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Empire Online gained 3.5p to 200p on talk that the marketing specialist to the online casino industry had enjoyed record trading last month.

BetonSports announced Wednesday that major shareholder Boulder Overseas has sold 23m shares in the company to broker Evolution Securities in order to satisfy institutional demand.

The shares were sold to Evolution at 125p, leaving Boulder with a 15.5% stake that is subject to a lock-in until 15 July next year.

In an update on trading, BETonSPORTS said margins have continued to be strong during the first half of the year, continuing the trend experienced at the close of the last financial year.

“While there are still a number of weeks of trading to occur it is expected that profit before tax for the first half of the year will be ahead of the corresponding period last year,” it said.

“On the basis of the current trends in margin, advertising spend and the successful pre and early football season new customer sign ups, the Directors remain confident of the outturn for the year,” it added.

Advertising and marketing budget for the US facing business is $14.4m this year, of which $10m has already been placed or committed, it said.

The NFL season is the most important trading period for the company and historically over half of all customer sign ups have occurred in this period and 65% of its business in terms of volume and profit occur in the second half of the financial year.

The group also said May’s acquisition of Asian facing online gaming business Easybets is progressing well, while gaming software and development expert Scott Waller becomes chief technical officer.

An announcement regarding the half year to 7 August is planned for early October.

Numis upgraded online gambling payment processing solution Neteller (NLR.LN) to buy from hold following review of several assumptions. Now assumes higher growth in customers, higher average daily funding forecasts, more favorable bad debt rate, increasing fee revenue per dollar. Sees a "high probability" of further upgrades to estimates, if strong current trading momentum continues. Says various valuation metrics imply 960p and 1392p price target range, thus ups target to weighted average of 1000p, from 700p. Shares +1.6% at 672p. (PBA).

Gaming stocks were given momentum after Deutsche Bank issued a bullish research report on the sector, starting coverage on Partygaming with a 'buy' recommendation and a price target of 175p.

Deutsche also stuck with its 'buy' stance on Hilton and raised William Hill to 'buy' from 'hold', with a price target of 625p from 575p, noting the growth prospects from its online business.

Analysts at Arbuthnot Securities downgrade Sportingbet (ticker: STI) from "buy" to "neutral." The target price is set to 350p.  In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company's share price has appreciated significantly year-to-date. The analysts expect Sportingbet's Q1 results to exhibit betting margin trends for the winter sports season in the US. The company's share price is expected to reflect recent gains in the near term, Arbuthnot Securities adds.

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Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published July 21, 2005 1:30 am EST