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
Online gaming group bwin.party digital entertainment said average daily net revenue was up 4% in Q1 versus the previous quarter but down 9% versus the prior year, primarily reflecting the shift from 'volume to value', ISP blocking in Greece, migration losses and a challenging poker market in Europe

· Total revenue was up 1% versus the previous quarter despite two less days in the quarter but down 8% to €165.7m year-on-year (2013: €180.2m)

· Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 51%)

· Mobile/touch represented 17% of total gross gaming revenue (2013: 8%)

· Additional cost savings of €20m per annum on-track to be delivered in 2014, with further savings in 2015 following platform integrations in France and Italy

· Maintained leadership position in New Jersey; pursuing opportunities in other states

· Philip Yea joins the Board and will succeed Simon Duffy as Chairman

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO said:

"The business has continued to deliver sequential growth since Q3 2013 that we predicted would be the low point in terms of revenue performance.

"Whilst we are investing in growing our share in nationally regulated markets, the €20m of additional cost savings should help to drive higher Clean EBITDA margins in 2014.

"We remain optimistic about new market opportunities in the United States with online poker bills currently being reviewed in California and New York. On the back of our early success in New Jersey, together with our partners, we are determined to secure leading positions in all eligible states that represent a significant business opportunity.

"I am delighted to welcome Philip Yea's appointment to the Board as detailed in a separate announcement today. Philip brings a wealth of experience that I am sure will prove invaluable as we continue our transition to nationally regulated markets. Whilst we are now moving into the seasonally quiet trading period, with the roll-out of new products, more mobile extensions and the FIFA World Cup to come, the Board remains confident about the Group's full year prospects."

OWL directors to sit on board or c ushon? very high credentials mst be good, bid picture forming.?

bwin.party digital entertainment plc Agreement with SpringOwl
Further to the Company's announcement on 16 May 2014, concerning planned changes to the composition of the Board, bwin.party announces that it has agreed to work closely with SpringOwl on the appointment of its new directors and confirms its agreement to consider Michael Fertik, one of SpringOwl's nominees, as a potential candidate. To support this process, SpringOwl has nominated Daniel Silvers to the Board under the terms of the Relationship Agreement. Daniel Silvers will take up his position on the Board as soon as practicable.

Accordingly, SpringOwl Gibraltar Partners B Ltd ('SpringOwl') today withdrew its four resolutions (being resolutions 19-22) that were scheduled to be put to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting (the 'SpringOwl Resolutions').

Philip Yea, bwin.party's Chairman elect said:
"I am pleased to be able to demonstrate common ground with SpringOwl and welcome its support. There remains much work ahead and, together with the rest of the Board, I look forward to working closely with SpringOwl as a significant shareholder in bwin.party and welcome Dan Silvers to the Board as SpringOwl's appointed nominee."

Jason Ader, founder of SpringOwl said:
"bwin.party is a business with great brands and enormous potential. We welcome the planned changes to the composition of the Board announced last week and are looking forward to working with Philip Yea and the Board over the coming period to ensure that this potential is both realised and translated into long-term value for shareholders."

Kalixa substantially increases scale with acquisition of PXP Solutions
bwin.party today announces that its Kalixa payments group has acquired PXP Solutions, a private company with a 27-year track record in the card payment processing sector. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

The acquisition represents an important step in the acceleration of the Group's three-year plan to grow Kalixa and to increase significantly the proportion of its revenue coming from outside the Group. Integrating PXP will significantly grow the size of Kalixa's payment processing volume and is expected to generate substantial revenue synergies in the areas of credit and debit card acquisition and issuance. With further strategic moves planned for later in the year, Kalixa is well on its way towards achieving the scale, breadth and customer reach that will ensure it can realise its potential.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4817772

Media speculation
The Board of bwin.party has noted the recent speculation in the media regarding a possible break-up or sale of the company.

