The Board of betinternet.com plc (“betinternet.com”), the global on-line gaming group, is pleased to provide a trading update in relation to the Company’s unaudited results for the first six months of its financial year ended 26 November 2006.
As anticipated, the Company has achieved profitability at an EBITDA level in this period – an important advance for the business and a significant improvement on the same period last year. This has been accomplished during a volatile period for gaming companies due to the legislative changes introduced by the US Government for online gaming and the increasingly negative focus on the sector in certain European countries.
European Wagering Services (EWS), the Company’s pari-mutuel operation, has performed particularly well, with a sustained increase in turnover through our Isle of Man-based hub. The Board is still awaiting final legal advice regarding its acceptance of certain types of pari-mutuel wagers from the United States, but the initial advice received is that EWS’ operations are not affected by the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Bill.
In addition, the Company is intending to appoint a new Chief Operating Officer for EWS with effect from February 2007. Further details regarding this appointment will be released in due course.
The Sportsbook has seen the benefit of the enhanced offering that was introduced in June, with strong additional revenue streams coming from the casino and games channels. The focus for this business remains in the Far East, where approximately two-thirds of our turnover originates. The betinternet.com website is constantly being developed and we are now able to provide a white-label version of the website to other potential operators, the first of which we expect to launch in the New Year.
Managing Director, Garry Knowles said “It is very pleasing that we have reached profitability at EBITDA level for the first six months of this financial year. This is a considerable turnaround from the same period last year and as a result the Company is now in a much stronger position to take advantage of the opportunities that are available in both EWS and the Sportsbook.”