by the 17th.

janetbennison - 09 Oct 2006 11:19 - 261 of 465

news in the daily telegraph today sbt looking for loopholes in the usa.

Haystack - 09 Oct 2006 15:19 - 262 of 465

They won't find any. The US government is pretty determined to block these transactions. A lack of bank and credit card transfers will stop US transactions. If any looholes are found then the US will just close them.

maestro - 11 Oct 2006 07:44 - 263 of 465

Frist the anti-christ?
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=511

Pommy - 11 Oct 2006 17:36 - 264 of 465

i dont believe its illegal for US citizerns to hold overseas bank accounts.

How handy would that be if an offshore bank was to buy an online casino company or vice versa!!!

[Offensive language removed by MoneyAM Moderator]

hlyeo98 - 16 Oct 2006 16:06 - 265 of 465

Sportingbet says Credit Suisse sells stake
AFX

LONDON (AFX) - Sportingbet PLC said Credit Suisse no longer has a notifiable interest in the company's issued share capital.

On Oct 12, Credit Suisse, through Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd and Credit Suisse International, said it held 13.3 mln Sportingbet shares, representing 3.15 pct of capital.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

cynic - 16 Oct 2006 16:16 - 266 of 465

somebody at CS will get their knuckles rapped or worse

Pommy - 16 Oct 2006 19:20 - 267 of 465

Pommy - 11 Oct 2006 17:36 - 264 of 266
i dont believe its illegal for US citizerns to hold overseas bank accounts.

How handy would that be if an offshore bank was to buy an online casino company or vice versa!!!

[Offensive language removed by MoneyAM Moderator]

did i mention the words 'online gaming'?
does George Moron Bush work for ADVFN?
Lets see!!

MUSLIM MUSLIM MUSLIM!!!

MightyMicro - 16 Oct 2006 19:44 - 268 of 465

Er, Pommy, I think you've got the wrong bulletin board.

janetbennison - 16 Oct 2006 20:42 - 269 of 465

mighty micro where do you think sporting bet will go from here after the terrific drop in share price today. results are due out this thursday.

cynic - 16 Oct 2006 20:58 - 270 of 465

JB ... don't even THINK about putting money in

janetbennison - 17 Oct 2006 07:44 - 271 of 465

have no fear, they will not be getting any more money off me.

HARRYCAT - 17 Oct 2006 08:55 - 272 of 465

I read a news alert yesterday, which I can no longer find, which explained how the brokers had now calculated the earnings potential of SBT now that the U.S. was out of the picture & I believe they set a share price of 45p as a realistic valuation.
There may be a very slim opportunity to make a little money if the momentum of the downward slide carries the sp below the 45p mark.

MightyMicro - 17 Oct 2006 09:20 - 273 of 465

There was a Reuters news item yesterday with a broker note -- UBS cut SBT to "reduce" but I can't find the price target.

ateeq180 - 19 Oct 2006 16:46 - 274 of 465

not too much discussion whats going on this baby needs to show some steel.

cynic - 19 Oct 2006 16:49 - 275 of 465

IMO anyone holding these shares (and most others in this sector, excepting those UK-focussed) needs to throw in the towel rather than show misplaced steel

JoJaguar - 19 Oct 2006 20:13 - 276 of 465

Interestingly though, Shares Mag have recommended a buy for Party. Why would that not apply to SBT?

maestro - 20 Oct 2006 04:06 - 277 of 465

when Bush gets chucked out in November the banning will probably be overturned...thats why i'm putting my shirt on SBT,PARTY

hilary - 20 Oct 2006 07:28 - 278 of 465

I'm surprised you've got any shirts left, maestro, after some of the dogs you've put them on over the years.

bonfield - 23 Oct 2006 09:31 - 279 of 465

bush has 2 years to go, these are only mid term elections maestro

Haystack - 23 Oct 2006 11:08 - 280 of 465

You wpould have thought that the great commentator on all things US - 'maestro' would have known a bit more about the US elections. But then again I suppose they probably don't teach much politics at his nursery school.

bonfield - 23 Oct 2006 13:53 - 281 of 465

I think SBT are better value than PRTY, my back of the envelope calc for PRTY gives a value of 20p or so compared to 65 for SBT, but dont ask for the details coz I've lost the envelope!

Haystack - 25 Oct 2006 17:57 - 282 of 465

Here is a part of an Email that I received from Ladbrokes.

On Friday 13th October President Bush gave final assent to the Safe Port Act marking the bill's passage into law. The bill has caused significant disruption within the online gaming industry due to a clause that prohibits the processing of financial transactions for online gambling by players resident in the United States, who make up approximately 70% of online players.

Immediate withdrawal of services to residents of the USA
Publicly listed companies such as Partypoker.com & 888.com, Poker Networks including Cryptologic (Betfair, William Hill) and payment provider Firepay, have already implemented an immediate withdrawal of their services to residents of the USA. For the poker rooms this will mean a significant reduction in their player numbers but may mean they are legally compliant within their remaining markets.

Continuing to accept deposits from US players in spite of the Safe Port Act
Many non-public listed companies have taken a different interpretation of the Act. They have concluded that the Act does not alter the U.S. legal situation with respect to the offering of online poker games to US residents. This interpretation has yet to be tested in the courts. It should be noted that financial institutions such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have advised their corporate clients that they are not prepared to do business with companies that take online wagers from the United States. This contradiction in approach may lead to difficulties in processing deposits and withdrawals for these operators

HARRYCAT - 25 Oct 2006 18:56 - 283 of 465

So, as we know, the control of U.S. gambling is going to be by prosecuting the banks if they process gaming transactions which are coded & therefore easily identifiable. The banks will comply, so the on-line gaming companies are powerless to change that.
It was my understanding that Ladbrokes, William Hill & Coral (Gala) did not have exposure to the U.S.
So nothing has changed, or have I missed something?

maestro - 27 Oct 2006 20:29 - 284 of 465

Bush will be thrown out for 9/11 involvement..Americans are waking up fast

Online gambling: United Kingdom attacks US law
The online gambling community has been crying out for support from the United Kingdom and now they got it.

Britain's culture secretary on Friday compared the U.S. crackdown on online gambling to the failed alcohol ban of the Prohibition as she prepared to host an international summit on Internet gambling next week.

Tessa Jowell warned that the U.S. ban on Internet gambling would make unregulated offshore sites the "modern equivalent of speakeasies," illegal bars that opened in 1920s America when alcohol was banned.

U.S. Congress caught the gambling industry by surprise earlier this month when it added to an unrelated bill a provision that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to settle payments for online gambling sites. President Bush signed the law Oct. 14.

The internet gambling community has gone on the attack against one of the bill's co-sponsors, Senator Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona who is due up for re-election this November 7. Hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters were already notified about Kyl's prohibition attempts by early Friday morning.

As a result of Kyl and Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist's prohibition, the most lucrative region in a market worth $15.5 billion this year in "spend" value had been closed off, deducing some firms to rubble and causing countless numbers of shareholders to lose millions.

Several London-based Internet gambling companies and a handful in Europe and Australia subsequently sold off or shut down their U.S. operations, losing around 80 percent of their combined business in the process.

U.S. officials have declined to participate in Tuesday's gambling summit in London, where lawmakers from 30 countries will discuss ways to regulate the industry, including the protection of minors and keeping the industry free of crime.

Officials from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, Malta, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda are expected to attend.

Antigua in particular has been engaging in a strong defense of Internet gambling, one of the tiny Caribbean state's few economic success stories.

It argues that the U.S. ban is in direct contravention to a ruling by the World Trade Organization last year that the United States amend some of its legislation to permit Antiguan gambling operations to offer their services to U.S. citizens on a level playing field.

Mark Mendel, who leads Antigua's WTO legal team, said Friday that the summit would put further pressure on the United States to comply with the ruling.

"Ultimately, I think they are going to have to satisfy us," he said. Mendel said online gambling was vital to Antigua, whose only other industry of note is tourism.

Next week's gathering has been months in the planning and officials intended to discuss ways to stop criminals from defrauding online gamblers and to prevent sites being used for money laundering.

However, the new U.S. law is likely to be the focus of talks. Jowell said that regulating sites worked better than prohibition.

"America should have learnt the lessons of Prohibition," she said, noting that legislation that was meant to stop alcohol from causing harm in practice forced otherwise law-abiding customers into the hands of the bootleggers.

Under new British gambling laws, online operators have a "social responsibility" duty written into licenses and policed by the independent Gambling Commission watchdog.

It requires them to work to prevent underage gambling, give prominent warnings about addiction and inform users how much time and money they have spent on the site.

"Broadly speaking we have three choices: you can prohibit, like the U.S., do nothing or regulate, like we have," Jowell said. "I firmly believe we have chosen the path that will do the most to protect children and vulnerable people and keep out crime."

The US Justice Department is still holding former BetonSports CEO David Carruthers under house

MightyMicro - 27 Oct 2006 21:52 - 285 of 465

maestro: I see that knowledge of the American system of government is not your strong point.

Let me help you. George Bush will leave the White House at the end of his second term, never to return, as it is prohibited by the 22nd Amendment to the American Constitution for a President to serve more than two terms. This will be in two years.

As I pointed out to you elsewhere, 69% of Americans are not "waking up fast", as you put it. What is more, the idea that the President of the United States would want to or could have orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and kept this secret is so ludicrous as to not warrant a response.

If you need any further help with this, do let me know.

Tessa Jowell's bizarre outburst will simply harden American opinion about on-line gambling.

hlyeo98 - 07 Dec 2006 19:39 - 286 of 465

Goldman Sachs reducing their stake in SBT today

cynic - 07 Dec 2006 20:05 - 287 of 465

maestro's grasp of the real world, let alone reality, is not his strong point

FONTY - 17 Jan 2007 14:41 - 288 of 465

Anybody discussing Sportingbet this month?

maestro - 17 Jan 2007 15:39 - 289 of 465

no..fed up with it!

HARRYCAT - 17 Jan 2007 16:09 - 290 of 465

Now that 365 & 888 have been swallowed up, SBT may have to start looking around to try & increase it's market share.
SBT went ex-divi 3 weeks ago. Don't suppose anyone knows if they paid a divi this time?

maestro - 17 Jan 2007 16:51 - 291 of 465

31m buy after hours...whats that about

REMOTEHELI - 17 Jan 2007 17:01 - 292 of 465

Maybe someone will swallow them up!

R88AVE - 21 Feb 2007 13:21 - 293 of 465

Has anyone seen the reason behind a 10% rise today, I have noticed PRTY is up as well....

HARRYCAT - 21 Feb 2007 14:20 - 294 of 465

No idea. 888 is also up.

FONTY - 21 Feb 2007 16:03 - 295 of 465

God I pray they both go up PRTY and SBT!

R88AVE - 21 Feb 2007 16:15 - 296 of 465

Long 37.5 this morning.... chart looks overdue for recovery, now that US stuff is out of window for now. Unless some prat decides to go to US again!

john50 - 21 Feb 2007 19:35 - 297 of 465

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=164277

john50 - 21 Feb 2007 19:42 - 298 of 465

PRTY:LN
PartyGaming PLC
PartyGaming, Sportingbet Jump on Talk of Law Change (Update1)

By Amy Wilson and Sarah Thompson

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of U.K. Internet gambling companies PartyGaming Plc and Sportingbet Plc rose on speculation that laws restricting online wagers in the U.S. may be relaxed.

``There's speculation of a lifting of the ban passed by the U.S. Congress which would be good news for companies like PartyGaming,'' said Kevin Lyne-Smith, an investment consultant at Julius Baer Holding AG's private banking division in Switzerland, which manages the equivalent of $100 billion.

PartyGaming and Sportingbet were among Web gambling operators that stopped taking bets from the U.S. after Congress unexpectedly passed legislation in September that criminalized processing of credit-card payments for the industry. U.S. gamblers accounted for about 85 percent of PartyGaming's revenue in 2005.