Since his appointment as Chairman last month, Philip Yea has been working with the executive management team on ways in which the Group can increase shareholder value, however we can confirm that there are no plans to break-up or sell the company.

polker stars to list in London & take over a company, b win next, wants new
jersey business in the usa the only way t hay can get it s via b win, to sell
part of that business or full blown takeover previous papers speculation in june,
rcent b win sell off may be all part of it, time will tell all.

Pre-close trading update

Key points
· Revenue performance in the three months to 30 June was mixed with solid performance in sports, which grew year-on-year, partially offsetting a soft performance in poker and casino. Bingo remained broadly flat versus the previous year despite challenging competitive conditions in the UK and Italy

· Since the end of June, volumes and gross win margins from the FIFA World Cup have been strong and overall the tournament performance has been in-line with management's expectations

· Mobile/touch continues to grow strongly and in the three months to 30 June 2014 represented approximately 35% of sports betting gross gaming revenue (Q2 2013: 21%) and 21% of gross gaming revenue overall (Q2 2013: 9%)

· Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented approximately 56% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014 (Q2 2013: 52%)

· Several new product initiatives are now live including mobile products for sports betting, poker, casino and bingo

· The Board expects to deliver additional cost savings in 2014 of €10m in addition to the €20m of cost savings that have already been announced and consequently remains confident in full year outlook

· Further potential cost savings to be delivered in 2015 have been identified by management, details of which are expected to be announced with the half year results on 29 August 2014

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO of bwin.party, said:
"Trading in the second quarter was mixed with revenue a little softer than expected but Clean EBITDA margins were slightly better than expected. While the decline in the dotcom poker market in the period also affected our casino business, the impact was mitigated by an uplift in player activity in sports betting in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, largely driven by the FIFA World Cup. The UK bingo market has remained highly competitive ahead of the introduction of a point of consumption tax later this year, but our Foxy Bingo brand has maintained a leadership position and our new mobile offering has been well received.

"As expected, the start-up losses in New Jersey, ISP blocking in Greece and the absence of domain sales in the first half have impacted both the revenue and Clean EBITDA performance versus the prior year. However, we are taking steps to improve operating performance, simplify decision-making, reduce complexity and costs and, as a result, remain confident about the full year outlook."

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4848869

Half Year Dividend
The Board of bwin.party has today declared a half year dividend of 1.89 pence per ordinary share in respect of the six month period ended 30 June 2014.

StockMarketWire.com

bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenue fell to €317.1m in the six months to the end of June - down from €342.5m - following a mixed first half performance.

The group said the fall reflected a shift from 'volume to value', a soft international poker market and the loss of €11.9m of revenue from Greece following the closure of that market, partially mitigated by a positive FIFA World Cup; nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 52%).

Gross gaming revenue through mobile/touch grew by 125% to €67.4m (2013: €30.0m) with strong growth across all verticals and planned cost reductions of €30m this year remain on-track with savings of €13.8m achieved in H1.

The group said clean EBITDA of €46.4m (2013: €60.7m) has reduced primarily due to €7.3m of operating losses in New Jersey, reduced domain sales and the loss of Greece. And it says a non-cash impairment charge of €94.7m (2013: nil) against poker-related and certain other intangible assets resulted in a €94.0m loss after tax (2013: loss of €11.6m).

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger "Trading during the first half of 2014 was mixed with a solid performance from sports betting more than offset by year-on-year declines in casino and poker, particularly in countries that were no longer a core area of focus. We are on-track with our current cost saving measures, however it is clear that a more fundamental approach is needed to turnaround our commercial and operational performance.

"This requires a major change: we are simplifying our structure to accelerate the execution of our plans to drive revenue growth, increase our focus on customers in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, and further reduce infrastructure costs. This new approach will also allow us to consider alternative financing and corporate structures in order to create additional value.

"We are confident that the steps we are taking will underpin our financial performance and remain confident about the full year outlook."

