Market Briefs

Betting Boosts Bwin's Bottom Line

Bwin Interactive Entertainment, the Vienna operator, revealed second-quarter net revenue of 104.7 million euros, up 39 percent against the previous-year period.

Net gaming revenue -- a metric measuring revenue from the company's sports betting, poker, casino and games offerings -- rose 32.7 percent to 88 million euros versus the second quarter of last year. Other revenue -- which comprised rights sales, customer fees and other items -- came in at 16.7 million euros.

Significantly, second-quarter sports betting revenue delivered 58 percent growth year over year, coming in at 50.4 million euros. Sports margins, however, were down slightly quarter over quarter to 7.9 percent from 8.7 percent.

"While Bwin's margin was better than a year ago, they obviously were more impacted by Spain and Germany progressing so far in the Euro, and their bonus rate [11.3 percent of gross gaming revenue] was higher than in any other quarter since 2006," Simon J. Holliday, a partner with Global Betting and Gaming consultants, told IGamingNews in an e-mail.

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Weekly Statistics from Bloomberg.com: Bwin

Listing

Low Close: 15.98 euros

High Close: 17.31 euros

Weekly Change: - 3.4 percent

Market Capitalization: 568.6 million euros

GigaMedia, Centrebet Rumors Abound

With rumor swirling about a potential sports betting tie-up between GigaMedia Ltd. of Taiwan and Centrebet International Ltd. of Australia, when asked, one analyst told IGamingNews the following:

"I’ve seen a couple reports that have speculated that it’s Centrebet," the analyst wrote in an e-mail Friday. "Mgt. has indicated publicly that entering the sports betting market is a high priority item and they expect to have something in place by the end of this year.

"I think this could be a large opportunity for these guys given the large customer base and strong brand name," the analyst continued. "They also est. that over half of their 200k poker customers bet on sports. On the last earnings call they indicated that they would start out with a technology partner to address continental Europe and then would consider acquisitions to gain a presence in new markets (i.e. UK most likely)."

Weekly Statistics from Bloomberg.com: GigaMedia

Listing

Low Close: $11.59

High Close: $12.63

Weekly Change: - 7.6 percent

Market Capitalization: $577.4 million