``A relaxation in the law is seen as a possibility with talk that it is proving too onerous for banks to track illegal payments,'' said Martin Slaney, head of spread betting at GFT Global Markets in London.

Shares of Gibraltar-based PartyGaming jumped 4.25 pence, or 11 percent, to 41.5 pence in London today. The stock fell 76 percent in 2006 after the U.S. law was passed. Sportingbet shares climbed 5 pence, or 14 percent, to 40 pence, the biggest gain since Oct. 24. They slid 87 percent in 2006.

PartyGaming is scheduled to report 2006 earnings on March 1. Neither company immediately returned calls from Bloomberg News.

R88AVE - 21 Feb 2007 22:09 - 299 of 465

Interesting. I will watch and see how market reacts tomorrow, could be pretty good?

R88AVE - 22 Feb 2007 10:59 - 300 of 465

Sold at 42p happy with small profit, will defo watch and see how it develops

REMOTEHELI - 27 Feb 2007 16:45 - 301 of 465

I think considering todays trade, SBT has held its own very well ! I think there may be some news on the horizon for them. (could they be up for a takeover perhaps !)

moneyplus - 28 Feb 2007 10:18 - 302 of 465

my only blue one today! results look positive-the fight back is continuing.

HARRYCAT - 07 Mar 2007 09:54 - 303 of 465

Possible Offer

The Board of Sportingbet has noted the recent press speculation and confirms
that it has received a very preliminary approach which may or may not lead to an
offer for the entire issued share capital of Sportingbet.

pisces - 07 Mar 2007 11:00 - 304 of 465

If a firm offer is a possibility anyone any ideas of what price the company may be taken out at?

HARRYCAT - 07 Mar 2007 14:24 - 305 of 465

VIENNA (AFX) - BWIN Interactive Entertainment said it is in 'very preliminary' talks to buy Sportingbet Plc.

The Austrian online betting company said these talks 'may or may not lead to an offer'.

hrfulleruk - 08 Mar 2007 11:51 - 306 of 465

The Independent reckons it will be 64 pence cash.

HARRYCAT - 08 Mar 2007 13:15 - 307 of 465

"At current share prices BWIN has a market capitalisation of almost 1 bln eur, while Sportingbet has a market cap of around 380 mln eur (260 mln stg). According to BWIN, as of Sept 30 the company had liquid assets of just under 66.7 mln eur, so well over 320 mln eur would have to be raised for any acquisition to take place.

Sveceny could give no timeframe on when the deal might progress, or a decision on a capital increase or possible financing would be made."

64p seems cheap, but haven't yet done the proper calculation.

janetbennison - 09 Mar 2007 10:03 - 308 of 465

news out today - in money am newspapers news - rumour of the day on sportingbet. talk that sporting index is mulling a counter bid. this news is in the times newspaper thismorning. it will be interesting to see what the bid is going to be.

HARRYCAT - 09 Mar 2007 11:52 - 309 of 465

Am now hearing on the rumour trail that 87p is the target. Just rumour, nothing solid.

janetbennison - 09 Mar 2007 12:25 - 310 of 465

.87 pence that would be absoluteley wonderful if it comes off.

maestro - 11 Mar 2007 09:22 - 311 of 465

FILL YA FRIGGIN BOOTS!#

UK gaming takes on Europe
By Mark Choueke, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:52pm GMT 10/03/2007

Britain's leading gaming companies intend to use a ruling from a top European court to fight for greater freedom to operate around Europe.

The Continent's state-owned monopolies have so far been reluctant to open their markets to foreign competitors. Many such monopolies are being challenged in a variety of courts by individual British bookmakers, online gaming firms and betting exchanges. If the $100bn (51.7bn) European gambling market were opened up to allow foreign competitors to trade freely it could be worth $140bn by 2012, said experts.

The UK companies said last week's European Court of Justice (ECJ) "Placanica" ruling that Italy's restrictions on Liverpool firm Stanley International Betting were discriminatory and out of step with EU law, will prove vital in their individual battles. The ECJ ruled that countries can write their own rules on gambling, but if they allow gambling companies to operate, they cannot discriminate against or restrict licensed competitors from abroad.

advertisement
Ladbrokes is currently fighting on four fronts, challenging Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Holland over trade restrictions. A spokesman said: "We are looking at how we can use Placanica to fight our cases. The market has to be prised open, the judgement makes it difficult for nation states to bring criminal proceedings against us."

Gala Coral chief executive Neil Goulden said the ruling brings the UK "one step closer to breaking down the European protectionists".

Betfair, the betting exchange, is currently trying to break into Germany where the authorities fear entry of foreign companies may encourage sporting corruption and financial fraud.

But Betfair managing director Mark Davies said all the UK companies fighting for free trade are not only well regulated but also "a million miles ahead" of the European monopolies in crime prevention. "Our British gambling brands can share our methods of crime detection with others in Europe if they allow us in. Betfair has a fraud and integrity team 60-people strong. Their reluctance to let us in has more to do with each country wanting the UK kept out to allow them time to develop their own gambling services and products which are less developed than ours," he said.

Warwick Bartlett, lead partner at Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, predicts the European market will be worth up to $140bn by 2012 if restrictions on trade are removed. "What the Europeans are saving in revenue by protecting state monopolies is less than the earnings they could rake in through tax revenue, jobs and foreign exchange if they lifted restrictions."

The EU commissioner for internal market and services Charlie McCreevy said the judgment will have "an important bearing on other EU countries."

janetbennison - 11 Mar 2007 15:22 - 312 of 465

hi there all, the gaming sector has made some good gains this week. I am holding shares in 888, sportingbet and partygaming. Lets hope that bwin does not drag its feet too long with their offer for sportingbet, even though they are in early stages.

cynic - 11 Mar 2007 16:00 - 313 of 465

has to be no better than evens that you will lose money in this sector

maestro - 11 Mar 2007 16:58 - 314 of 465

janet..snap!

HARRYCAT - 12 Mar 2007 08:47 - 315 of 465

I hold 888 & SBT. Certainly think with consolidation & possible takeover speculation that the odds of making money in this sector are in our favour.
We just have to keep our eye on the ball & take sensible profit.

cynic - 12 Mar 2007 09:04 - 316 of 465

or stay out altogether and just watch the fun in both directions

janetbennison - 12 Mar 2007 12:55 - 317 of 465

does anyone know why the gaming stocks have fallen today. They have dropped quite a large percentage for today. I cannot find any bad news anywhere.

cynic - 12 Mar 2007 13:11 - 318 of 465

could be because the market in general thinks they're crap or at best, the wrong sector ..... add to that that Dow looks to be heading south today (and just maybe for the next 2/3 days)

maestro - 12 Mar 2007 17:05 - 319 of 465

monday mm treeshake...usual tactics

maestro - 12 Mar 2007 17:06 - 320 of 465

keep ya eye on BET...1m t-trade at close

moneyplus - 12 Mar 2007 18:48 - 321 of 465

I'm back in for a few today after selling on the spike. I'm waiting for the counter bid fun to start!

maestro - 12 Mar 2007 20:48 - 322 of 465

good move...me too..also don't forget 888 results out in a few days

maestro - 13 Mar 2007 05:51 - 323 of 465

Last Updated: Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 00:12 GMT

E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Gambling ads ban to be scrapped

Adverts will still be banned during programmes aimed at under 18s
A ban on TV and radio adverts for casinos, betting shops and online gambling sites is to be scrapped.
The new rules will come into operation in September as part of the Gambling Act 2005.

Adverts will be banned during shows aimed at under 18s - and anyone who appears to be under 25 cannot be shown gambling on TV or on radio.

Minister for Sport Richard Caborn said the Government would monitor the changes and step in if problems arose.

Advertisers must stick to a code of practice. They must not, for example, depict gambling as a solution to debt.

Mr Caborn said the restrictions were needed to protect children and other vulnerable groups.

Adverts must not show gamblers behaving in a way which is irresponsible or could lead to "financial, social or emotional harm".

And as with alcohol, anyone promoting gambling must not link it to sexual success or enhanced self-image.

We hope the outcome of these new standards will be to encourage people to see gambling as fun and entertaining rather than as a way of making your fortune

Nicola Crewe-Read
GamCare

Mr Caborn welcomed the new codes, saying: "They set out clearly what is and isn't acceptable advertising practice for all gambling operators, while making sure that the protection of children and vulnerable people is a central consideration of all advertising campaigns."

He insisted that the government would monitor the reforms carefully and would step in if problems arose.

"If they are insufficient to ensure proper public protection, the government will consider using its additional powers to impose further restrictions," Mr Caborn said.

Possible sanctions

The rules were drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP).

They will be policed by the Advertising Standards Authority and any breach could be referred to the Gambling Commission or the regulator Ofcom who could impose sanctions.

Nicola Crewe-Reade, from addiction counselling service GamCare, also backed the changes.

"We hope the outcome of these new standards will be to encourage people to see gambling as fun and entertaining rather than as a way of making your fortune," she told the BBC News website.

Until now, the UK National Lottery has been exempt from restrictions applied to other forms of gambling.

cynic - 13 Mar 2007 13:35 - 324 of 465

do as maestro says; fill yer boots with gaming stocks ..... or cement .... result will prob be much the same

HARRYCAT - 20 Mar 2007 11:46 - 325 of 465

VIENNA (AFX) - BWIN Interactive Entertainment said that acquiring Sportingbet would help the company overtake PartyGaming as the UK market leader in online gaming, BWIN CEO Norbert Teufelberger told the German business magazine 'Focus Money'.

Teufelberger said that BWIN would benefit from the effects of significant synergies if a purchase of Sportingbet were to go through, although he refused to provide a specific figure for any potential savings.

BWIN confirmed on March 3 that it is in 'very preliminary' takeover discussions with Sportingbet."

maestro - 20 Mar 2007 19:13 - 326 of 465

cynic gets it wrong again..what a loserrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

janetbennison - 20 Mar 2007 19:23 - 327 of 465

cynic just does not like gaming shares. He likes a few minos and the rest all in gold solid stocks. which there is nothing wrong with that all to ones own. I still have prty 888 and sbt. Good luck.

HARRYCAT - 21 Mar 2007 09:35 - 328 of 465

Sp up 5p on news:

*SPORTINGBET REPORTS 'AMICABLE RESOLUTION' IN LOUISIANA, WARRANTS CANCELLED "

janetbennison - 21 Mar 2007 10:19 - 329 of 465

this is really good news for us

HARRYCAT - 21 Mar 2007 12:08 - 330 of 465

At the very least it means that BWIN won't do what Ladbrokes has done to 888 & pull out of a takeover just because the Directors might still be liable for prosecution. This should clear a possible hurdle.

HARRYCAT - 04 Jul 2007 12:04 - 331 of 465

And down 10% already:

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - "Sportingbet PLC said discussions with Austria-based online gaming firm Bwin Interactive Entertainmnet AG regarding a possible acquisition of Sportingbet have been 'mutually and amicably discontinued'.

Sportingbet announced in March that it was in talks with Bwin on the matter.

At 11.10 am, shares in Sportingbet were trading at 52-3/4 pence, down 5-1/2.

Analysts had believed an offer in the region of 60-65 pence per share, valuing the business at over 260 mln stg, was a possibility.

Last month, Sportingbet's chief executive Andy McIver told Thomson Financial News that talks between the two parties had been protracted due to 'complex legal, regulatory and operational issues'.

'Both parties decided to terminate the discussion. As a result of regulatory and legal changes in a number of markets in which both BWIN and Sportingbet operate, and not just ones with European Union borders, we have not been able to agree on terms,' said Konrad Sveceny, head of Investor Relations at BWIN."

HARRYCAT - 28 Aug 2007 12:30 - 332 of 465

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - "Sportingbet PLC said it was not yet aware of the likely impact from the cancelled Australian race meetings over the weekend and coming week.

