Any ideas why BPTY has opened some 35% up. Not complaining as I took the plunge a couple of days. Presumably there has been some press comment somewhere?

StockMarketWire.com
Global online gaming company bwin.party digital entertainment will be issuing a pre-close trading update on 10 July 2013.

The interim results for the six months to the end of June will be announced on 30 August 2013.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment says it remains on track to deliver €70m of cost savings in 2013.

The group said that trading in the year-to-date reflected the group's shift from volume to value, the introduction of a turnover tax in Germany in July 2012, as well as some issues it faced following the migration of bwin.com customers in December 2012, all against a challenging competitive and market backdrop.

But chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said the process to optimise the shape and size of the business, with a greater focus on regulated and to-be-regulated markets, is on-track.

He said: "While the revenue performance was down on last year, we remain on course to deliver the targeted €70m of cost savings in 2013 with more to follow in 2014. During the second half we expect to roll out our new real money and social gaming products as well as, regulations permitting, the launch of our poker and casino games in New Jersey."

bwin signs Juventus as new digital partner
bwin.party and Juventus have today announced a new strategic partnership which sees the bwin brand become the official online gaming and betting partner of the Italian footballing giant.

The partnership with the Serie A Champions, which runs for three seasons, will boost the profile of the bwin brand in Italy, Europe's third largest real money gaming market and reinforces bwin's position as Europe's leading sports betting brand in football.

The sponsorship package positions bwin at the centre of the promotional activities of Italy's most successful club and includes a series of initiatives dedicated to the fans, totally integrated in the digital and social Juventus platform along with the development of on and off-line co-branding activities, stadium branding and access to players for marketing campaigns.

With the new digital partnership, Juventus becomes the latest member of Europe's football royalty to join forces with bwin, a group of partners which already includes Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. These sponsorships offer bwin customers unparalleled football experiences, which in the past year have included the opportunity for fans to play at Old Trafford; go backstage at the Bernabeu; and fly with the Bayern Munich squad to a Champions' League fixture.

The Juventus partnership reflects an evolution in bwin.party's sponsorship strategy with an increased focus on social media and social gaming, online and mobile integration, as well as exploiting the Group's extensive content and media rights catalogue. The 2013-14 season is set to see the addition of more teams, details will be announced in the coming weeks.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party and Olympique de Marseille (OM) have announced a new sponsorship deal.

It will see the bwin brand become OM's official online betting and gaming partner.

The hope is that the three-year partnership will boost the profile and status of the bwin brand in France and strengthen its position as Europe's leading football betting brand.

The agreement is in line with bwin.party's strategy to develop digital partnerships with iconic football clubs in European countries where online gaming is regulated. bwin has already announced similar partnerships with Real Madrid, Manchester United, FC Bayern, Juventus Turin and RSC Anderlecht.

For Olympique de Marseille, teaming up with bwin, a major player in the sport sponsorship market, will give the club a new international reach and will provide unique online content and fan experiences.

The sponsorship package includes a series of fan-based initiatives including opportunities to train with the squad and travel to Champions League fixtures; integration into OM's digital and social platforms; the development of on and off-line co-branded activities; stadium branding; and access to players for marketing campaigns.

bwin and OM also expect to develop social games and mobile applications.

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO at bwin, said: "We are proud to establish this partnership with Olympique de Marseille, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in France and Europe. Today's announcement means that we are now partnered with six of the greatest clubs in European football, enabling us to offer our customers an unparalleled range of online and real world offers."

bwin.party digital entertainment plc
Half Year report for the six months ended 30 June 2013 to be announced on Friday 30 August 2013.

Half Year Dividend
The Board of bwin.party has today declared a half year dividend of 1.80 pence per ordinary share in respect of the six month period ended 30 June 2013.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €342.5m in the six months to the end of June - down from €410.0m last time.

But the group says its sustainable revenue base now forms a solid foundation for future growth and it is on track to deliver at least €70m of cost savings in the current year versus 2012 and up to €20m of additional savings in 2014.

Clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations of €60.7m was down 34% reflecting the impact of a turnover tax on sports betting in Germany introduced on 1 July 2012, ISP blocking in Belgium and the closure of slots in Spain.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "The first half was always going to be a challenge as we set about optimising the shape and size of our business, with a much greater focus on nationally regulated and to-be-regulated markets.

"As predicted, this meant that revenues declined but it also meant that we could make further substantial reductions in our cost base. However, our performance and revenue is behind where we expected it to be at this point. This is partly due to external factors but also due to operational challenges associated with our dotcom migration in December 2012.

"Changing the way we work and in particular the way we develop and implement software using the 'Agile' methodology represents a key step in improving our operational performance. Having already been deployed by many of the major eCommerce companies around the world, our move to Agile is starting to produce benefits in terms of productivity, speed of development and implementation.

"Over the next 12 months we expect to double the number of software releases whilst continuing to improve product quality and platform stability. These are all important drivers for our long-term revenue performance.

