NEWS / THE BRIEFING /
NEWS DIGEST
THE MONTH'S TOP STORIES INCLUDING A SLAPPED
WRIST FOR PADDY POWER AND YET ANOTHER
NEW SPORTSBOOK LAUNCH
vIN HOT WATER
In what was arguably the most
prominent story of the month,
Paddy Power felt the wrath
of the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA) for its risqué take
on the Oscar Pistorius murder
trial.
The ASA demanded the
mischief-making bookie remove
an advert which promoted
its money-back special if the
Paralympian was found not guilty
of the murder of his girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp – or, as Paddys
framed it: “Money back if he
walks.” The advert attracted a
record number of complaints
and overshadowed the Irish
bookmaker’s full-year results,
which showed online profits had
jumped 10%.
vPOINT OF NO RETURN
The fears of Great Britain-facing
operators were confirmed this
month when UK Chancellor of
the Exchequer George Osborne
‘revealed’ the levy placed on
bets struck with punters based in
Britain will be set at 15%.
Those affected by the levy,
which is due to come into force
in December, had been arguing
for a lower rate of tax, with the
Remote Gambling Association
stating the tax should have been
“no more than 10%” in order
for some businesses to remain
viable. The Budget also confirmed
that sportsbooks’ free bets and
bonuses would be taxable, despite
other verticals such as bingo and
casino being granted the ability to
offer tax-free incentives.
vBUY, BUY, BUY
Meanwhile in Australia Sportsbet
founder Matt Tripp revealed his
14
intentions to re-enter the market
after he led a group purchasing
local brand BetEzy ahead of a
planned re-launch on 1 April.
Tripp, who sold Sportsbet to
Paddy Power in 2009, re-enters
the Australian market after seeing
out a non-compete period as
part of the sale and will rebrand
BetEzy to BetEasy as part of the
re-launch.He will serve as CEO
of BetEasy while former director
of legal and regulatory affairs at
Sportsbet Nick Tyshing will serve
as a director.
Coral Interactive was also active
on the acquisition front in
March, announcing it had bought
Oldham-based games developer
Cool Games for an undisclosed
fee. Cool Games was founded in
2004 by former Barcrest designer
Andrew Todd and boasts around
300 online slot games available in
the UK, Italian and Swiss markets.
vEMPIRE OF THE SUN
UK newspaper The Sun is
preparing to gate-crash the
online sports betting market
after entering final stage
discussions with potential whitelabel partner BetVictor.
The Sun could launch the
sportsbook within the next few
months having begun the process
of finding a partner more than a
year ago. It is understood BetVictor
is in pole position to win the race
to supply the News UK title with a
fully managed sportsbook, which
eGR understands will include the
provision of customer services
and marketing, after fending-off
competition from Playtech’s Geneity
sportsbook. BetVictor managing
director Paul Louis confirmed:
“Discussions are ongoing.”
HE CITY
IN T
BWIN.PARTY (BPTY.L)
2014 x HIGH: 129 LOW: 110
Analysts were calling 2014 CEO Norbert
Teufelberger’s final throw of the dice, as its
FY numbers showed a 19% fall in revenues
last month. At 125p a share and with activist
investors circling, talk of a big shake-up at
bwin.party are rife and the future of its stock,
therefore, remains uncertain.
BETFAIR (BET.L)
2014 X HIGH: 1149 LOW: 948
A solid set of Q3s said much about the direction
Betfair is heading in and investors are getting
behind Breon Corcoran’s sustainable markets
strategy. Its share price climbed steadily to more
than 1,125p at the time of writing, a 50% increase
from the same time last year.
LADBROKES (LAD.L)
2014 x HIGH: 180 LOW: 131
Another set of results, another battering for
Lads’ share price. It fell to an 18-month low of
145.70p during February and slumped a further
11% in one day after the UK Chancellor's raid
on FOBTs.
PADDY POWER (PAP)
2014 X HIGH: £63 LOW: £58
Paddy Power produced a 10% rise in annual
profits and sent the share price in the right
direction but it is some way off its 12-month
high of €72 last April. Peel Hunt analysts said
the point-of-consumption tax creates shortterm uncertainty for the Irish firm and that
outperformance in the short term was unlikely.
WILLIAM HILL (WHM.L)
2014 X HIGH: 410 LOW: 329
A double-digit leap in full-year revenues helped
Hills shares creep back towards the 400p mark
in late February. A poor year in online gaming
didn’t put investors off, the City fancied more
joy in a World Cup year. However, the hike in
FOBT tax caused an instant 5% drop.
W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M