The cancellation follows a short term federal travel ban on horse movements across most of Australia, following an outbreak of equine influenza in certain states there.

The company, which expects the racing to resume over the coming weeks, said a short-term suspension of the horse racing industry in this region will not materially impact its full-year performance.

The group also said it has traded in line with its expectations during the first four weeks of the new financial year, with all major European soccer leagues having now commenced.

Sportingbet will announce its results for the year ended July 31 on Oct 17."

janetbennison - 21 Sep 2007 15:15 - 333 of 465

sbt back on the way up again are any of you still in there?

HARRYCAT - 21 Sep 2007 15:23 - 334 of 465

I think 50p +/- is about the best you can hope for on this bounce.
Keep taking profit as I can see no immediate reason for this to keep going up.

maestro - 21 Sep 2007 16:45 - 335 of 465

i can...like massive profits

HARRYCAT - 21 Sep 2007 21:34 - 336 of 465

When BWIN were thinking of taking over SBT, Andy McIver said that if the company had been worth 80p a share then that is what he would have expected the sp to reach. It didn't & it wasn't! Hence approx 60p a share was what he was asking. IMO that hasn't yet changed.

HARRYCAT - 16 Oct 2007 12:25 - 337 of 465

Just an extract from today's RNS, which may hopefully stimulate interest in the gaming sector again:

"Dresdner Kleinwort says profitable European online sports betting operations, particularly without a land-based presence, 'remain few and far between'.

As such, it believes Sportingbet could again prove an 'attractive bid option' in the near future despite the breakdown in the Bwin talks.

Dresdner Kleinwort added that the company has already demonstrated the profitability of its remaining non-US business."

HARRYCAT - 13 Nov 2007 08:55 - 338 of 465

Four trades of 6 million shares each just gone through, yet little effect on the sp.

HARRYCAT - 30 Jan 2008 17:22 - 339 of 465

Two director buys today @41p totalling 150,000 shares, plus total day's trades of 11.2 million shares.
I wonder if McGiver still values the company at around 60p per share?

HARRYCAT - 13 Feb 2008 15:01 - 340 of 465

"Sportingbet Plc will be announcing second quarter results for the three months
and cumulative results for the six months ended 31 January 2008 on Tuesday, 4
March 2008. There will be a presentation for analysts and investors at 09.30 at
Sportingbet's offices, 45 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AE."

There seems to be a bit more interest now in all of the gaming stocks, particularly SBT & 888. Perhaps, as suggested in Shares mag recently, these stocks are unlikely to suffer in the event of a recession, as gamblers will continue regardless.

HARRYCAT - 22 Feb 2008 16:37 - 341 of 465

"LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shares in Sportingbet PLC pushed higher in midafternoon trade bolstered by rumours the online betting firm could be the recipient of a 70 pence a share bid as early as next week.

At 3.00 pm, Sportinbet shares were 4-14 pence higher at 45-3/4, while the FTSE Small Cap index was down 1.6 points at 3,227.4.

Traders said no names had been mentioned regarding a potential bidder for the UK firm but suggested that Austrian gaming firm Bwin Interactive Entertainmnet AG could be looking to revive its takeover interest."

HARRYCAT - 25 Feb 2008 17:07 - 342 of 465

"VIENNA (Thomson Financial) - BWIN Interactive Entertainment AG does not want to comment on 'market rumours' it is mulling a new bid for its British peer Sportingbet PLC, a company spokesman told Thomson Financial News.

The Sunday Express newspaper reported this weekend that its undisclosed sources expect BWIN to place a bid of 70 pence a share for Sportingbet within the next few weeks.

BWIN tabled a 65 pence a share offer for Sportingbet in March 2006, but talks between the online gaming providers collapsed four months later.

At the time, BWIN attributed the collapse of the talks to the fact that regulatory and legal changes in a number of markets in which the companies operated made it impossible for them to agree on terms."

moneyplus - 14 May 2008 11:44 - 343 of 465

No bid news but sbt seem to be recovering strongly--I picked up a small number yesterday before 3rd qtr figures in early June.

dealerdear - 14 May 2008 11:52 - 344 of 465

I think 'strongly' is a little bit too bullish.

I wish it would though cause I'm sitting on a loss atm!

HARRYCAT - 14 May 2008 12:00 - 345 of 465

This may now cause a temporary drop in the sp:
"Pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement dated 1 March 2007 (the 'Agreement') between Maslin Properties Limited ('Maslin') and a Sportingbet subsidiary, the Company has today issued and allotted 5,882,353 Ordinary Shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company ('Ordinary Shares') to Maslin, as a result of further performance based targets being met.
Under the terms of the Agreement, Maslin is entitled to further issuances of Ordinary Shares up to 31 December 2008, should subsequent performance targets be met. The maximum remaining number of Ordinary Shares capable of being issued under the terms of the Agreement is a further 11.8 million Ordinary Shares.
The Ordinary Shares have been issued and have been subsequently placed by Daniel Stewart & Co with institutional investors at a price of 42.0p. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for these Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading, which is expected to take place on 16 May 2008."

dealerdear - 14 May 2008 12:09 - 346 of 465

I think that news broke a day or so ago and I noticed the sp go down from 46.5p to 43p the previous day so I guess it is already in the price.

HARRYCAT - 14 May 2008 14:03 - 347 of 465

Lets hope so, but they will actually appear in the market on the 16th, so a further drop is possible, imo.

moneyplus - 14 May 2008 14:13 - 348 of 465

By strongly I mean 75% of their business was wiped out by the US fiasco and they have moved into other countries to make this back and are succeeding---lets hope the figures for 3rd qtr confirm this.

dealerdear - 14 May 2008 14:32 - 349 of 465

Harrycat. It should be like a rights issue eg the share price will adjust well before the shares start trading eg RBS's rights issue shares commence trading on the 9 June but the sp should fall tomorrow because that is the day the Nil paid start trading.

HARRYCAT - 29 May 2008 11:28 - 350 of 465

"The Board of Sportingbet has become aware that a number of detentions have been made by authorities in Turkey of people that have been related to Superbahis, the Group's Turkish facing business. In particular, the Board is aware that individuals related to Maslin Properties Limited, the Group's ex-marketing partner in the region, along with a number of their associates have been detained. Additionally, the detainees include 2 UK based Sportingbet employees who are Turkish nationals who had been in the country on vacation.

Sportingbet has received no formal clarification of events from the Turkish authorities, and until more information is received the Board is not in a position to comment on this situation further."

moneyplus - 29 May 2008 12:05 - 351 of 465

poor old sbt it's battered every way. I thought it was well on it's way to recovery and now this! I'm tempted to add though as it looks like the usual market over reaction!

HARRYCAT - 29 May 2008 13:09 - 352 of 465

Be careful, because BWIN may get cold feet over the possible takeover if there are legal wrangles within the business.

dealerdear - 30 May 2008 11:27 - 353 of 465

up 20%

HARRYCAT - 30 May 2008 12:34 - 354 of 465

Following heavy selling yesterday (23m shares traded). Looks like a bit of buying in the bounce.

dealerdear - 30 May 2008 12:40 - 355 of 465

No. PRTY up 16% at one point, SBT 20% so there are obviously rumours of consolidation in the sector.

HARRYCAT - 04 Jun 2008 14:21 - 356 of 465

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - "Sportingbet Plc. said it is confident of meeting full-year expectations after third quarter underlying operating profit increased 143.3 percent to 7.3 million pounds and operating margin hit 17.9 percent from 8.9 percent a year previously.

The online bookmaker added that it sees greater betting volumes stemming from the Euro 2008 football championships but added that the predictable nature of such tournaments can often result in low returns to the bookmaker."

dealerdear - 04 Jun 2008 14:27 - 357 of 465

Yes but it also said unfortunately that it's discussions with the USA (over any fine?) may not end favourably.

I don't believe it can be taken over until these discussions are concluded.

HARRYCAT - 04 Jul 2008 17:34 - 358 of 465

LONDON (Thomson Financial) -" Evolution Securities has named Sportingbet Plc. and Sportech Plc. its top picks in the online gaming sector, initiating both with 'buy' ratings.

In a note, the broker said given that the sector is to legitimise and consolidate, it thinks share prices will soar.

It sets a 73 pence price target on Sportingbet and 135 pence target on Sportech, both around double their current share prices."

HARRYCAT - 29 Sep 2008 09:38 - 359 of 465

"Sportingbet Plc will be announcing full year results for the twelve months ended 31 July 2008 on Wednesday, 15 October 2008. There will be a presentation for analysts and investors at 09.30 at the offices of Smithfield Consultants, 10 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4HJ."

HARRYCAT - 15 Oct 2008 09:52 - 360 of 465

MoneyAM: "Sportingbet, the online sports betting and gaming group, today announced net gaming growth of 23%.

In its audited results for the year ended 31st July 2008, the company said net gaming revenue grew 23% to 147m and operating profit more than trebled to 22.7m.

Sports betting net gaming revenue growth of 45% was driven by increased product range and strong performance in Europe and Australia

The company said its strategic review of marketing partners was completed with Spanish and Bulgarian marketing brought in-house.

Sportingbet said it has made a solid start to new financial year, with revenue growth in excess of 30% in first two months.

The company ended the year with net cash of 28.6m."

HARRYCAT - 27 Nov 2008 09:11 - 361 of 465

"Sportingbet today reported pretax profit of 4.9m for the first quarter ended 31st October 2008.

The online sports betting and gaming group revealed net gaming revenue growth up 28% to 38.9m, with sports betting net gaming revenue growth of 34%.

Operating profit was up by 45% to 6.1m. The form had net cash of 19.5m at the period end.

Andrew McIver, Group CEO, commented: 'Performance during August, September and October has provided a solid start to the new financial year with Net Gaming Revenue growing by 28% and operating profit by 45% to 6.1m.

As the business enters its busiest two quarters, our focus will continue to be on the provision of quality and value sports betting services to a globally diversified customer base. This core revenue stream will continue to be supplemented by our additional casino, poker and games offer.

Whilst sports betting has historically shown itself to be 'recession hardy', no industry is 'recession proof'. Unfortunately there is also no empirical data with regard to the online casino and poker industry to estimate what the impact of an economic downturn may or may not be on these products. That said, customer metrics remained very robust both during the quarter and in the four weeks since it ended. As such the Board remains cautiously optimistic in achieving the Group's full year forecast."

HARRYCAT - 12 Dec 2008 08:11 - 362 of 465

"Sportingbet said today trading has been in line with management expectations since the end of the first quarter. The group has completed the move of its European operations to Guernsey and enhanced customer service operations in Dublin.

Q1 results saw growth of 28% year on year in net gaming revenue and a 45% growth in adjusted operating profit to 6.1m for the quarter.

Looking to the balance of the year and beyond, sports betting continues to be the key driver of our business, accounting for 64% of net gaming revenue. Within the sports product offering, the 'in:play' product offering now represents 49% of all sports bets.

At the end of October the group launched live streaming of sport on its websites to further complement this product. Early results are encouraging, Sportingbet said.

In the coming months, the online sports betting company plans to launch websites targeting the South African and Romanian markets.

The company said since the end of the first quarter, trading across the business continues in line with management expectations and it is confident that given the Group's geographic spread, strong sports offering and comprehensive product range it remains in a good position to weather the current economic downturn.' "

dealerdear - 12 Dec 2008 10:37 - 363 of 465

It would be nice if the sp rallied though wouldn't it Harry.

No chance in this market :-(

HARRYCAT - 16 Dec 2008 08:22 - 364 of 465

Up 16% today so far, but mystery why. RNS due hopefully today to explain.
Although may just be broker upgrades as both PRTY & 888 are also up, but by a lesser %age.

