Nambling Notes - May 15, 2008

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.

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.

Entraction Holding, the Solna-based operator and software supplier, revealed a first-quarter net profit of 7.4 million Swedish kronor, or $1.2 million, against 100,000 Swedish kronor the previous-year quarter.

Total revenue for the company, which recently split its business between three arms, stood at 79.5 million Swedish kronor, up 48 percent against the previous-year period, buoyed by growth of 174 percent in casino and sports betting revenue.

"It is very satisfying to present a positive net result with strong growth in turnover for this year's first quarter, and we will continue to focus on improving margins in order to maximize the impact of this revenue growth on our bottom line," said Peter Åström, the company's chief executive, in a prepared statement.

On Friday, May 23, Sue Schneider, chief executive of Clarion Gaming Americas, will speak with Gary W. Loveman, chief executive of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., for the next installment in IGN's Desktop Conference series.

On the London Stock Exchange Thursday, WorldSpreads was up 2p, or 1.82 percent, to 112, while on the Vienna Stock Exchange, Bwin was up 0.62 euros, or 2.97 percent, to 21.50. On the Stockholm Stock Exchange, meanwhile, Entraction was down 0.01 Swedish kronor, or 1.82 percent, to 0.54 Swedish kronor.