Financial

Colorado's gambling regulatory body has released depressing revenue figures for the state's land gambling operations reflecting the international trend to lower gambling revenues already reported from Las Vegas and Macau.

Starting the week off with a resounding bang is the news that two major listed companies on the London stock exchange, UK gambling group William Hill and online gambling software provider Playtech, are to combine in a new venture branded William Hill Online headed by ex- Leisure and Gaming CEO Henry Birch.

London-listed land and online gambling group Rank plc revealed in a trading update this week that its revenues declined by 8 percent for the 41 weeks to 12 October compared to the same period last year.

In a trading update this week, the Dublin-based online gambling software developer Cryptologic Online Casinos reports that it expects a third-quarter operating loss of between $1.0 and $1.5 million, a modest improvement from the previous quarter, but cautioned that it additionally anticipates a significant $3.6 million hit from adverse dollar rate movement.

European operator Gaming VC has reported growth in EBITDA of 7 percent to Euro 10.6 million on last year’s Euro 10 million for the six month period to the end of June, with pre-tax profits rising 23 percent to Euro 10.5 million, on last year’s Euro 8.5 million.

A London stock trading business is developing a new market in which investors can put up money as stakes for experienced poker players to use in order to generate shared winnings. Although staking friends or business associates is not unheard of in the professional game, most successful players reportedly prefer to pay their own way, but London businessmen still believe there is enough action in Internet poker to make a profitable return on the concept.

The Canadian online gambling turnkey provider Chartwell Technology announced solid third quarter and nine month results this week, reporting continued strong growth in casino and poker revenues, which rose by 16.5 percent. EBITDA was also up by 18 percent to $1.3 million in the quarter, compared to $1.1 million in the same period in 2007.

The Australian newspaper The Age reports that Betfair's incoming chief executive in the land of Oz, Andrew Twaits, says the economic slowdown is having little impact on the firm, and after four months of trading in its new financial year Betfair is on track to beat its goal of 30 percent sales growth.

Playtech plc, the Isle of Man headquartered online gambling software and games developer, has released another impressive set of results with its half year report for the six months ended 30 June 2008 showing continued growth.

The Isle of Man based e-cash processor Neteller plc has released its half year results, reporting on the six months to end June 2008 and claiming a 'solid' performance as the company continues to diversify into European and Asian markets.