Fundamentalist - 16 Dec 2008 11:25 - 365 of 465

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd7e0ab2-caf2-11dd-87d7-000077b07658.html

dealerdear - 16 Dec 2008 11:53 - 366 of 465

Tis to do with today's statement by PRTY with regard to settling with the US

HARRYCAT - 07 Feb 2009 08:52 - 367 of 465

Still rising steadily, almost one for the green shoots thread:
Chart.aspx?Provider=EODIntra&Code=SBT&Si

HARRYCAT - 04 Mar 2009 12:22 - 368 of 465

MoneyAM
"Sportingbet said operating profit was up by 35% to 10.1m in Q2 ended January 31st 2009.

The operating profit margin is now at 23%.

Pretax profit for Q2 came in at 8.3m, up 131% from 3.6m the prior year, with revenues up 6% to 43.6m.

Adjusted fully diluted EPS were up 36% to 1.9p.

For the half-year, net gaming revenue was 82.5m, up 15%, with pretax profit up 500% at 13.2m, compared to 2.2m the previous year.

Operating profit was up by 39% to 16.2m with adjusted fully diluted EPS up 32% to 2.9p.

The firm had net cash of 27.3m at period end.

Andrew McIver, Group CEO, said: 'Quarter two concluded a robust first half of the financial year, with operating profit in the six months growing 39% to 16.2m. The Group's balance sheet remains strong with net cash of 27.3m. Demand for our market leading sports betting product continues to grow. Whilst there are some signs of the economic downturn impacting upon some areas of our operations, such as Australian higher staking telephone business, our overall performance remains encouraging. The third quarter has started strongly and the Board remains cautiously optimistic for the full year outcome'."

HARRYCAT - 20 Mar 2009 08:59 - 369 of 465

"The Company (SBT) has today issued a further 11,590 new Ordinary Shares to satisfy obligations to its employees under certain of the Company's equity incentive plans. An application has been made to the London Stock Exchange today for listing and these Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on or before 27 March 2009 and will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares.

As at the date of this notification its capital consists of 480,573,410 Ordinary Shares with voting rights. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury.

The total number of voting rights in the Company is 480,573,410."

HARRYCAT - 25 Mar 2009 08:38 - 370 of 465

MoneyAM
BROKER NEWS "Sportingbet started at KBC Peel Hunt with a buy rating and 64p target price"

HARRYCAT - 03 Jun 2009 08:03 - 371 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
"Online gaming group Sportingbet said operating profit was up by 34% to 9.8m in the third-quater ended April 2009. Operating profit margin now stands at 22.4%. The firm said adjusted fully diluted EPS was up 50% to 1.8p and wagers up 18% at 431.7m.

The company had net cash of 31.3m at period end.

Andrew McIver, Group CEO, commented: 'Sportingbet continues to make significant progress, in terms of its profitability, growth in core markets and new emerging territories, and in its focus on delivering an industry leading sports betting product.

'We leave the third quarter with operating profit for the year to date of 26m compared to 19m at this time last year, an increase of 37%.

'The fourth quarter of the year is a seasonally quieter period for the Group as a result of the winding down of the European football leagues, leading to reduced sports betting activity. This year, the quarter has started strongly and May has seen solid growth in both sports betting turnover and sports margin. This promising start to the quarter, in conjunction with the strong nine month results reported today, enables the Board to be cautiously optimistic for the full year outcome. "

HARRYCAT - 21 Jun 2009 17:35 - 372 of 465

In the W/E FT:
"Broker Daniel Stewart advised clients to buy, citing the possibility of corporate activity when the on-line gaming company has settled it's issue with the U.S. dept of Justice.
We believe that a DoJ deal is near a certainty, probably within the next three months and it will allow the group to potentially re-engage in talks with sector peer B-Win Holdings."

HARRYCAT - 22 Jul 2009 09:07 - 373 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
"Sportingbet has sold its loss-making Italian operation, Sportingbet Italia, to the local management team for a nominal amount.

During the first eleven months of the current financial year, Sportingbet Italia generated an operational loss of 1.5m, taking 13.7m in bets and producing 2.0m of net gaming revenue.

The operation was acquired by the group in 2006 in anticipation of further liberalisation of Italian online gaming regulation including an increase in the maximum payout from 10,000, a relaxation of the stipulation to use specific software and permission to allow in-running betting.

'These changes did not materialise. Instead, the Italian government created a new offline model by tendering over 13,500 shop-based licences.

'Consequently, the combination of this new alternative channel for the Italian customer together with the lack of operational synergies with the rest of the group's European business has meant Sportingbet Italia has been loss-making since acquisition.'

The disposal is likely to result in an exceptional cost of 7.1m, which comprises the write down of goodwill of 6.4m and a loss on disposal and other associated costs of 0.7m. The group's cash balances will be reduced by 1.6m as a result.

Sportingbet plans to announce its results for the year ending July 31 on October 7.

The company says the positive start to the fourth quarter reported in June has continued, with good growth in gross gaming revenue and margins being maintained. It remains confident of achieving full-year forecasts. "

HARRYCAT - 04 Oct 2009 19:21 - 374 of 465

Final results wed 7th Oct '09.

HARRYCAT - 07 Oct 2009 08:29 - 375 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
Online gaming group Sportingbet has reinstated its dividend with a 1.0p final payout.

Sportingbet said in the year to end-July, net gaming revenue was 163.6m, up 13% from the prior year's 144.3m.

The amounts wagered in the year were 1,577m, up 17% from 1,347m in 2008. EBITDA came in at 39.7m, up 28% and adjusted operating profit rose 26% to 31.1m. Group operating pProfit was 21.9m.

Adjusted diluted EPS was 6p, up 415 from 4.2p last time.

The group had net cash of 23.8m at period end. Andrew McIver, Group CEO, commented: 'This has been a very solid year for the Sportingbet Group. We are now seeing consistent profitable growth resulting from the structural changes made following our withdrawal from the US. Our focus on sports betting and geographical diversification is helping to support earnings in these troubled economic times. Additionally, our commitment to offer industry-leading sports betting products and excellent customer service has helped us to recruit and retain core customers. The Group is pleased to recommend the reinstatement of dividends with 1.0p per share as a final dividend for the year just ended.

'The new financial year has started well. Although Australian sports margin is below long term averages it is made up for by strong European sports turnover outperforming budget. The Board remains optimistic for the outcome of the financial year at this stage.

'Talks with the US Department of Justice are constructive and ongoing.

'Finally, I am delighted to announce that it is our intention to move from AIM to the Official List within the next six months, which will provide the basis for our continued growth and success.'

HARRYCAT - 12 Nov 2009 09:40 - 376 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
Sportingbet started with buy rating at Deutsche, target price 84p

HARRYCAT - 25 Nov 2009 10:45 - 377 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
"Sportingbet said its net gaming revenue was up 26% to 48.6m for the three months to end October. However profit for the quarter was impacted by a poor run of Australian horse-racing results.

CEO Andrew McIver said group performance continued to be driven by the European sports betting business, which had seen strong growth in all its key metrics.

European sports NGR rose 56% to 27.2m, with gross margin rising to 11.3% from 10.2% in 2008. European sports bet numbers were up by 42% to 17.4m.

The Australian business continued to benefit from deregulation with the internet business driving up amounts wagered strongly. The business suffered from poor horse racing margins through August and September which had since recovered to more normal levels.

Casino and gaming revenues were benefiting from an increased product range. The European poker market remained difficult with ongoing competition from companies that continued to accept US resident players.

'Trading since the start of the second quarter has remained robust with the additional benefit of Australian margins returning to more normal levels. The group performance to date gives the board confidence with regard to the remainder of the financial year.'

Total amounts wagered were 463.2m, compared with 362.2m a year ago.

Operating profit for the continuing business for the three months was 7.1m (2008 6.5m). EBITDA increased 15.5% to 9.7m. "

HARRYCAT - 18 Dec 2009 09:44 - 378 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
"Internet gaming company Sportingbet says the main trends seen in the first quarter have continued and trading across the business is in line with management expectations.

In his AGM statement, chairman Peter Dicks says the company remains confident of achieving a satisfactory outcome for the current financial year given its geographic spread and comprehensive product range.

The Q1 results announced on 25 November showed growth of 26% in net gaming revenue year-on-year and a 56% increase in the group's core European sports betting revenues.

Sports betting now accounted for 69% of revenue and was expected to be the key driver of growth for the rest of the year. "

HARRYCAT - 18 Dec 2009 13:52 - 379 of 465

Business Financial Newswire
Recent reinstatement of the dividend combined with plans to move from AIM to the full list in Q1 should have further positive rating implications for Sportingbet, says Altium analyst Greg Feehely.

'As and when the settlement with the US DoJ is concluded SBT will be a very attractive M&A target. Whilst we initiate with an 85p price target, any successful bid for the group would need to be comfortably north of 100p share in our view.'

HARRYCAT - 03 Mar 2010 09:39 - 380 of 465

Business financial Newswire
"Sportingbet said amounts wagered on European and Australian sports were both up 26% in the second quarter but margins weakened in February.

Wagers for the three months to January 31 totalled 502.3m, against 398.5m in the previous second quarter. For the first half, the total was up 26.9% at 965.5m.

Net gaming revenue was up 22.3% at 52.6m for Q2 and rose 24% to 101.2m in H1. Q2 EBITDA rose 10.6% to 13.6m, 12.6% to 23.3m in H1.

Adjusted operating profit increased 7.7% to 11.2m in Q2, rising 8.3% to 18.3m in H1.

The group said it had seen an industry-leading European sports gross margin of 10.7% (2008/9: 11.2%).

CEO Andrew McIver said, 'The second quarter is a busy time in the sporting calendar and consequently a material period in the group's financial year. As such it is very pleasing to report results in line with our full-year plan, particularly given the recessionary backdrop in many of our markets.'

The 24/7 in-play World Football microsite was launched in the quarter. The group also concluded a number of IT projects, increasing the the number of betting markets and leading to faster bet settlement. Its Australian business had seen a positive uptake for its new mobile offering.

While amounts wagered on sports in February were ahead of budget, there had been some margin weakness due to a higher percentage of European football favourites winning and a higher goal frequency than average.

Casino, games and poker continued trends seen in the first half of the year.

Management continued to remain confident of the full-year outcome.

An interim dividend of 0.5p has been declared"

dealerdear - 03 Mar 2010 11:16 - 381 of 465

I dumped these when I got my money back and won't be returning till the economy improves. I do nevertheless hold LNG and PRTY

HARRYCAT - 03 Mar 2010 11:20 - 382 of 465

Interesting though, that during the recession more people have been tempted to gamble to try & make ends meet. Bit of a double edged sword.

HARRYCAT - 09 Mar 2010 10:29 - 383 of 465

SBT to soon de-list from AIM & to move to a full listing on the LSE.

HARRYCAT - 15 Apr 2010 08:23 - 384 of 465

"Further to the announcement on 25 November 2009, the Company confirms its intention to apply for admission to listing of its ordinary shares on the premium segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority (the 'Official List') and admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities (the 'Main Market'). Pursuant to Rule 41 of the AIM Rules for Companies, the Company hereby gives notice of the intended cancellation of trading of its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Company believes that the Official List is the most appropriate platform for the continued growth of the Group by increasing Sportingbet's profile, assisting in the liquidity of the Company's shares and providing a greater range of potential investors for the Company.

It is expected that the Company's ordinary shares with a nominal value of 0.1p each will be admitted to the Official List and simultaneously cancelled on AIM effective on or around 14 May 2010, subject to the receipt of the necessary approvals from the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange, being at least 20 business days after this announcement."