"This change in our working practices has been instrumental in ensuring that our new partypoker product is ready for launch, firstly into the dotcom environment and then into our core nationally regulated markets. The launch will reposition the partypoker brand ahead of the opening of the US market and revitalise the product, ensuring that it more than meets the expectations of today's recreational digital consumer. "Our focus on product innovation has not been limited to poker. We will be launching a new version of our partybingo product before the end of the year and are continuing to press ahead with our preparations for the opening of the market in New Jersey. Also to come in 2013 is a brand new mobile interface in sports; a new social sports betting app that we have developed with Nordeus; the launch of premium.com, a new service focused on high value customers; and partypoker's next phase of development when we will introduce additional features for the casual player."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment has launched partypoker.com - a first step in the integration of social features into the real money gaming environment.

The company says the phase one release is "jam-packed with exciting new features and a fresh new look, logo and interface, mixing the best of the old with the new, in a player-friendly environment".

The first phase release of the all new partypoker.com is now available on Mac and PC in download and no download versions.

Canaccord comment:
"bwin.party has long fallen into the “cheap for a reason” category, but is on just 6.2x FY14F EV/EBITDA, against a peer group mostly in the range of 9x to 11x. Put FY14F regulated/taxed profits on a 12x multiple, unregulated on 6x and add in our 11p NPV for New Jersey and we calculate the shares are worth 128p. And there is potential option value as other US states start to open up. Investors may prefer to see evidence of a turnaround from the Poker relaunch, but we see limited downside risk and significant scope for potential rerating. We cut our multiples-derived TP from 141p to 128p (a 7.5x FY14F EV/EBITDA), but this represents 18% potential upside. We move from Hold to BUY."

Substantial Shareholders' Divestiture Arrangements Pursuant To New Jersey Licence Application

Summary
On 29 July 2013, bwin.party applied to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') for a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence (the 'Licence'). As part of the application process, certain substantial shareholders of bwin.party are required to submit individual Licence applications to the DGE or otherwise dispose of their shareholdings. As a result, certain substantial shareholders of bwin.party have elected, subject to the conditions summarised below, to place their bwin.party shares into divestiture trusts, through which their shares will be divested over a period of up to 36 months in one or more transactions at times to be determined.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4696345

Transactional Waiver Granted in New Jersey
Having applied to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') for a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence (the 'Licence') earlier this year, we are delighted to announce that the Company has been awarded a transactional waiver by the DGE pending full licensure. This transactional waiver means that bwin.party is now eligible to participate in the online gaming market in New Jersey which is expected to open on 26 November 2013.

Operating under the land-based casino licence of our partner in New Jersey, Borgata Casino, we intend to launch poker and casino games under both Borgata's and our own brands, including www.partypoker.com.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell by 21% to €145.7m in the third quarter.

The group says this was in-line with previously reported trading to 25 August, and was primarily due to its shift from 'volume to value' and ISP blocking in Greece.

The group says its cost saving target of €70m for the full year is expected to be exceeded, but Greek ISP blocking will result in a modest net impact to revenue and clean EBITDA for 2013 with a full year effect in 2014.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "As we expected, our underlying Q3 performance appears to have represented the floor in what has been a transitional year for the Group. Performance in the period was impacted by our shift from 'volume to value', continued declines in poker ahead of our dotcom relaunch, ISP blocking in Greece and a softer than expected sports margin in September.

"Whilst year-on-year comparisons for the current trading period are also impacted by the factors outlined above, average daily revenue for the six weeks to 11 November is up 18% versus the average for the previous quarter. All verticals have grown despite the continued impact of ISP blocking in Greece, although performance in sports was weaker than anticipated due to a softer than expected sports margin during the first three weeks of October.

"We have made excellent progress in respect of reducing our cost base. We now expect to exceed the €70m target for 2013 that was communicated at the beginning of the year and this will help us to mitigate some of the impact from Greek ISP blocking which began during August.

"In the US, we received our transactional waiver from the Division of Gaming Enforcement in NewJersey on 8 November and are on-track to launch poker and casino as soon as we are cleared to do so."

26 November 2013

bwin.party digital entertainment plc

Partypoker launches in New Jersey

After an intensive period of soft play testing, we are pleased to announce that following receipt of the requisite approvals from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE'), our real money poker and casino games went live in New Jersey at midnight EST (0500am GMT) today and can now be played at nj.partypoker.com and nj.partypoker.com/casino.

Our partner in New Jersey, the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, was also given permission to go live with its two sites: www.Borgatapoker.com and www.Borgatacasino.com that operate using our proprietary technology platform as well as our poker and casino software.

Norbert Teufelberger, Chief Executive Officer of bwin.party, said:

"This is an historic day for us. It marks our return to the United States after an absence of seven years. Back in 2006, partypoker had an estimated 47% market share in the US and we have worked hard to ensure that our return delivers a truly great customer experience. The initial feedback from the hundreds of players who have already tested partypoker in New Jersey is encouraging.

