Sportingbet Profits Soar 18% In Q3 To £12 Million

British e-gaming operator Sportingbet plc have just announced their Q3 trading results showing a marked rise in both the company’s net gaming revenue (NGR) and operating profits.
Sportingbet’s NGR reached £55.7m in Q3, up an impressive 30% from the same period last year while operating profit had risen by 18% from £10.2 million last year to its current £12 million. Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Andrew McIver said:
“Given the widely reported economic difficulties in Spain and Greece which are two of our biggest markets, it is pleasing to report an 18 percent increase in profits.”
Both Spain and Greece have been hit harder than most by the global economic crisis, and Sportingbet has also suffered from Spanish football giants Real Madrid and Barcelona’s continued domination of the country’s domestic league. As Andy McIver explained:
“If you wanted free money this year, betting on Real Madrid or Barcelona in every game was a sure way to get it.”
In addition, Sportingbet’s poker operation Paradise Poker, was down 1.7% to £5.7 million from £5.8 million in Q3 2009, although the company said its customer numbers had risen by a healthy 15%.
Sportingbet’s Australian sportsbook was seen as instrumental in driving the company’s positive Q3 results, with NGR from Australia reaching £10.4m in Q3 from £3.9m in the same period a year earlier, representing an impressive 167% increase. Fluctuations from currency exchanges also positively affected this figure.
Looking ahead, the company said it was anticipating an increase in turnover from the upcoming Fifa World Cup in South Africa, as well as benefiting from the recent deregulation of the French gaming market. CEO Andrew McIver has signalled the company’s intention of applying for a French licence, but cautioned:
“It is going to take us longer to get the IT compliant site that we hitherto expected based on the unofficial conversations with French authorities. We are estimating it will take us months to produce an IT system that is compliant.”
Sportingbet shares have fallen 9% over the past year, but following the release of its Q3 results they rose 4% in early trade and are now currently priced at 61.50, valuing the company at approximately £310 million.