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

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.

What ?

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €611.9m in the year to the end of December - down from €652.4m).

The group said this reflected the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece and further declines in poker, partially mitigated by the FIFA World Cup. Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 53%).

Clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritsation fell to €101.2m from €108.0m. It said this was primarily due to lower revenues and increased start-up losses in the US.

The recommended full year dividend up 5% to 1.89 pence per share (2013: 1.80 pence) making a total FY14 dividend of 3.78 pence per share (2013: 3.60 pence).

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "We have made solid progress this year in growing our share of revenues from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, increasing our mobile footprint and reducing our cost base. However, the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece coupled with the structural decline of regulated poker markets in Continental Europe affected our overall financial performance for the year. "Having announced our shift to a label-led approach in August, we are now accelerating our transformation. This programme is already improving our operational effectiveness and customer focus, both of which are key drivers of our long-term financial performance, with particular opportunities flowing from the commercialisation of our technology through our new Studios business unit."

Canaccord note today:
"bwin.party delivered results in line with reduced guidance of December 30th, but flagged disappointingly weak trading into its Q1. However, it confirmed that it has received indicative proposals around potential "business combinations". Revenues fell by 6% to €611.9m (vs guidance €608m to €612m). Ebitda fell 6% to €101.2m (vs guidance €97.3m to €104.0m), with a margin 16.5%, flat YoY. Adjusted EPS fell to 5.9c, which looked light. And net cash (after stripping out customer cash) was also below our expectations, at €34.6m, vs our €41.6m, reflecting higher cash exceptionals and higher acquisition spend. However, the dividend was raised by 5% to 3.78p, providing strong yield support. There were a number of key drivers behind the weak performance, ranging from the forced withdrawal from Greece, accelerating declines in Poker and weak Q4 sports margin. Sports revenues were up only 1%, despite the World Cup boost; Casino was down by 6%, Poker by 29% and Bingo declined 2%.
Looking out to FY15, there will be a number of significant factors driving performance. On the plus side, there are €15m of incremental cost savings coming through (and an expectation that these will be exceeded). But on the negative, there is the impact of German VAT (c.€15) and UK Point of consumption tax (c.€9m). But the key focus this morning will be the acceleration in the rate of decline in revenues in the first 8 weeks of Q1, with total group revenues down by 12%, against the -9% run rate in Q4. Betting volumes were up by a high single digit amount, but a continued weak sports margin meant that Sports revenues were -6%, while Casino was down by 14% (a deterioration from Q4) and Poker by 30%. Management describes this as "broadly in line", but it is weaker than we expected. Given the extent of cost cutting, and product launches, BPTY remains "confident about the full year outlook". However, we are cutting our FY15 Ebitda forecast from €101.3m to €98.7m (consensus c.€103m), driving EPS down by c.12% to c.6.1c. But while current trading disappointed, the yield should provide some support - we assume modest DPS growth in FY15. And management has confirmed that it has received "indicative proposals regarding a variety of possible business combinations" - suggesting progress from the previously disclosed "discussions".
On our revised forecasts, BPTY is trading on a 9.3x FY15 EV/Ebitda and 18.2x PER. That represents a modest discount to the peer group, despite confirmation of ongoing bid/break-up discussions. Clearly, progress with the latter will be key to performance, and while BPTY has consistently under-performed, it has some attractive assets (sports engine, payments business etc). In addition, the dividend yield should provide support (at 4.9% for FY15), albeit it does not look sustainable, given negligible cover.
We reduce our TP from 100p to 92p to reflect the downgrades and stick at HOLD."

thanks harrycat, look forward to the injection ofcash,or full blown take over.
owl directors on board, they are not sitting just for the job.

New Jersey Licence
The Board of bwin.party is pleased to announce that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') has awarded each of the Group's wholly-owned subsidiaries, bwin.party entertainment (NJ) LLC and bwin.party (USA) Inc., a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence under section 92(a) of the New Jersey Control Act.

as previouse note , I said poker stars may be more interested in b win now awarded
license, in new jersey u s a

GVC Holdings PLC (AIM:GVC), a leading online sports betting and gaming group, notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it has submitted a proposal with a view to the Group acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of bwin.party digital entertainment plc ("bwin.party").

If the proposed transaction were to complete, it would be treated as a reverse takeover due to the size of bwin.party relative to the Company and, in order for the proposed transaction to proceed, it would require, inter alia, the approval of GVC shareholders.

There can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the Company being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition. Further updates will be provided in due course.

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group has confirmed it has made a takeover approach for bwin.party digital entertainment.

The company said the board had noted press speculation concerning a possible offer and said it believes that there is significant industrial logic in a combination of 888 and bwin.party.

Due to the size of the proposed transaction, it would require the approval of 888 shareholders. 888 shareholders representing approximately 59% of 888's share capital have irrevocably committed, subject to customary conditions, to vote in favour of the proposed transaction.

888 stresses there can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the company being selected as the proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing a transaction. A further update will be provided in due course.