Ladbrokes recently updated the market for the four months ended 30 April 2008. The company said that profits* (excluding profits* from High Rollers) had increased by 13%, with gross win increasing by 16% (34% including High Rollers). Profit from High Rollers was £40 million but Ladbrokes said that their activity had recently fallen to de minimis levels. UK Retail gross win increased by 11%, with Over the Counter (OTC) gross win increasing by 4%, with strong growth noted in football turnover. It said that there was a small decline in horse gross win against tough comparatives. Machine (including fixed odds betting terminals) gross win increased by 26%, with average weekly gross win per Gaming Machine coming in at £673 compared with £538 for the same period in 2007. The UK Retail estate reported a cost increase of 12%. Ladbrokes is now the market leader in Ireland with a combined 281 shops. Gross win in Ireland during the period under review grew by 43. eGaming recorded revenue growth of 24% during the period with customer sign ups growing 27% and unique active customers increasing 18%.

At Paddy Power's Annual General Meeting, held in Dublin on the 15 May 2008, the Chairman of the company Fintan Drury said; "2007 was an excellent year for Paddy Power with strong growth in gross win and operating profit in all channels and an overall increase in underlying operating profit of 59% to €72.1m. He said that the company expected operating profit of approximately €82m in 2008, which would represent growth of 14% compared with 2007 and is a figure 8% above consensus market forecasts. When announcing its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2007, Paddy Powere reported operating profit growth of 59% to €72.1m; Online gross win growth of 41%, including gaming gross win growth of 44%; continued trading profitability in their UK Retail business compared with a loss of €6.0m in 2006; Operating profit growth of 57% in their Irish Retail business and operating profit growth of 36% and 7% in their online and telephone businesses respectively. The company said that as of December 31 it had 150000 active online customers. Facts

  The London Stock Exchange listed company Sportingbet, is one of the few online betting companies to have achieved a global footprint. The company recently announced its financial results for the third quarter ended 30 April 2008. The company said that amounts wagered during the period totalled £364.6m (2007: £290.8m), earning it net gaming revenue of £40.7m (2007: £31.6m) representing 11.2% of amounts wagered (2007: 10.9%). The amounts wagered on sports betting in Europe increased by 26.7% to £198.0m (2007: £156.3m), earning it net gaming revenue of £20.9m (2007: £15.1m). Casino and gaming, and poker contributed a further £9.6m and £5.0m respectively to both amounts wagered and net gaming revenue (2007: £7.6m and £6.2m).

 The UK Tote, now rebranded Totesport has travelled far from its original position as a provider of tote pool betting, such that this activity now accounts for only 11% of the company's turnover. The company's website allows punters to bet directly into UK, Irish, and some International Tote pools; whilst also offering up an array of fixed odds betting opportunities on a wide variety of sporting events, alongside online poker and casino games. The company also now operates 540 high street betting shops and recently, it announced that after an absence of twenty five years, it would be returning to the on-course betting ring, with pitches on the rails at forty eight racecourses across the United Kingdom. The company has recently entered into a licence agreement with Betfair, and increased its share of the online horse racing betting market, through the introduction of a wide range of exotic bets

 At 31 December 2007 the scandic facing online bookmaker Unibet reported that it had a total of 309,431 active customers compared with 257,312 at 30 September 2007. The company said that its total number of registered customers had continued to increase and now exceeded 2.3 million (1.6 million). Unibet said that Gross Winnings Revenue amounted to GBP 24.5 (19.4) million for the fourth quarter of 2007 and GBP 81.4 (71.8) million for the full year 2007, with Gross profit for the fourth quarter 2007 increasing to GBP 22.3 (18.7) million and Gross profit for the full year 2007 increasing to GBP 76.2 (69.3) million.

  Victor Chandler, who remains the face of the company that boasts his name, continues to own around 45pc of Victor Chandler International, with former bookmaker and Ballydoyle supremo Michael Tabor holding a similar stake. Victor Chgandler staff mostly account for the remaining 10pc of the company. The company, which is valued at around the £325m mark, continues to achive turnover growth if twenty per cent plus a year. Whilst is is estimated that low-staking internet punters account for 90% of the bets placed through the company, over half of its turnover is accounted for by high-rollers. Chandler, who famously led the UK's bookmakers offshore in 1999, remains a key driving force behind betting industry innovation. The company boasts a cutting edge website and it has wholeheartedly embraced mobile technology.