Market Briefs

PartyGaming Chief Steps down, Board Shuffled

Mitchell A. Garber, the chief executive of PartyGaming, will step down Friday, three months after announcing a desire to return to North America for family reasons.

Mr. Garber, a Canadian national, is succeeded by James A. Ryan, chief executive of St. Minver Ltd., the Gibraltar-licensed online operator.

"I am hugely excited by the scale of the opportunity," said Mr. Ryan, also a Canadian national, in a prepared statement Thursday. "And with the support of PartyGaming's Board and management team, I am confident we have an exciting and prosperous future."

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Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: 26.25 pence (51 cents)

High Close: 26.75 pence

Weekly Change: - 1.8 percent

Market Capitalization: £1.05 billion ($2.05 billion)

Neteller Says Second-Quarter Trading 'Encouraging'

Neteller, the online payments processing group, said Tuesday that second-quarter trading was off to an "encouraging" start with April fee revenue up 15 percent to $3.8 million over the previous month.

Dale P. Johnson, chairman of Neteller, said in a trading update that the group has distributed its payment product suite across merchants with gambling -- and, increasingly, non-gambling -- interests.

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Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: 61.5 pence ($1.20)

High Close: 73 pence

Weekly Change: + 5 percent

Market Capitalization: £77.95 million ($152.45 million)

CryptoLogic Chief Bullish on ’08, ’09, Revenue Growth

The chief executive of CryptoLogic Ltd., Brian H. Hadfield, said the company intends to bring total revenue back to pre-U.S.-exit levels -- $104 million -- by the end of 2009 via aggressive acquisition of licensees and strong returns on its Asian investments.

"For our Asian investments, we see modest revenue in the second quarter, more revenue in the third and fourth of this year," Mr. Hadfield told Interactive Gaming News in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"And then, next year, our plan is that revenue from that part of the world (Asia) will constitute roughly 13 percent of our total revenue, and our total revenue is planned to be back at pre-U.S. exit."

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Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: 966.5 pence ($18.83)

High Close: 1,001 pence

Weekly Change: - 2 percent

Market Capitalization: £123.98 million ($242.47 million)

GigaMedia First-Quarter Profit up 42%

GigaMedia Ltd., the online operator and software developer, has revealed a first-quarter net profit of $12.1 million, up 42 percent against $8.5 million the previous-year quarter, with earnings-per-share up 40 percent to 21 cents. Sales rose 51 percent to $54.6 million from $36.1 million, including a rise in gaming software and service revenues to $38.3 million from $26.3 million.

Chief Operating Officer Thomas T. Hui said the Nasdaq-listed company showed strongest growth in licensing its casino and poker software. Online game and service sales rose to $12.9 million from $5.5 million, as the company's FunTown casual games operation saw growth in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: $17.47

High Close: $19.26

Weekly Change: + 7 percent

Market Capitalization: $947.97 million

WorldSpreads Completes IEX Listing

WorldSpreads Group, the Dublin-based spread betting operator, has completed its listing on the Irish Enterprise Exchange of the Irish Stock Exchange. The listing follows its August 2007 I.P.O. on the London Stock Exchange, which generated £5.77 million, or $11.23 million.

The company's chief financial officer, Niall S. O'Kelly, told Interactive Gaming News in April that maintaining an I.E.X. quote would give investors in its native Ireland a chance to invest in euros, and mitigate growing forex concerns thereby.

"An Irish quote . . . may, again, increase their (Irish investors') appetite and make our stock available where it otherwise might not have been," he said.

WorldSpreads worked in conjunction Bloxham, the Dublin-based investment services provider, on the float. The company's first-quarter results are due to be released next month.

Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: 110.5 pence ($2.15)

High Close: 111.25 pence

Weekly Change: + 0.06 percent

Market Capitalization: £43.76 million ($85.50 million)

Bwin Reveals 11.1% Rise in First-Quarter Net Income

Bwin Interactive Entertainment, the Vienna-based online operator, revealed first-quarter net income was up 11.1 percent to 11 million euros, or $17.02 million, over the previous-year quarter, buoyed by a 17.5 percent rise in net gaming revenue to 91.9 million euros.

Gross gaming revenue for the first quarter was up 21.3 percent to 104.6 million euros against the previous-year period, while gross gaming revenue from sports betting was up 27.4 percent to 60.6 million euros.

Sports betting margins, however, fell 9.6 percent to 8.7 percent versus the first quarter of 2007.

In a prepared statement, Bwin said the results were provided on a pro forma consolidation, with comparison figures excluding contributions from Turkish operations, which ceased in March 2007.

Weekly Statistics

Listing

Low Close: 20.88 euros ($32.54)

High Close: 21.90 euros

Weekly Change: + 4.2 percent

Market Capitalization: 715.79 million euros