GTech Wins Swiss Contract
GTech Corporation has announced that it has signed a contract with Societe De La Loterie De La Suisse Romande (LoRo) for the implementation of a comprehensive interactive gaming platform.
The contract was awarded following a competitive procurement process and will see GTech deploy its latest ES New Media solution beginning in the fourth quarter of 2009 alongside four years of ongoing support services.
The Providence-based firm revealed that its system would offer traditional lottery-style games such as EuroMillions and Swiss Lotto alongside fixed-odds, horseracing and other sportsbetting titles in a multi-phased rollout. Initially launching online, the system will also support the expansion of services across interactive television and mobile channels in the future.
‘LoRo has been a valued customer since 1994 and we have developed a partnership that has brought about mutually-beneficial innovations and increased revenues to support the good causes in the Romande region of Switzerland,’ said Jaymin Patel, President and Chief Executive Officer for GTech.
‘Over the past five years, GTech has invested significant resources to develop a flexible, end-to-end eCommerce solution that positions lotteries for the future direction of interactive channels. ES New Media combines the expertise from the commercial gaming sector gained through the acquisition of Finsoft with GTech’s proficiency in world-wide lottery technologies. We are grateful that LoRo continues to view us as a true partner as they enter the emerging new media market segment.’
GTech stated that proceeds generated from the new interactive system would increase the contributions LoRo provides to the cantons, which aid causes benefiting the environment, among others.
‘GTech’s proposal offered a clear understanding of the issues in deploying a new media platform,’ said Jean-Luc Moner-Banet, Managing Director for LoRo.
‘It proposed an eCommerce lottery solution that the assessment panel felt accurately addressed our needs and demonstrated a thorough comprehension of our new media marketing business development plans and corporate social responsibility objectives.’
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World Poker Tour Improving
World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) Incorporated has released its financial results for the first three months of 2009 showing a ten percent jump in revenues quarter-on-quarter to $5.5 million.
The Californian firm revealed that the increase was due primarily to higher revenues from its ClubWPT.com domain alongside increased World Poker Tour television series hosting fees.
WPTE stated that ClubWPT.com began operations in the first quarter of 2008 and saw a ‘significant’ growth in revenues beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the airing of ten one-hour episodes on Fox Sports. It revealed that three additional one-hour episodes aired over the first quarter of this year with television series hosting fees increasing due to the fact that the 13 episodes of Season Seven aired in 2009 compared to one episode of Season Six in 2008.
The cost of revenues decreased year-on-year from $2.7 million to $2.1 million due to lower World Poker Tour television series Season Seven production costs. This saw the firm’s gross profit margin for the television series increase to 53 percent from 34 percent last year.
WPTE stated that selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to $3.1 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $4.9 million for the first three months of last year while it partially offset lower personnel-related costs and litigation expenses with a higher bad debt provision.
The firm discontinued its operations in China in March because ‘the cash needs to support the growth in this business were greater than the company was willing to expend’. World Poker Tour China lost $984,000 in the first quarter of 2009 including a $211,000 shutdown provision, which compared to a $528,000 loss for the first three months of 2008.
WPTE announced that income from continuing operations over the first quarter were $479,000 excluding a non-cash impairment charge relating to its investment in Cecure Gaming, which compared to a $2.3 million loss for the first three months of 2008.
“In the first quarter of 2009, we made significant progress in our turnaround efforts to position the company for future profitability” said Steve Lipscomb, President and Chief Executive Officer for WPTE.
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Haydock Debuts Bodog Site with Entertasia Live Casino
Asian Internet gaming operator Haydock Sports Limited has announced the launch of a Bodog-branded live gaming online casino powered by software from Entertasia Technology Company Limited.
Manila-based Haydock Sports is the firm behind online casino and sportsbook 9Play.com and has been operating in Asia since 2006 under a license issued by the Philippines’ First Cagayan jurisdiction.
Bodog signed an exclusive brand license agreement with Haydock in March to use a large ‘portfolio of creative assets and resources’ and the new site has premiered at Bodog88.com offering players a live dealer experience alongside proposition bets and running ball wagering on a wide variety of sports.
”It’s has been a pleasure to work with Entertasia and the Macom Group in general,” said Ian Dunning, Managing Director for the new Bodog88.com.
