Sportingbet Gets Beyond US BanAfter suffering a £311.6m hit from closing down its US operations, the online gambling firm Sportingbet has reported a 76.2pc rise in operating profit to £7.4m, up from £4.2m last year.
In Europe, the group reported a 14.3pc rise in the number of online sports gamblers, to 436,779 up from 382,160 in the previous year. The number of sports bets placed by these customers rose by 30.6pc to 46.1m, up from 35.3m last year – at a rate of 106 bets per customer per year. The average sports bet was £13.10, down from £13.80 in 2006.
The group's yield per sports customer jumped by 31.6pc from £95 to £125, in part as a result of increased margin, but also from the number of bets made per customer.
Casino customer numbers climbed by 10.5pc to 142.6m, up from 129.1m in the previous year – placing an average bet of £5.06 – again down from £5.54.
Andrew McIver, group chief executive, said: "Given the enormity of the change and restructuring that has taken place at Sportingbet, I am pleased to report a strong increase in gross win in the continuing business and especially pleased with the growth in our core European sports betting business of 48pc.
"As we move into the current financial year, trading across the group is significantly ahead of the prior year and in line with management expectations for the period."
The Times of London on Wednesday also reported that Sportingbet is positioning itself to experiment with new markets.
Sportingbet said it would consider "embryonic business development" in new geographies but gave warning that the success of these ventures could not be guaranteed. "Some will work and some will fail," the group said in its statement of full-year results.
Sportingbet intends to invest in countries where it is currently underrepresented and has recently acquired a Turkish marketing partner and invested further in Italy, to fulfill this strategy.
It also said that it would consider targeted acquisitions where these were "commercially logical and value enhancing".
Sportingbet initially suffered from losing both its marquee brand, Sportsbook.com - a premiere sponsor of the Gambling911.com - and following the pullout of the number 3 online poker room, Paradise Poker, from the US market.
The company moved much of its operational base to Dublin, Ireland. Sportingbet is hopeful that the trend across Europe is to liberalise gambling and encourage more suppliers, rather than to clamp down on it. The European Commission has been applying pressure to EU member states that do not comply with free market requirements in gambling.
Shares in Sportingbet were unchanged at 48.5p.
