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Telling it like it is.....

William Hill exits Italian Betting Market
William Hill PLC and Grupo Codere SA have announced the sale of the entire issued share capital of William Hill Codere Italia Srl (WHCI) to INTRALOT Italia spa. The gross consideration agreed is €5.5m, which will be shared equally between the two shareholders. The sale follows a strategic review of WHCI within the Italian sports betting market. The sale does not include use of the William Hill brand name. WHCI was set up as a joint venture to enter the Italian horse and sports betting market following a tender process in Italy for sports and horse race betting in 2006 in which the company was awarded 57 licences. The company said that the number of retail betting licences won by WHCI was insufficient in scale to provide an attractive long term return. Options to grow within Italy through the acquisition of either existing or new licences were explored, but the cost of acquisitions within the existing regulatory framework in Italy made further investment unattractive. The sale of WHCI includes the internet betting licences secured in the 2006 tender. William Hill said that it is still considering its options with regard to an internet offering in Italy. This sale will result in a write off of around £1m in the Group's 2008 interim accounts after accounting for operating losses in 2007 and to the date of disposal in 2008. A major blow to those that saw the opening of Europe's betting markets as the way forward for the likes of Hills and Ladbrokes; and a decision that will serve to place the focus on other operators in the Italain betting market, such as Leisure & Gaming.

spreadbetting

Red faces at Evolution Securities?
What a difference a week makes. Only last week The Guardian reported how online betting group PartyGaming had added 20.75p to 248.25p after Evolution Securities had begun coverage of the stock with a buy recommendation and a 284p target. Evolution had reportedly said that PartyGaming could be an attractive target or merger partner for a European gaming company, once it has settled matters with the US Department of Justice. One week later shares in PartyGaming are trading at a new year low of 189p. Evolution also reportedly advised buying 888, which we are told was accordingly up 4p to 136.5p. It allegedly suggested that 888, "with its proprietary casino and poker software", would be a good takeover target for PartyGaming or Ladbrokes. One week later, shares in 888 are trading at 119p. .

Directors buy at Asian Logic
AsianLogic Limited, the diversified Asia-Pacific online and land-based gaming company, announced that on 9 July 2008, the following Directors and family members purchased ordinary shares in the company at 66p each: Mr. Christopher Parker 300,000 ordinary shares; Mr. Robert Evans 20,000 ordinary shares; Mrs. Ma. Carmina Hall (Mr. Thomas Hall's wife) 150,000 ordinary shares. As a result of these transactions, , Mr. Parker has a beneficial interest in 11,709,797 ordinary shares, representing c. 10.96% of the total issued share capital of the Company, Mr. Evans has an interest in 551,087 ordinary shares, representing c. 0.52% of the total issued share capital of the Company and Mrs. Hall has a beneficial interest in 150,000 ordinary shares, representing c. 0.14% of the total issued share capital of the Company.

Gaming VC KPI
Gaming VC Holdings S.A. has provided an update on Key Performance Indicators for the six months to 30 June 2008 ("H1"). During the first six months of the 2008 financial year, trading has been slightly ahead of the Board's expectations due to, it said, resilience in the German casino business. Total revenues were 15% ahead compared with last year and 13% more funded accounts have been recruited. The company said that compared with the second half of 2007, revenue is 23% higher and there have been 5% more funded accounts recruited. Further to an announcement made on 17 April 2008, the Group said that it remains in discussion with a third party which may or may not lead to an offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Group. Commenting on the H1 KPIs, Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive Officer, of Gaming VC, said: "The results of the first half demonstrate the continued growth of the business. This is despite the expected adverse effects of Euro 2008 on the Casino and Poker business. I am delighted with the initial performance of our customer service centre, which we expect to have a positive impact on the Group's results in the second half of the year. I am confident that growth will continue as we diversify our services and expand our reach into new international territories. "