HARRYCAT - 29 Jul 2010 11:49 - 385 of 465

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- "A House committee yesterday approved legislation that would legalize some Internet gambling, allowing U.S. residents to place online wagers with companies the Treasury Department has licensed.
The measure, sponsored by Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would roll back a law designed to block such betting. That four-year-old law, which took effect in June, bars banks from processing payments to offshore gambling websites.
My primary goal is Americans ought to be free to do what they wish without this kind of intrusion, said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat whose committee passed the legislation 41-22, with one lawmaker voting present.
The intrusive regulation is a problem for the financial institutions, Frank said.
Frank and other proponents, such as the Poker Players Alliance, say licensing and regulating online gambling will protect consumers who are placing a growing number of bets with offshore operators.
A separate measure that depends on full House passage of Franks plan would impose taxes on online poker and other Internet gambling, bringing the federal government as much as $42 billion over 10 years, according to a congressional analysis.
This is money sitting on the table, Michael Waxman, a spokesman for the Washington-based Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, said in an interview. The group represents financial services companies such as U.K.-based payment processor UC Group
The Bill still has many hurdles to clear, and must get through the House of Representatives and the Senate before being passed into law but is a step in the right direction for the Bill. If passed, this could be transformational for UK listed online gambling operators such as PartyGaming, Playtech, & 888. There is still no clarity on whether the UK listed operators such as PRTY or 888 would receive licences in the event of the bill being passed (most lucrative) or would offer B2B services to US operators that gain licences (smaller revenue opportunity).

HR 2267, The Frank Bill passed by 41-22. This means that the bill has cleared the first of many hurdles to regulate online gambling, which is encouraging news for UK listed companies such as PartyGaming (BUY), Playtech (not rated), 888 (HOLD), and possibly others. However, there is still a long way to go before the bill is passed into law."

HARRYCAT - 12 Aug 2010 09:14 - 386 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Online sports betting and gaming group Sportingbet said it had continued to perform in line with management expectations in the final quarter to July 31.

The group said it performed strongly during the FIFA World Cup, aided by favourable margins as a result of a number of fixtures going against the favourites and a significant number of low-scoring games.

More than 50m was staked on World Cup markets, of which 65% was bet in-play at an aggregate margin of more than 17%.

Sportingbet said, 'The strong World Cup performance underpins the fourth-quarter trading results and the board remains confident that the group will meet management expectations for the financial year just ended.'

Its final results will be released on 6th October '10

HARRYCAT - 21 Sep 2010 08:19 - 387 of 465

"The Board of Sportingbet announces that it has entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, acting on behalf of the United States Department of Justice.

Under the terms of the Agreement, SDNY will not seek to prosecute Sportingbet Plc, or any of its subsidiaries (collectively, "Sportingbet" or the "Group") for activities related to Sportingbet's internet gambling business with customers in the United States from 1998 to 2006.

Sportingbet Plc, as part of the Agreement, has agreed to pay a total of $33m (21.3m) to SDNY, payable in three instalments:

$15m (9.7m) payable on or before 30 September 2010

$12m (7.7m) on or before 30 September 2011

$6m (3.9m) on or before 31 March 2012.

In addition to the above Sportingbet has agreed to:-

cooperate with SDNY and disclose information to SDNY relating to Sportingbet's former internet gambling business in the United States; and

adhere to certain further obligations from the date of the Agreement with respect to its future conduct in the United States.

As part of the Agreement Sportingbet has acknowledged and accepted certain details regarding its former business activities in the United States which are set out in the Statement of Facts which form part of the Agreement."

goldfinger - 29 Sep 2010 08:17 - 388 of 465

Wow a full set of BUY recos from the Brokers, not often you see that.

Not suprised with latest news and on a forward P/E of only just over 12 for 2011.

Sportingbet PLC

FORECASTS 2010 2011
Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
27-09-10 BUY 35.05 5.95 1.50 36.48 6.19 1.80
Daniel Stewart
27-09-10 BUY 33.00 5.60 1.50 36.80 6.50 1.60
Shore Capital
24-09-10 BUY 35.20 6.00 1.50 39.00 6.80 1.60
Collins Stewart
21-09-10 BUY 30.40 6.10 1.40 31.30 6.00 1.50
Altium Securities
21-09-10 BUY 33.00 5.70 1.50 35.70 6.50 2.00
Numis Securities Ltd
13-09-10 BUY 35.00 6.30 1.50 42.00 7.30 1.70
Edison Investment Research
01-09-10 None 35.00 6.00 37.00 6.30
Execution Noble
21-06-10 BUY 33.00 5.90 1.20 37.10 6.50 1.30

2010 2011
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 33.70 5.93 1.46 36.74 6.48 1.66
1 Month Change -0.00 0.00 -0.00 -0.02 -0.00 0.02
3 Month Change -0.26 -0.00 -0.04 -0.76 -0.18 -0.07

GROWTH
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)
Norm. EPS 134.05% 18.34% 9.26%
DPS % % 14.30%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)

EBITDA 34.80m 44.93m 49.10m
EBIT 26.10m 32.10m 32.91m
Dividend Yield % 1.85% 2.11%
Dividend Cover x 4.08x 3.90x
PER 15.70x 13.27x 12.14x
PEG 0.12f 0.72f 1.31f
Net Asset Value PS 7.22p 22.60p 26.50p

goldfinger - 01 Oct 2010 12:04 - 389 of 465

Sporting Bet SBT seems to be on a roll at the moment after positive moves in the US related to online gambling.

sporting%20bet%201.JPG

Target for the SP would be around 120p the bottom of the gap where resistance may be come up against.

Chart.aspx?Provider=EODIntra&Code=SBT&Si

goldfinger - 01 Oct 2010 13:19 - 390 of 465

Broker Buy note out in last 48 hours...............

FORECASTS WIRES 2010 2011

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
29-09-10 BUY 35.05 5.95 1.50 36.48 6.19 1.80

HARRYCAT - 01 Oct 2010 13:41 - 391 of 465

One slightly worrying stat I saw the other day is that 19% of SBT's profit comes from Turkey. Unfortunately internet gambling is still currently illegal there, so that is a revenue stream which could come to a very abrupt end.

ptholden - 01 Oct 2010 13:43 - 392 of 465

Golden Cross fairly imminent on the chart (50MA crossing the 200MA whilst both heading North) generally a very reliable indicator.

goldfinger - 01 Oct 2010 15:28 - 393 of 465

Well spotted PTH.

goldfinger - 06 Oct 2010 08:18 - 394 of 465

BEATEN concensus figure.......

5.90 1.20 37.10 6.50 1.30

2010 2011
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)
Consensus 33.71 5.93 1.46 36.74 6.48 1.66
1 Month Change -0.02 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00
3 Month Change -0.26 -0.00 -0.04 -0.76 -0.18 -0.07

HARRYCAT - 06 Oct 2010 08:28 - 395 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
"Online sports betting and gaming group, Sportingbet has posted a reduced pre- tax profit of 6.9m for the year to 31 July 2010 ( 2009 profit 22.3m).

This year's result includes exceptional costs of 24.5m, principally associated with the agreed settlement with the US Department of Justice and the Group's move to the Official List.

For the year as a whole, amounts wagered were up 25% year on year to 1,971m and EBITDA earnings were 17% higher at 46.5m.

Amounts wagered on sports betting in Europe (incorporating the financial results for the Emerging Markets division) grew by 29% to 1,165.1m (2009: 906.6m), earning net gaming revenue (NGR) of 111.6m (2009: 82.7m) up 35% year on year.

Casino and gaming contributed a further 44.9m, and poker 17.4m, to both amounts wagered and NGR (2009: 41.3m and 18.8m).

Amounts wagered on Australian sports betting grew by 22% to 743.9m (2009: 610.5m), earning post betting tax NGR of 33.6m (2009: 20.8m). The Group says that the new financial year has started well with net gaming revenue for the first two months up 17% on the same period last year.

The Board has proposed a final dividend of 1.0p which brings the total dividend for the year to 1.5p, 50% up on last year. "

goldfinger - 06 Oct 2010 09:34 - 396 of 465

Clear sky now up to 145p.....

p.php?pid=legacydaily&epic=L^SBT&type=2&

goldfinger - 06 Oct 2010 09:45 - 397 of 465

04-Oct-10 Sportingbet SBT Daniel Stewart Buy 81.25p 130.00p - Reiteration

130p SP target.

goldfinger - 07 Oct 2010 11:46 - 398 of 465

Broker target of 89p

06-Oct-10 Sportingbet SBT KBC Peel Hunt Buy 77.40p 89.00p - Reiteration

Fred1new - 07 Oct 2010 11:49 - 399 of 465

Only need to the price to go up now! 8-)

HARRYCAT - 09 Nov 2010 15:37 - 400 of 465

NOTIFICATION OF Q1 RESULTS
Sportingbet plc, a leading online sports betting and gaming group, will be announcing its Q1 results on Wednesday 24 November 2010. There will be a conference call for analysts and investors details of which will be distributed on the day.

HARRYCAT - 12 Nov 2010 15:56 - 401 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet started at Panmure Gordon with buy rating, 78p target price.

Dil - 13 Nov 2010 01:51 - 402 of 465

Sportingbet started by Dil with an AVOID ... a two bit operator that gets the hump when small time punters win a few quid and them limits then to a fiver on an evens favourite does not inspire confidence.

mitzy - 15 Nov 2010 08:25 - 403 of 465

Recent press comment of a bid from a Swdish company.

HARRYCAT - 15 Nov 2010 08:51 - 404 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Online gambling company Sportingbet confirmed talks with 'different parties' following weekend press comment.

The Sunday Times reported the company was looking at a merger with its Swedish rival Unibet.

Sportingbet said it 'has had and will continue to have discussions with different parties in relation to a variety of potential opportunities'.

There could be no certainty as to whether or not such discussions would result in any form of transaction.

HARRYCAT - 15 Nov 2010 09:09 - 405 of 465

Sportingbet Plc today announces a joint venture with First International Bookmakers Company ("FIBC"), Russia's second largest licensed bookmaker, trading under the well known Liga Stavok brand.

Under the five year deal, Sportingbet and FIBC agree to partner exclusively to establish a Russian online sports betting offering under the "Liga Stavok powered by Sportingbet" brand. Sportingbet are the sole provider of online services to the joint venture, which will be a unique offering in the market.

FIBC operates 256 Liga Stavok licensed betting outlets in 67 cities across Russia, and is expanding at a rate of 25 new openings per month. Liga Stavok has unparalleled access to the Russian sports betting market as a result of its exclusive betting partnership with the Russian Football Premier League. As one of only 18 licence holders, Liga Stavok is one of the country's most recognised betting brands.

The fast growing Russian sports betting industry has an estimated turnover of $1.8bn a year.

Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive, said:
"I am delighted that Liga Stavok has chosen to partner with Sportingbet. I am confident that the combination of Sportingbet's world class online sports betting product and expertise with Liga Stavok's strong brand and exclusive betting partnerships will enable the joint venture to build a leading position in this exciting, fast growing market. This partnership is a perfect fit with Sportingbet's strategy to build geographical diversity through new markets, working with the highest quality partners where appropriate."

Dil - 15 Nov 2010 13:10 - 406 of 465

Unibet are just as useless mitzy.

mitzy - 15 Nov 2010 13:31 - 407 of 465

lol.

HARRYCAT - 16 Nov 2010 12:47 - 408 of 465

Termination of merger talks
The board of Sportingbet Plc notes continuing press speculation following an article which specifically referred to merger discussions with Unibet Group plc ("Unibet"), a company listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. Unibet informed the Company today that it has withdrawn from those talks.

Fred1new - 24 Nov 2010 12:38 - 409 of 465

Bought SBTapprox 4/52 ago after IC tip, but before it announced large director sells.

Thought results were good.

Subsequent, stopped out but now think time to buy again on reasonable results and expectations.

BDYOH

Financial Highlights

Q1 2010 Q1 2009
m m %

Amounts wagered 513.9 463.2 10.9
Net gaming revenue 51.1 48.6 5.1

EBITDA* 11.3 9.7 16.5
Adjusted operating profit* 8.2 7.1 15.5
Group operating profit 7.5 6.3 19.0
Adjusted diluted EPS* (p) 1.7 1.3 24.4
Diluted EPS (p) 1.5 1.2 26.6
Net cash** 22.4 21.7 3.2

-----------------

Chart.aspx?Provider=EODIntra&Code=SBT&Si

Fred1new - 25 Nov 2010 11:51 - 410 of 465

I seem to pick my time!!!!!!