StockMarketWire.com
Kalixa, the payments service provider wholly owned by bwin.party digital entertainment, has announced a 50:50 joint venture with Millicom, a leading international telecommunications and media company dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.

The joint venture, which comes just three months after Kalixa acquired the PXP Solutions card payment processing business, represents a significant step in continuing to build externally generated business volume and revenue. The joint venture will develop a payments service provider for Africa and Latin America. Operations are scheduled to begin in Colombia and Brazil later this year with Kalixa and Millicom each making an initial investment of $4m and appointing two directors each to the joint venture's Board. Payment acceptance services will be offered by the joint venture for both businesses and consumers, including payment gateway and point of sale solutions for merchants as well as a one-click payment and eWallet provision for online customers. This end-to-end payment solution will offer cross-platform, multi-device services.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's third quarter revenues were up 2% at €148.7m. And the group says excluding the loss of Greece, total revenue would have increased by 4%.

bwin.party says current trading is in-line with the board's expectations.

Revenue from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets was up 10% year-on-year, representing 56% of total revenue (2013: 53%); revenue from other markets was down 6% year-on-year.

Other key points include: * Sports betting - net revenue up 11% driven by higher gross win margins, mobile growth and the World Cup, partially offset by a later start to European football leagues, 'volume to value' shift and the loss of Greece

* Casino - net revenue down 3% with higher cross-sell from sports offset by a soft poker performance and the loss of Greece

* Poker - net revenue down 25% although there has been sequential growth since the end of July

* Bingo - net revenue down 1% with solid UK performance offset by weakness in Italy

* Other revenue up 64% with strong performances by Kalixa, network services, WPT and InterTrader Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "Our overall revenue performance in the third quarter was in-line with our expectations whilst Clean EBITDA margins have benefited from our previously announced cost savings. We continue to make good progress on expanding our mobile footprint and our presence in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets and we remain confident about the full year outlook.

"Our transition to a label-led organisation structure is well-advanced and we remain on course to achieve our target of €15m of incremental savings next year.

"As we enter the seasonally strong fourth quarter we are continuing to launch a number of new products including the latest version of our mobile sports product that will also include embedded casino games."

Numis comment:
"Today’s 3Q14 IMS contains some welcome good news. Sports betting delivered respectable 11% growth, casino’s decline slowed down and poker has had a couple of months of m/m growth; actual growth. Content is being upgraded and the belated shift to mobile is happening, accounting for 23% of revenue (up from 13%). These are early signs that the new business structure is starting to pay off, in our view, and should help lift sentiment in relation to the company off rock bottom.

We believe that there are three potential upward catalysts for the share price: i) delivery on the stated strategy; ii) the partial or complete break-up of the group; and, iii) leveraging the balance sheet and payment of a special dividend. Today makes it more likely that option i), delivery, is a possibility which has the potential to improve the price at which option ii), break-up, could be delivered if needed. bwin.party is a self-help story which could outperform a tough equity market in our view."

Rumours of a (Canadian) bid coming.

StockMarketWire.com
Following media speculation regarding a possible bid the Board of bwin.party digital entertainment has confirmed that it has entered into preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties.

They comprise a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders.

The company says that all such discussions remain at a preliminary stage.

Amery @ 145p.

Bwin.Party In Negotiations With AMAYA and Playtech
AMAYA and Playtech look to acquire bwin.party as negotiations begin between the companies.

http://www.pokerwinners.com/news/industry/bwin-party-in-negotiations-with-amaya-and-playtech

MARKET REPORT (Daily Mail): Odds may be shortening on bid for gambling group Bwin.Party but share price tells a different story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2850709/MARKET-REPORT-Odds-shortening-imminent-agreed-bid-online-gambling-group-Bwin-Party-share-price-telling-different-story.html

Pre-close trading update
Key points
Ø Bet volumes and active player numbers as expected but exceptionally weak gross win
margin in sports betting, particularly in December, has impacted overall revenue
performance in the fourth quarter

Ø Total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range €608m to €612m

Ø On-track to deliver the €30m of cost savings targeted in 2014

Ø Continuing Clean EBITDA[1] margin for 2014 is expected to be between 16% and 17%
including Clean EBITDA losses of approximately €10m from New Jersey and €7m from
social gaming

Ø Discussions with third parties regarding industry consolidation are continuing and
further announcements will be made as and when appropriate

Trading update
In the period since 30 September 2014, trading has been broadly in-line with expectations except for an exceptionally weak gross margin in sports betting with the leading teams in several European leagues enjoying a strong run to the cost of European-facing sports books.