"We are delighted to be 'back in the game' and are focused on providing great gaming entertainment to customers in New Jersey, with a full suite of casino games, including over 30 proprietary games that are exclusive to the bwin.party network, poker tournaments, jackpots and promotions. Our mobile and tablet offer, that will go live soon, will provide access to all of our games through both iOS and Android devices, allowing our customers to enjoy our games when they are on the move in the Garden State."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party (LON:BPTY), the global online gaming company, will be issuing a pre-close trading update on Wednesday 18 December 2013.

HARRY long time to wait!

Cheers h! Slight typo! Duly corrected.

Pre-Close trading update

Key points
Ø Overall trading in the 11 weeks since 30 September 2013 has been in-line with management's expectations

Ø The partypoker/Borgata network is the leading poker network in the newly regulated New Jersey market according to data from Pokerscout.com

Ø US marketing and related launch costs of €7-10m to be incurred in 2013, in-line with previous guidance

Ø Including US-related costs, Continuing Clean EBITDA1 margin for the year ended 31 December 2013 is expected to be between 16% and 17%

Ø Outlook remains positive for 2014: new product launches, continued mobile expansion, prospects for further growth in the US and increased betting volumes during the FIFA World Cup

Ø Simon Duffy to step down as Chairman at the 2014 AGM

Ø New £50m revolving credit facility provided by Royal Bank of Scotland

Trading update
Since the end of September 2013 the Group’s performance has been in-line with management’s expectations with 52% of average net daily revenue coming from nationally and/or taxed markets2. Gross win margins in sports betting have remained strong, with betting volumes slightly lower reflecting a reduced sporting calendar during the international series of football matches in November. Mobile remains an important channel representing approximately 25% of sports average daily net revenue in the period. An all-new version of our sports mobile product went live in Spain on 16 December and will be rolled out to our other markets during the first half of 2014.

In poker, revenues have grown since the introduction of our new poker client that is now available to approximately 65% of our customers, as well as from the launch into New Jersey where our network is the market leader based on the number of cash game players according to data from Pokerscout.com. Our iOS applications for poker and casino are ready to launch in New Jersey as soon as they receive the requisite approval from the regulator which we hope will be received shortly.

Casino has also benefited from the launch into New Jersey and with a much improved mobile offer in our core markets in Q1 2014, we expect to see further casino growth through this channel.

Bingo net revenue has improved versus the previous quarter with a steady recovery in performance in both the UK and Italy while Spain remains relatively small.

Including US marketing and launch-related costs of between €7m and €10m in the current year (of which €1.5m was expensed during the first half of 2013), it is expected that in the year to 31 December 2013 Continuing Clean EBITDA margins for the Group will be between 16% and 17%, assuming a normalised gross win margin in sports betting between now and the end of the year.

Daniel Stewart & Co has cut its target price for bwin.party Digital Entertainment but reinstated its 'buy' stance, saying that the online gambling firm is positioned for growth after a tough year. The broker, which has had the stock under review for some time, reduced its target from 173p to 146p.

Nevertheless, it said that the firm has "come through the worst of it" and that 2014 should lay the foundations for a return to growth, helped by new product launches and growth from exposure to the newly regulated online market in New Jersey.

Canaccord note:
"bwin.party produced a reassuring trading update, albeit with forecasts coming down as we reflect previously identified US start-up losses in our normalised numbers. Management confirmed that Q4 trading was in line with expectations, with some recovery in Sports gross win margin following a disappointing Q3. Revenues continued to be impacted by ISP blocking in Greece, but, encouragingly, BPTY reported a recovery in Poker revenues QonQ, where player numbers are recovering after the initial teething problems from the product relaunch. And in mobile, momentum continues, with mobile now 25% of sports betting revenues, almost double the run rate of a year ago. In the US, BPTY reported a “successful” launch in New Jersey, with some US blogs suggesting BPTY has grabbed as much as 50% of the fledgling market; Pokerscout data certainly suggests BPTY’s peak player numbers for cash poker are 80% ahead of the number two network, 888’s WSOP."

bwin Feed selected as live sports betting content provider for Fortuna Entertainment Group
bwin.party is pleased to announce that it has been chosen to provide sports betting content to Fortuna Entertainment Group, Central Europe's largest betting operator. The B2B deal integrates bwin.party's sports content - bwin Feed - into Fortuna Entertainment Group's sports betting client.

bwin Feed provides live sports betting data including odds, fixtures, results, scoreboards and events calendars in multiple languages to online and land-based B2B clients. The feed can be integrated into a client's betting point of sales via a state-of-the-art interface, enabling them to offer their customers an extensive sports book and supporting content.

Radim Haluza, CEO of Fortuna, said: "bwin's experience in the sports betting arena coupled with their reputation as pioneers in the live-betting industry made them the obvious choice for us when selecting a partner to expand our sports book product. We are proud to partner with them and expect the deal to have a positive impact on our business."

Marco Falchetto, Director Sports Betting, bwin.party, said: "We are excited to enable Fortuna to offer their customers the same innovative sports betting experience that our customers have enjoyed since 2005. Our service will contribute to the growth of Fortuna's business and we look forward to replicating this success with other B2B partners."