Well I did say DYOH.

"
The Independent has been bearish on Sportingbet, the internet bookie which lost nearly a quarter of its value after chief executive Andrew McIver said it was not for sale, for some time. The sporting betting business itself is ticking along nicely (but try and get an account and you'd wonder how), but poker is being hammered by the likes of Full Tilt and Pokerstars which still operate in the US and have been aggressively promoting their businesses here. The risks are too high. Avoid, says the Independent.

Fred1new - 25 Nov 2010 15:22 - 411 of 465

Seems that somebody likes the stock.

24-Nov-10 Panmure Gordon Buy 61.00p 78.00p - Reiteration
24-Nov-10 Collins Stewart Buy 61.00p 94.00p - Reiteration
22-Nov-10 Daniel Stewart Buy 60.50p 130.00p - Reiteration

I supposed I can just cross my legs again.

(Last time I did, I dislocated my hip.)

HARRYCAT - 01 Feb 2011 08:40 - 412 of 465

Trading update
Sportingbet plans to announce its Q2 (three months ended 31 January 2011) and interim results on 24 February 2011 and in advance of that is issuing the following pre close trading update.

The positive underlying trends experienced in the first quarter have continued into the second quarter, as the group continued to trade well. Amounts wagered in the first half of the year are up 11%.

A strong performance in Australia and the Emerging Markets more than offset some weakness in Spain and Greece, where the well publicised difficult economic conditions persist.

Our recently announced Russian joint venture and the continued enhancement to our mobile offering serve to highlight the attractiveness of our product and geographical diversity.

The Group continues to monitor regulatory developments closely and expects to take advantage of the opportunities available as markets regulate.

HARRYCAT - 24 Feb 2011 11:01 - 413 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet plc raised its interim dividend 20% to 0.6p a share after reporting strong Q4 growth in Australia, Emerging Markets and Turkey.

EBITDA for the six months to January 31 was 25.8m, up 10.7% from 23.3m.

Amounts wagered in the period rose to 1,069.2m from 965.5m. Net revenue increased to 107.9m from 101.2m.

Adjusted diluted EPS was 3.7p against 3.4p for the previous first-half.

Profit before tax was up 20% at 19.6m from 16.3m.

During the first quarter, $15m was paid to the US authorities as the first instalment due under the non-prosecution agreement.

CEO Andrew McIver said, 'Strong growth in Australia, Emerging Markets and Turkey more than offset the recessionary weakness of Europe, particularly notable in our larger markets of Greece and Spain. Once again this demonstrates the attractiveness of a geographically diverse operation.'

Fourth-quarter EBITDA increased from 13.6m to 14.5m, despite European sports margins being below the long-term average.

McIver said the group continued to monitor regulatory developments closely and looked forward to taking full advantage of opportunities.

The third quarter had started well and the group had seen a rebound in the softer European margin experienced in the second quarter.

dealerdear - 01 Apr 2011 15:54 - 414 of 465

Any thoughts?

HARRYCAT - 11 May 2011 08:40 - 415 of 465

Sportingbet Plc

Acquisition discussions with Centrebet

Sportingbet Plc announces that it is in advanced discussions with Centrebet International Limited ("Centrebet"), a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, which may or may not lead to a recommended acquisition by Sportingbet of all of the outstanding ordinary shares and performance rights of Centrebet (each a "Security"), at or around A$2 per Security in cash.

HARRYCAT - 26 May 2011 11:09 - 416 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet, which has unveiled plans to acquire Centrebet, said results for the quarter ending April 30 2011 were little changed overall from the comparable period in 2010.

The amounts wagered were 507.3m., down from 520.8m. in the same quarter last year. But EBITDA increased to 16.1m. from 14.9m.

Mobile phone actives were up 44% during the quarter and there was a growth of 14% from "in-play" revenue.

gibby - 26 May 2011 12:06 - 417 of 465

looks solid enough to me hence the slight loss on nothing much really as usual

have noted a lot of stop losses taken out again

cynic - 26 May 2011 12:08 - 418 of 465

the wise would already be short of this one and i see no reason why anyone would want to pile in

gibby - 26 May 2011 14:57 - 419 of 465

indeed - not piling in here currently just keeping an eye on the ever changing situation in this sector

gibby - 27 May 2011 14:04 - 420 of 465

still 42p placing does tend to underpin these levels - only way should be mainly north now

HARRYCAT - 14 Jun 2011 08:53 - 421 of 465

Result of Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer
On 26 May 2011, Sportingbet announced a recommended proposal by the Sportingbet Group to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Centrebet and a share issue and convertible bond issue to raise gross proceeds of approximately 130 million (approximately 118.5 million net of expenses) through the issue of 154,761,904 new Ordinary Shares by way of a Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer at a price of 42 pence per New Share and the issue of 65 million in nominal value of Convertible Bonds. The Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer is conditional, amongst other things, on the approval of Shareholders.

The Open Offer closed at 11.00 a.m. on 13 June 2011. Under the Open Offer, valid acceptances have been received from Qualifying Shareholders in respect of 29,829,956 Open Offer Shares in aggregate, representing approximately 39.32 per cent. of the Open Offer Shares offered pursuant to the Open Offer. As a consequence, 46,037,227 Open Offer Shares were available for subscription under the Excess Application Facility. Valid applications under the Express Application Facility have been received in respect of 9,457,129 Excess Shares. The 78,894,721 Firm Placing Shares were not offered to Qualifying Shareholders under the Open Offer.

Shareholder approval to, inter alia, effect the Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer and the Convertible Bond Issue was obtained at the General Meeting held at 11.00 a.m. yesterday at the offices of the Company at 4th Floor, 45 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AE.

Application will be made for the admission of 154,761,904 New Shares to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities. It is expected that admission and commencement of dealings in the New Shares will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 16 June 2011.

HARRYCAT - 23 Jun 2011 09:50 - 422 of 465

Statement by the Board of Sportingbet regarding recent press speculation
Further to recent press speculation, the Board of Sportingbet announces that it has received a highly preliminary approach from Ladbrokes plc ("Ladbrokes" or the "Offeror"), which may or may not lead to an offer being made to purchase the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company. There can be no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming or as to the terms of any such offer.

In accordance with Rule 2.10 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Code"), Sportingbet has 660,543,128 ordinary shares of 0.1p pence each in issue. The International Securities Identification Number ("ISIN") for Sportingbet is GB0009516252.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

dealerdear - 23 Jun 2011 10:08 - 423 of 465

I wonder what they'd accept in these market conditions compared to where the sp is likely to be in a couple of years time.

HARRYCAT - 23 Jun 2011 12:29 - 424 of 465

EVo Securities note:In any takeover situation there are two questions that need to be addressed; (1) is the acquisition consistent with strategy and (2) what is the price? We think the mooted deal (1) firmly fits with Ladbrokes desire to expand its international online opportunities and (2) a bid value of 80-90p/share is a suitable valuation for both sides.

Our view: sound strategic sense for Ladbrokes
We think that a deal makes sound strategic sense for Ladbrokes as it would instantaneously establish a market-leading position in more than 10 global territories, including the key Australian, Spanish and Greek markets.
Ladbrokes is highly UK-centric and does not have the brands to penetrate internationally. Sportingbet, via its eponymous brand and Spanish-facing miapuesta marque, has considerable brand value and a leading trading/risk management team that would both complement Ladbrokes trading division and drive cost synergies.
Value: 80-90p/share for Sportingbet
As always, the key to a good deal on both sides is valuation. Ladbrokes needs to decide what value to put on Sportingbets existing operations that are c33% white (fully regulated) on pro-forma post-Centrebet completion earnings.
In our Sportingbet note of 10 days ago (Hop, 13 June 2011, see attached) we raised our target price on Sportingbet from 70p to 75p based on a higher proportion of regulated earnings and increased earnings from the Centrebet deal.
Given we are still some way from full Spanish and Greek regulation (>6 months and >12 months respectively) and that the Centrebet acquisition (119m deal) is not expected to complete until November 2011, we regard our 75p target price as a valid valuation for current Sportingbet.
We therefore think Ladbrokes should be thinking along these lines (press speculation was focused on a 70p/share value) with a takeover premium of c10-20% in order to secure shareholder approval, thus implying a bid value of 80-90p/share, representing a >90% premium to yesterdays close.
We also think that 80-90p represents a suitable value based on good potential synergies that we estimate could amount to >30m on an annualised basis.
At 85p/share, Sportingbet would be valued at calendarised FY13E P/E of 9.0x (first full-year of Centrebet). We think this is a sensible valuation for taking control of the group, although forecasts remain changeable depending on European regulatory change and synergies from the Centrebet acquisition.
Although shareholders may miss longer-term upside from the growth and development of the key Spanish, Australian and Greek markets, as well as the ongoing cash inflow and/or potential sale proceeds of Turkey, regulatory issues are not insignificant and shareholders may be willing to accept the certainty of a short-term takeover.
It is worth noting that certainty of a deal is low. Ladbrokes has been active in potential M&A since CEO, Richard Glynn, joined the group 12 months ago, including protracted talks with 888 Holdings that came to nothing.
The most natural counterbidders would include similar companies to Ladbrokes that are looking for (1) cost synergies, (2) geographic expansion, (3) international brand opportunities and (4) a market leading sports trading/risk management team.
This would therefore include William Hill (WMH.L, Buy, TP 285p), Unibet (UNIB.SS, Sell, TP Skr 100) and Bwin.Party (BPTY.L, Neutral, TP 210p). Elsewhere, we cannot exclude interest from private operators such as Betclic.
Ladbrokes is the most obvious buyer, in our opinion, although the attractiveness of Sportingbet to a number of operators should support the premium to our target price that we would look for.
Recommendations
Although any approach is stated to be highly preliminary, we think an acquisition of Sportingbet by Ladbrokes makes strong strategic sense for the latter and we would support a bid at a 10-20% premium to our current target price of 75p (unchanged).
Given the need for further international scale and a reduced risk profile, we do not expect any Sportingbet management reticence to accepting a sensibly priced deal, with augmented upside opportunities as part of larger entity.
We retain our Buy recommendation on Sportingbet; with our 75p share price target maintained due to the highly preliminary nature of talks at this stage.

dealerdear - 23 Jun 2011 12:36 - 425 of 465

Thanks for that Harry but I don't believe in this market it will get anywhere near that price.

60p - 70p would the the limit IMO.
Because of that, SBT may well turn it down with the subsequent drop in the sp.

I currently hold these.

HARRYCAT - 23 Jun 2011 13:13 - 426 of 465

I also hold these and took advantage of their Open Offer recently at 42p.
I was also offered an extra allowance at 42p which I didn't take up as it would have been quite a large sum of money......damn shame as I would have been very nicely in profit now!
I agree that somewhere around 70p is a realistic figure.

Fred1new - 23 Jun 2011 14:23 - 427 of 465

Having misread this company I hope the price will be about 80p.

Might restore my faith in my recent share choices.

Bullshare - 29 Jun 2011 11:02 - 428 of 465

I am tucking a few away have a feeling that this might get bought, nothing like a punt on a bookies:-0)

HARRYCAT - 30 Jun 2011 09:34 - 429 of 465

Part of UBS note out yesterday:
In our view, as a standalone entity Sportingbets shares are worth 70p. Therefore the rumoured 70p a share approach from Ladbrokes lacks any change of control premium. We think Ladbrokes will need to offer closer to 80-90p a share if it is to gain a recommendation from the Sportingbet board of directors. We reiterate our Buy recommendation.

Fred1new - 30 Jun 2011 10:13 - 430 of 465

Already hold a number of these shares.

When bought expected 80-90 p. But its recovery is welcome.

Dil - 04 Jul 2011 23:15 - 431 of 465

You put them in your pension with Meldex Mike ????