As a result, total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range of €608m to €612m and the Clean EBITDA margin between 16% and 17%.

Discussions with third parties
Further to the announcement made on 12 November 2014, the Group is continuing its discussions with several parties regarding a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders. As previously announced, there can be no certainty as to whether or not such discussions will result in an offer being made for the Company. Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate.

Social gaming
We are in active discussions regarding the sale of Win, the Group's social gaming business and expect to make a further announcement shortly.

Full Year Results
The full year results for the year ending 31 December 2014 will be announced on 10 March 2015.

DID FAILED ACQUISITION TALKS DRAG BWIN.PARTY SHARES DOWN?




14th February, 2015 :: 12:29:33

Source: Casinos Online

Share price plummeted 25 percent on Friday.

Bwin.Party shareholders received an unpleasant surprise Friday as the share price plunged 25 percent on the London Exchange following unconfirmed reports that negotiations on a possible acquisition of the FTSE 250 gambling group with an unnamed suitor had failed.

The dramatic drop saw share prices dive to almost GBP 78, although there was some recovery later & the price at close of business was GBP 83.55.

Rumours of an acquisition bid on Bwin.Party, which has been struggling in recent times, have been circulating since late last year, with little concrete & confirmed information surfacing.

Faced with the serious decline in its share price, a Bwin spokesman effectively denied that any negotiations had failed, instead pointing out that stock exchange regulations required the company to issue an announcement if such an event occurred, & thus far no such statement had been made.

Nevertheless, the rumours continued to persist, backed by speculative reports in several publications that acquisition talks had ground to a halt, triggering a sell-off & the consequent drop in share price.

Mystery continues to surround the identity of the would-be suitor with whom Bwin.Party was reportedly talking; most of the speculation pointed to the disparately focused Amaya Gaming & Playtech groups, & even William Hill plc, although the latter is presumably focused at present on its admitted negotiations with 888 Holdings (see previous reports).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11413038/Lord-Green-quits-amid-HSBC-row.html

Lord Green quits amid HSBC row
Lord Green steps down as TheCityUK chairman following allegations over his involvement in illicit Swiss banking at HSBC

Lord Green, the former HSBC chairman, has stepped down from his role as the head of the UK’s national body for financial services, TheCityUK.
He is currently at the centre of a row over HSBC's involvement in illicit Swiss banking a decade ago.
Lord Green was HSBC chairman and chief executive from 2003 to 2010.
A leaked report on Monday revealed that HSBC's Swiss arm had helped 8,844 wealthy Britons avoid millions of pounds in tax.
The allegations of historic tax avoidance at the bank relate to files leaked by whistleblower dating from 2005 to 2007.
13 Feb 2015
Lord Green is stepping down as chairman of TheCityUK's Advisory Council with immediate effect.
His place is being taken by Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of the TheCityUK's Board, whose term is about to conclude.
Lord Green's resignation was announced following rumours that theCity's elite was distancing itself from the former financier.
Sir Gerry said, “Stephen Green is a man of great personal integrity who has given huge service to his country and the City.
"He doesn't want to damage the effectiveness of TheCityUK in promoting good governance and doing the right thing so has decided to step aside from chairing our Advisory Council. This is entirely his own decision."

-=-=-=-=-=-

Wonder, if his friend Dodgy Dave will dump him. Mind with Dave's record he would feel safer without is help.