“The transition from 9Play.com into Bodog88.com was smooth and easy. Their professionalism is one of the rarest in the industry and I am fully confident in long-term win-win co-operation.”
Bodog88.com also offers players the opportunity to enjoy baccarat, blackjack, roulette and sic bo in English and Chinese with Haydock revealing that it has big plans for the brand in Asia.
“The Bodog brand is known around the world for entertainment and a truly unique online experience,” said industry veteran Dunning.
“The Bodog culture is very different from anything currently offered in the Asian market today so we feel we have a competitive advantage as a lifestyle brand.”
“We are proud to be able to work with such an energetic group and we look forward to working with them globally in phase two after the success in Asia,” said Jason Chan, Chief Executive Officer for Entertasia.
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AsianLogic Profits Hurt by Operating Expenses
Leading online and land-based gaming operator AsianLogic Limited has released its preliminary results for 2008 showing an almost 50 percent drop in pre-tax profits due to bad debt provisions and increasing operating expenses.
The Hong Kong-based firm reported a pre-tax profit of $6.3 million, which was down on the previous year’s $12.4 million, while operating expenses more than doubled to over $6.9 million from 2007’s $2.7 million.
However, revenues were up by 82 percent to $98.7 million while gross profits more than doubled to $12.1 million. In addition, its average daily casino turnover rose 83 percent to $11.5 million from $6.2 million while average daily poker rake increased from $2,718 to $15,051.
AsianLogic stated that its average net gaming per day increased 75 percent from $145,249 in 2007 to $254,193 last year but overall losses before tax came in at $11.9 million from a profit of $7.9 million in 2007 while financial expenses increased to $17.9 million from $500,000.
The firm revealed that it had a cash balance as of the end of December of $48.6 million and that it expects its top line revenues to increase while its net profits would remain negligible. It stated that this position is expected to continue throughout the year and that it was conducting an ongoing strategic review to determine ‘most appropriate manner to prioritise shareholder value’.
‘While it was pleasing to see revenues grow at such a strong pace, the increasing pressure on our lower margin wholesale business profitability and increasing bad debt provision meant the company’s adjusted net profit nearly halved,’ said Tom Hall, Executive Vice-Chairman for AsianLogic.
‘To counter this, the board is repositioning the business by looking to dispose of its wholesale business and invest further into higher margin deposit and retail based products as well as services and, again, we expect revenues to continue to grow.
‘However, the capital expenditure, marketing and advertising spend required to grow this business means that profitability will be impacted throughout 2009 and into 2010. The global economic crisis has not helped our trading but we see continuing long-term opportunity in our core Asian gaming marketplace.’
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StanleyBet Enrols With Watchdog
Leading fixed-odds betting firm StanleyBet International Limited has joined the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) as an Associate Member as part of its long-standing commitment to ensure integrity in all of its practices.
The ESSA was established in 2005 by leading European online sportsbook operators to monitor irregular betting patterns or possible insider betting from within each sport. It maintains the inter-member Early Warning System to highlight any suspicious betting activities.
StanleyBet stated that it has had procedures in place for many years to identify suspicious betting patterns and that it would now report any uncertainties through the Early Warning System.
The Early Warning System enables the ESSA to work with national sports regulators and their disciplinary and legal departments to ensure that, when an alert is given, these regulators are informed immediately to prevent any game manipulation.
“Licensed sportsbetting operators are the primary victims of match fixing and responsible operators like us are the first to be attacked,” said John Whittaker, Managing Director for StanleyBet.
“We at StanleyBet intend to remain at the forefront in the fight to ensure integrity and I am pleased that we have joined ESSA, a young but increasingly key player in this struggle.”
The ESSA has agreements in place with the International Football Federation, the Union of European Football Associations, the European Professional Football Leagues, the Football Association, the German Football League, the Association of Tennis Professionals, the International Tennis Federation and the Women’s Tennis Association alongside close relations with the International Olympic Committee and many other global sports regulators.
“StanleyBet’s decision to join the ESSA is a massive boost for our security network,” said Khalid Ali, Secretary General for the ESSA.
“Although StanleyBet is mainly an offline operator, our members agreed that it should come into the association because of its excellent investigative unit, which operates in seven markets. This means the ESSA will be able to obtain valuable information in our quest to combat illegal betting and game manipulation.”