Pile of shite ... and nothing to do with them banning me honest , tossers :-)

HARRYCAT - 27 Jul 2011 08:15 - 432 of 465

"Sportingbet notes the recent press speculation in relation to its Turkish language website business. The Company confirms that, as part of its long term strategy of increasing the proportion of its business mix derived from regulated markets, it is currently undertaking a review to evaluate its strategic options in relation to its Turkish language website business. This review may lead to an exit from this business.

A further announcement will be made in due course."

dealerdear - 27 Jul 2011 08:18 - 433 of 465

Any idea what that means in relation to a proposed bid from Ladbrokes?

HARRYCAT - 27 Jul 2011 08:26 - 434 of 465

Not been able to access the whole article yet, but here's the headline:
"The Times

SPORTINGBET PREPARES TURKISH SALE TO WOO LANDLORDS

Sportingbet is considering the sale of its Turkish betting business, a move that could pave the way for a 600 million pound ($983 million) takeover of the online bookmaker by Ladbrokes ."

dealerdear - 27 Jul 2011 08:31 - 435 of 465

Thanks Harry

HARRYCAT - 10 Aug 2011 08:11 - 436 of 465

Trading update
Sportingbet plans to announce its Q4 (three months ended 31 July 2011) and preliminary results on 5 October 2011. In advance of the results the Group is issuing the following pre close trading update.

As expected, the trends experienced during the previous nine months of the year have continued into the final quarter. Challenging economic conditions in some of our European markets have resulted in an increased focus on cost control. Our Australian and Emerging Markets businesses continue to demonstrate the benefits of the Group's geographic diversity with resilient performances throughout the year.

The Company's proposed acquisition of Centrebet is expected to complete at the end of August, with Centrebet shareholders due to vote on the acquisition on 17 August. The acquisition is in line with the Company's strategy of increasing the proportion of its business derived from regulated markets.

The Group continues to monitor regulatory developments closely and expects to take advantage as markets move towards implementing regulation.

The Directors remain confident of the outcome for the financial year just ended.

HARRYCAT - 16 Aug 2011 07:47 - 437 of 465

Statement regarding press speculation
The Board of GVC Holdings PLC (AIM:GVC), a leading online gaming company, notes the recent press speculation and announces that it is in exclusive discussions with Sportingbet PLC regarding the possible purchase of the latter's Turkish language website business (the 'Transaction'). Such a transaction, if completed, would constitute a Reverse Takeover under the AIM Rules. In accordance with the AIM Rules, trading in the Company's ordinary shares will be suspended from 7.45 a.m. this morning, pending publication of a re-admission document.

These discussions are at a preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that they will be concluded successfully. A further announcement will be made in due course.

HARRYCAT - 17 Aug 2011 08:21 - 438 of 465

Result of Centrebet Scheme Meetings
On 26 May 2011, Sportingbet announced a recommended proposal by the Sportingbet Group to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Centrebet effected by way of two schemes of arrangement under Australian law.

The Board of Sportingbet is pleased to announce that, at the Share Scheme Meeting of the Centrebet Shareholders and the Performance Right Scheme Meeting of the Performance Rightholders held today, the resolutions to approve the Schemes were duly passed without amendment.

The Schemes remain conditional upon the approval of the Schemes by the Federal Court of Australia at the Second Court Hearing and the satisfaction or waiver of the following conditions:
no Target Material Adverse Change occurring;

no Target Prescribed Occurrence occurring; and

no Government Body (as defined in the Scheme Document) taking any action to prohibit, restrain or impose conditions on either of the Schemes,

in each case, at any time before 8.00 a.m. (Sydney time) on the date of the Second Court Hearing.

All of the other conditions as set out in the Scheme Document to Centrebet Shareholders and Performance Rightholders dated 13 July 2011 have been duly satisfied.

The Second Court Hearing is expected to take place on 22 August 2011.

HARRYCAT - 19 Sep 2011 08:10 - 439 of 465

Statement by the Board of Sportingbet regarding a Possible Offer.

On 23 June 2011, Sportingbet announced that it had received an approach in relation to a possible offer for the Company from Ladbrokes plc ("Ladbrokes").

In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Ladbrokes is now required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on 17 October 2011, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the Company in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline can be extended with the consent of the Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code.

Talks between Sportingbet and Ladbrokes are still continuing and a further announcement will be made in due course.

HARRYCAT - 27 Sep 2011 12:35 - 440 of 465

TAKEOVER: "This Announcement is for information purposes only. The Company has announced that in accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Ladbrokes is now required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on 17 October 2011, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the Company in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. Further information may follow in due course."

HARRYCAT - 05 Oct 2011 08:09 - 441 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet Plc, has announced results for the year ended 31 July 2011 showing EBITDA for the year up 11% to �51.4m and amounts wagered up 4% year on year to �2,054m with NGR up 1%. Amounts wagered online in Australia was up 62%.

In:play continues to perform strongly - now 67% of European sports amounts wagered (2010: 61%) at an industry leading margin of 9.7% (2010:9.3%)

The company announced a final dividend of 1.1p making a total of 1.7p (2010:1.6p).

Discussions are continuing with Ladbrokes regarding a possible offer for the entire issued share capital of the Group and also with Gaming VC regarding a possible disposal of the Group's Turkish language website

The company insisted integration of Centrebet proceeding well and in line with expectations

Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive, commented:"This has been a year of significant progress for the Group both in terms of financial performance and corporate developments. We have delivered a strong set of financial results with EBITDA increasing 11% to �51.4m.

"The benefits of operating across a broad geographical base were demonstrated with strong growth in our Emerging Markets division, Australia and some of our European territories, offsetting the economic weakness in Greece and Spain.

"With the acquisition of Centrebet in Australia and the passing of regulations in two of our largest European markets, Greece and Spain, Sportingbet is now well positioned to maximise the opportunities available to it as the global online gaming market continues to develop and regulate.

"The Group has had a solid start to the new financial year with NGR in the first two months 17% above the same period last year."

gibby - 10 Oct 2011 13:03 - 442 of 465

run for the hills!!

talks terminated

Offer Talks Terminated
Date : 10/10/2011 @ 12:40
Source : UK Regulatory (RNS & others)
Stock : Sportingbet (SBT)
Quote : 37.0 -8.75 (-19.13%) @ 12:47
Quote Chart Trades Level2

Offer Talks Terminated
Share this article print
TIDMSBT TIDMLAD

RNS Number : 8915P

Sportingbet PLC

10 October 2011

Not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into or from any jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction

For immediate release 10 October 2011

Sportingbet plc ("Sportingbet" or "the Company")

Termination of Discussions with Ladbrokes plc

Sportingbet plc ("Sportingbet" or the "Company") announced on 23 June 2011 that the Company was in discussions regarding a possible offer for the Company with Ladbrokes plc ("Ladbrokes"). These discussions have been mutually terminated.

The Boards of Sportingbet and Ladbrokes agreed to end discussions as the parties were unable to agree either a suitable structure or one that delivered sufficient value to shareholders in a meaningful timeframe.

The Company can confirm it is not in discussions with any other party regarding a potential offer for the Company. Accordingly, the Company is no longer in an offer period for the purposes of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.

Discussions are progressing with GVC Holdings plc regarding a possible disposal of the Group's Turkish language website. A further update on these discussions will be provided when appropriate.

Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive, commented: "As stated in the Company's final results announcement last week, the Board of Sportingbet remains focussed on its overall strategy of providing a first class sports betting product and of increasing its exposure to regulated markets. The Board remains highly confident of Sportingbet's prospects as an independent company."

Enquiries:

For further information, please contact:

HARRYCAT - 12 Oct 2011 08:15 - 443 of 465

Sportingbet Plc today announces that its wholly owned subsidiaries, Sportingbet Holdings Limited ("SHL") and Interactive Sports (C.I.) Limited ("ISCI"), have each entered into a conditional binding agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of, in the case of SHL, Danbook Limited ("Danbook") and, in the case of ISCI, Scandic Bookmakers Limited ("Scandic"). The aggregate maximum consideration payable for both Danbook and Scandic is 8.5 million.

Danbook and Scandic are both focused on the Danish market, where they offer customers a full range of fixed odds sports betting, casino, poker and games. Denmark has passed regulatory legislation that comes into force on 1 January 2012, with the first licenses due to be issued on 15 December 2011. Sportingbet views this regulatory framework as representing a commercially viable opportunity, and has already applied for a licence. The combination of Danbook and Scandic with the existing Danish businesses of Sportingbet and the recently acquired Centrebet will transform Sportingbet into one of the largest players in the Danish market.

The deal is expected to close early in 2012 following the satisfaction of conditions including the successful award of new Danish gambling licences to both Danbook and Scandic, and the launch of websites compliant with the new Danish regulations. The maximum aggregate consideration payable across both transactions comprises 4 million of cash and 0.5 million of Sportingbet shares payable immediately on closing, with a further 4 million of cash to be paid across both transactions following the successful migration of the businesses of Danbook and Scandic onto the Sportingbet platform.

HARRYCAT - 14 Oct 2011 07:41 - 444 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet has proposed the disposal of the Turkish language website and associated offshore assets for a minimum consideration of 125 million in cash to East Pioneer Corporation B.V. which is supported by a services agreement with GVC Sports B.V. a subsidiary of GVC Holdings plc.

The disposal is structured to be a three year earn-out followed by a balancing final payment.

Disposal of organisation and promotion of Turkish language gaming activities, effective immediately upon Completion.

The transaction is in line with the Group's strategy of increasing the proportion of net gaming revenue from regulated markets.

Post disposal, regulated NGR is expected to represent approximately 70 per cent. of total NGR in the current financial year.

Proceeds to be reinvested to enhance growth in the Group's regulated markets, either by specific marketing investment or in-fill acquisitions, or investment in new geographies.

HARRYCAT - 18 Nov 2011 08:48 - 445 of 465

Disposal of Turkish language website and associated offshore assets (the "Business") - conditions precedent satisfied

Further to (a) Sportingbet's announcement on 10 November 2011 announcing that the resolution to approve the disposal of the Business had been approved by its shareholders, (b) GVC Holdings plc's ("GVC") announcement on 16 November 2011 that GVC shareholders had correspondingly approved all necessary resolutions relating to the transaction and (c) GVC's re-admission to trading on AIM yesterday, the Company is pleased to announce that all conditions precedent have been satisfied and that the disposal of the Business is therefore expected to complete after market close on 21 November 2011.

HARRYCAT - 31 Jan 2012 08:52 - 446 of 465

Completion of acquisition of leading Danish online betting operators
Danbook Limited and Scandic Bookmakers Limited

Further to the announcement made on 12 October 2011, Sportingbet Plc today announces that it has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Danbook Limited ("Danbook") and Scandic Bookmakers Limited ("Scandic"). The aggregate maximum consideration payable for both Danbook and Scandic is £8.5 million, comprising the cash sum of £4 million and £0.5 million of Sportingbet shares at completion, with a further cash sum of £4 million subject to the satisfaction of certain performance conditions. The acquisition has been funded by a new 3 year £8 million facility with Barclays Bank PLC. The loan is repayable in annual instalments, commencing January 2013.

Danbook and Scandic are both focused on the Danish market, where they offer customers a full range of fixed odds sports betting, casino, poker and games. They were successfully awarded new Danish gambling licences in December, and launched websites compliant with the new Danish regulations on 1 January 2012. The conditions to the acquisitions have therefore now been satisfied.

HARRYCAT - 08 Feb 2012 12:12 - 447 of 465

Notification of Q2 & Interim Results
Sportingbet Plc will be announcing its Q2/Interim results on Wednesday 29 February 2012.

There will be a presentation for analysts and investors at 9.30am at Oriel Securities (150 Cheapside, London EC2V 7AN).

There will be a live webcast of the presentation on the company website, www.sportingbetplc.com. Registration for the webcast is required via the website on the day of the results.

halifax - 08 Feb 2012 14:04 - 448 of 465

HARRY 10 HMRC 0.....wonderful!