Norsk Tipping reports increase in sports betting

Norsk Tipping has reported its results for the first half of 2008. Turnover rose by 364 million kroner, compared with the same period last year. The highlight of the results was a 20% increase in turnover in Sports betting. "Vekst for tre spill og lanseringen av Keno sørger for at Norsk Tippings omsetning i første halvår 2008 har økt med 364 millioner kroner i forhold til samme periode i fjor. I tillegg til at både Extra og Flax øker, er det verdt å legge merke til at Norsk Tippings mest konkurranseutsatte produkt, Oddsen, vokser med hele 20 prosent. Ryktene om at internasjonale bookmakere er i ferd med å utkonkurrere Norsk Tipping på oddsspill bør avlives nå. God og vellykket produktutvikling sørger for at vi hevder oss meget bra, sier adm. dir. i Norsk Tipping, Axel Krogvig. Også Keno ser ut til å ha fått solid fotfeste, med en omsetning på 235 millioner kroner i første halvår. Samtidig er det grunn til å merke seg at Lotto opplever tilbakegang. Det minner oss om at de tradisjonelle lykkespillene trenger fornyelse og utvikling, sier Krogvig."

View from the betting markets
It is anticipated that trading opportunities will arise in the following horses today; Fasalee 6.50 Kempton.

Wood blasts Soverign Series

"A concept like a Triple Crown is one thing, though, and a 10-race series with points for the first three home entirely another. Anyone drawn into racing by an urgent need to know which horse wins the Sovereign Series is likely to have been 80% submerged already. Betting, meanwhile, seems to be almost an irrelevance. Racing, so the theory goes, can be packaged and sold to television like any other sport, so that people can be excited by the simple pleasure of finding out what happens next. This seems optimistic, to say the least, and suggests a worrying failure on the part of those involved to understand the basic nature of the sport. And since "those involved" happens to include the BHA - albeit in an odd, almost subsidiary role behind Racing UK - it is a significant cause for concern. Strip away the hype, and the Sovereign Series looks like little more than an interesting idea that needed a lot more planning and thought prior to its launch. Those behind it clearly know a great deal about marketing and television. Whether they understand nearly so much about racing and its customers may be another matter." (Greg Wood, Guardian Comment).

Gambling Stocks Performance
Gambling Stocks

Results and Trading Updates

Bet365, the Stoke-on-Trent based bookmaking company, has increased turnover by 84% to £1.81 billion, in the year to April 2008. This headline grabbing turnover figure returned profits of £36 million. Meanwhile, PartyGaming has announced that since 28 April 2008 its gross revenues have fallen slightly due to "seasonality and competition for players' leisure time from the Euro 2008 football tournament(!)". The company said that its Casino division had continued to perform strongly but that this had been offset by a weaker than expected performance in poker and sports betting with overall revenues slightly lower than expected. Moreover, PartyGaming said that in sports betting, Euro 2008 had seen a marked increase in betting volume, but that a poor run of results at the start of the tournament had impacted the gross win margin.

2008 Epsom Derby Analysis
Epsom Derby Analysis

Leisure & Gaming Trading Update

Leisure & Gaming plc has provided a trading update for the 6 months to 30th June 2008. The company said that trading has been in line with market expectations. For the half year to 30 June 2008, the company has reported Net win of €12.8m (vs €13.9m for the equivalent period in 2007); Gross profit of €3.4m (vs €1.2m for the equivalent period in 2007) and an estimated EBIT of €1.2m (vs €1.4m loss for the equivalent period in 2007). The Company said that it expects to have its full estate of Italian shops operating under new Bersani licences open by the start of the football season. It also expects to be able offer online poker throughout its retail network and to Italian online customers before the end of the year. The Company announced that it has raised £553,000 by way of a share placing with participation from Andrin Bachmann and Edouard Mercier of, in aggregate, 9,216,000 new ordinary shares of 5 pence each. It said that the net proceeds of the placing will be used to obtain an Italian online licence and to make further improvements to the Company's operating platform. Following Admission, Andrin Bachmann and Edouard Mercier will each have an interest in 3,208,000 million shares in Leisure and Gaming plc, in each case representing 3.41% of the issued share capital of the Company.

European Gambling Law

The European Commission has now completed its investigations into the Swedish and Danish betting markets and is set to refer both countries to the European Court of Justice, according to sources that wish to remain anonymous. Get the latest views from the betting markets .....

2008 English Flat Season
Sadlers Wells Progeny