British online gaming firm Sportingbet is looking forward to a boost in turnover from this year’s soccer World Cup after reporting a 7 percent rise in second-quarter profit.
“It will help the turnover but I’ll be surprised if the profit gets a particular boost,” chief executive Andrew McIver said.
“Bookmakers don’t tend to make a lot of money on things like the World Cup because there’s not many teams and the predictable ones tend to be there at the end,” he said.
Sportingbet, which gets almost 90 percent of its bets from Europe, said it was pleased the second quarter ended Jan. 31 came in line with market expectations, despite the recessionary backdrop.
The firm reported adjusted operating profit of £11.2 million (US$16.7 million) and saw net gaming revenue rise 22.3 percent to £52.6 million.
However, margins dropped to 8.2 percent last month from the group’s target of about 10 percent after a run of soccer results went against the firm despite more bets being placed.
“It was really down to more favorites winning in European football [soccer],” McIver said, adding that 65 percent of all the bets takes in Europe are on soccer, with the percentage increasing every year.
McIver said the firm had yet to reach a settlement with the US Department of Justice over a resolution regarding its previous activities in the country.
“We suspect based on the resolution they had with PartyGaming that it will be some sort of financial penalty, but certainly haven’t discussed quantum or timing,” he said.
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