HARRYCAT - 29 Feb 2012 09:23 - 449 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet Plc reveals that 45% of revenues for the half-year ended 31 January 2012 came from regulated territories and a further 18% from territories where it is paying tax ahead of licence issuance

The online online sports betting and gaming group pointed to highlights such as the Centrebet acquisition completed 31 August 2011 and the Scandic Bookmakers and Danbook acquisitions completed 31 January 2012. Also the disposal of Turkish language business completed on 21 November 2011

Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive, commented:"This has been a transformational six months for Sportingbet. 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 our second and third biggest markets, of Spain and Greece, mean that by the end of our year we expect to derive over 75% of our revenues from regulated markets on an annualised basis.

"Following regulation in September 2008, our experience with Sportingbet Australia has demonstrated to us the long term growth potential for market leading brands in regulated markets. Our European business is being currently restructured to ensure it too is best placed to capitalise on the move towards regulation."

HARRYCAT - 27 Mar 2012 07:53 - 450 of 465

Final Payment to US Department of Justice

The Board of Sportingbet announces that it has now made the third and final payment of $6m to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York ("SDNY"), acting on behalf of the United States Department of Justice. As a result, Sportingbet has paid a total sum of $33m (£21.3m) in accordance with the terms of the Non-Prosecution Agreement which the Company entered into with SDNY on 21 September 2010.

Andrew McIver, Sportingbet Group Chief Executive, commented: "This final payment formally closes any risk which the Company may have faced from its former activities in the US. Given that the US market continues to show signs of regulating both by product, and by state in the near future, various opportunities exist to re-enter the US market and we are reviewing these."

HARRYCAT - 27 Mar 2012 13:36 - 451 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Sportingbet is fighting an injunction which has been served on it in Spain.

Last December the Spanish land-based casino group, Codere, sought a number of injunctions against companies operating in the Spanish online betting and gaming industry, on the basis of unfair competition.

This was part of a campaign to restrict the online industry prior to the granting of licences under new Spanish legislation.

Sportingbet was not notified of the application against it and was given no opportunity to defend it. All of Codere's applications were rejected by various Spanish courts, with the exception of one in the Commercial Court in Madrid, where the court found against Sportingbet.

It firmly believes that Codere's injunction application was based on erroneous information presented to the Court and is a blatant attempt to disrupt the market in the run up to the issue of licences. The company subsequently attended a hearing at the Court in Madrid last month at which it defended its position.

In spite of this, the Court has granted the injunction which comes into effect today.

Sportingbet is filing an appeal against Codere's claim and says it has received advice that there is no legal basis for the action. This is supported by the decisions of other Spanish courts to reject Codere's applications for injunctions against other companies in the Spanish online betting and gaming sector.

HARRYCAT - 21 May 2012 08:08 - 452 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
The Board of Sportingbet is in discussions with the Spanish Ministry of Finance about a potential outstanding tax liability covering its operations in Spain from January 2009 - May 2011

HARRYCAT - 30 May 2012 08:06 - 453 of 465

Sportingbet Plc announces its results for the third quarter ended 30 April 2012.

Group
· Total amounts wagered up 10% to £555.9m

· 52% of NGR from regulated territories and a further 24% from territories where we are paying tax ahead of expected regulation

Australia
· Total amounts wagered up 78% to £369.1m

· Total NGR up 116% to £18.1m (like for like up 46% to £12.3m)

· Mobile accounted for 34% of online NGR in April

· Integration progressing well and synergies at least in line with previously stated

Europe and Emerging Markets
· Total amounts wagered down 38% to £186.8m (like for like down 4%)

· NGR down 47% from £45.7m to £24.2m (like for like down 7%)

· Spanish business suspended 27 March 2012 due to an injunction. Spanish license expected early June 2012 followed by anticipated lifting of the injunction

· Annualised fixed costs reduced by £15m

· In:play at an industry leading margin of 10.1%

· Mobile actives increase in excess of 150% year on year in largest domains

Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive, commenting on the results said:

''Our Australian business, which accounts for over 90% of our profits, continues to go from strength to strength. The integration of Centrebet is nearly complete and our combined Australian business grew NGR by 116% in the quarter. Europe continues to be impacted by the recession and the effects of regulation. As we have demonstrated in Australia, the long term benefits of regulation are clear but take time to manifest themselves.''

HARRYCAT - 01 Jun 2012 10:06 - 454 of 465

Spanish eGaming Licence Grant
Further to the Company's announcement on 22 May 2012, Sportingbet announces that it has now been awarded a Spanish eGaming licence by the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling.

The grant of the eGaming licence negates part of the injunction, which was imposed on Sportingbet's Spanish business on 27 March 2012 and thus allows Sportingbet's Spanish business at www.miapuesta.es to commence trading when this regulated market opens. The market is expected to be formally opened at 8am BST on Tuesday 5 June. Sportingbet is now in the process of filing an application with the Commercial Court no.10 in Madrid to have the remaining parts of the injunction cancelled.

Obtaining the Spanish eGaming licence marks the latest step in the Company's stated strategy of increasing the proportion of the Group's gaming revenue from regulated markets.

3 monkies - 01 Jun 2012 10:34 - 455 of 465

Suggest this may be a good bet, my friend still holds these whenst they were in double figures i.e £3 a share which to date seems a life time ago.

HARRYCAT - 29 Jun 2012 12:28 - 456 of 465

StockMarketWire.com
Further to the Company's announcements on 27 March 2012 and 1 June 2012, Sportingbet announces that Commercial Court no. 10 in Madrid has cancelled the remaining parts of the injunction which was imposed on Sportingbet's Spanish business on 27 March 2012.

Sportingbet's Spanish business at www.miapuesta.es commenced trading on Tuesday 5 June following the receipt of an egaming licence and the opening of the regulated market.

dreamcatcher - 08 Aug 2012 07:08 - 457 of 465

Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 5253J
Sportingbet PLC
08 August 2012

Sportingbet Plc

('Sportingbet' or the 'Group')

Trading update

Sportingbet, a leading online sports betting and gaming group, is pleased to provide a trading update for the fourth quarter ended 31 July 2012.

The trends experienced during the previous nine months of the year have continued into the final quarter and the Directors expect the full-year results to be in-line with market forecasts.

Our Australian business continues to perform strongly with NGR (pre tax and bonus) up 93% year on year (up 24% on a like for like1 basis). The integration of Sportingbet Australia with the recently acquired Centrebet was successfully completed during June, one month ahead of schedule. Additionally, the level of synergies realised is significantly ahead of our original expectations. The enlarged business is the clear market leader in Australian fixed odds online sports betting and currently represents a substantial majority of the Group's EBITDA.

In line with the sector, our European business has continued to face challenging economic conditions combined with the disruptive impact of newly regulating countries and associated taxation. Additionally, our largest European market, Spain, was closed for the first 35 days of the quarter until the licensed market launched on 5 June. As a result, European NGR declined by 41% year on year (like for like1 down 18%). The restructuring of the European business following the disposal of the Turkish language website has been completed.

Sportingbet plans to announce its Q4 and preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2012 on 3 October 2012.

leedslad - 09 Aug 2012 10:41 - 458 of 465

looks like plenty of upside here + chance of a bid

leedslad - 12 Sep 2012 11:11 - 459 of 465

Is nobody else interested in these?

chuckles - 12 Sep 2012 18:19 - 460 of 465

Watching the chart for a breakout above 45p leedslad> Not sure they are much of an outfit on a fundamental view though.

HARRYCAT - 20 Sep 2012 12:14 - 461 of 465

Broker note out today:
"The timing of William Hill’s move for Sportingbet may come as a surprise to many given that most would have expected the group to concentrate its fire power on exercising the William Hill Online call options. While a deal for both Sportingbet and Playtech’s WHO stake could cost in the region of £900m and would require an element of equity and debt funding, we believe that the company has the capacity to complete both deals in the near term.
We estimate that a deal to acquire Sportingbet alone at a price of 65p (cost £544m) could enhance FY13 EPS by 6%, and would imply 38% of group EBIT from online. Additionally we believe the implied ratings post a deal would be undemanding (FY13 PE of 11.4x and an FY13 EV/EBITDA of 8.3x). If the group was also to acquire the 29% of William Hill Online from Playtech for £350m (total M&A cost of £895m using a 10% equity raise and £675m additional debt) this would enhance FY13 EPS by 11%. Under this scenario c.46% of group profits would be derived from online, and the FY13 PE would be 10.8x and the EV/EBITDA would be 8.3x.
Overall, we would view the move for Sportingbet’s regulated businesses as a positive that makes both strategic and financial sense for William Hill. Based on our calculations, the implied multiples post a transaction appear undemanding for a group that would have such a growing online presence (up to 45% FY13 EBIT from online if the group exercises both M&A opportunities). BUY

skinny - 20 Sep 2012 13:08 - 462 of 465

Peel Hunt downgrades to Hold old TP 40p no new Tp.

HARRYCAT - 01 Oct 2012 12:27 - 463 of 465

"Sportingbet notes the recent press speculation regarding the approach by William Hill and GVC. The Board of Sportingbet confirms that it has received an indicative offer from William Hill and GVC of 52.5 pence comprising of 45 pence in cash from William Hill and 7.5 pence in shares in GVC. The Board of Sportingbet has responded that this indicative offer significantly undervalues the business and its future prospects."

dreamcatcher - 01 Oct 2012 15:36 - 464 of 465

Sportingbet rejects 52.5p-a-share offer from William Hill/GVC
By Benjamin Chiou

Mon 01 Oct 2012

SBT - Sportingbet

LONDON (SHARECAST) - AIM-listed online betting firm Sportingbet has rejected an indicative joint offer from sector peers William Hill and GVC Holdings for 52.5p per share.

Sportingbet announced two weeks ago that it was approached by the two companies which were drawing up a possible offer.

The company confirmed weekend press rumours on Monday by saying that the offer – comprising of 45p in cash from William Hill and 7.5p in shares in GVC – was not high enough.

“The board of Sportingbet has responded that this indicative offer significantly undervalues the business and its future prospects,” the firm said in a statement.

Prior to the initial approach on September 19th, Sportingbet’s shares had been trading within 40-44p range. The announcement sparked a jump to the 50-54p mark.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon said in a research note today: “We believe Sportingbet is worth over 60p a share excluding any bid speculation and expect Wednesday’s FY results to show the business continues to make strong underlying progress.”

The shares were given an extra boost by the news today, trading up 3.40% at 53.25p by 15:06.

HARRYCAT - 16 Oct 2012 12:40 - 465 of 465

Peel Hunt note today:
"· Cash disappointing: The cash component has come in at the bottom of the potential valuation range we highlighted in our note of 28 September, while the GVC equity component has come in at the top end. This may be because of the composition of what GVC is getting for its money, but our initial thoughts are that as it stands it looks as though William Hill has got the best deal. Depending on what William Hill defines as regulated business outside of Australia, the multiple paid is likely to be 10x-12x prospective EBITDA (pre central costs). We suspect William Hill has played hardball on the lack of potential synergy benefits, but would not be surprised if it managed to extract more than originally anticipated.

· Odds favour bidders: The board of Sportingbet has said that if the bid is as outlined, then it is minded to accept such an offer. For us, the key question is how much value can be attributed to GVC paper? If shareholders see little value in this, then selling out at 49p a share might appear short-termist. The problem for Sportingbet is that a good proportion of the shareholder base either was in there for the bid or also hold shares in William Hill. Therefore, while we do not see the bid as a knockout, the odds favour the bidders.

· A winner for William Hill: For William Hill, an acquisition of Sportingbet would be a good deal strategically, and the price paid looks reasonable for such a strategic asset. It is also another example of a forward thinking management team. The probable equity issue that would be required to fund a purchase of the WHO minority is likely to be well received."

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