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NEWS IN BRIEF
Zynga lowers full year outlook after “challenging” Q3
Zynga has failed to reach the targets its set itself at the beginning of the year, chief executive Mark Pincus has admitted, after the social gaming operator revealed it expects to record a net loss of between US$90m to $115m for the three months ended 30 September. Describing the third quarter as “challenging”, he said that “as a whole we did not execute to our satisfaction”. Zynga has lowered its full year EBITDA projection to $147m162m compared to the previous predicted range of $180m-250m.
ITALIAN POKER AT LOWEST SINCE CASH GAME LAUNCH
Egaming revenues decline year-on-year for ?rst time in 2012
The Italian egaming market has seen a yearon-year decline in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the ?rst time in 2012 following a downturn in the performance of online poker and bingo. Poker revenues declined year-on-year by 30.1%, with August’s €23.4m total the lowest since cash games were introduced to the dot.it market, while bingo saw an eighth successive month of double-digit decline compared to the same period in 2011. Some balance arrived in ?xed-odds sports betting, however, where the €9.7m total represented an 18.5% year-on-year increase on August 2011 and the highest GGR from the vertical since April. Horse betting was also up year-on-year, but the €0.96m total was lower than in any of the previous three months. Casino table games experienced a 45.2% year-on-year increase as more
games have begun to be offered by more licensees compared to last year, with GGR reaching eight ?gures in every month since December 2011. Italian regulator AAMS, which was forced to merge with the country’s customs authority in June, will hope the impending introduction of slots and exchange betting brings about an upturn in the market’s performance around the turn of the year. While slots in general are yet to see the light of day, those with non-spinning reels are permitted due to a loophole in Italian law, meaning the likes of GameAccount Network have already introduced products. Market share ?gures from August show PokerStars has continued its dominance of tournament and cash poker in the dot.it market, increasing its piece of the pie from 41.7% to 44.2% in the former, and from 29.3% to 32.2% in the latter.
Unibet settles Spanish back-taxes
Unibet has agreed to pay a one-off fee of €3.2m (£2.6m) following discussions with Spanish tax authorities, relating to back-taxes for the operator’s activities in the market between January 2009 and May 2011. The operator withdrew from the Spanish market ahead of the issuing of dot.es licences in June this year, and confirmed in a statement that it “did not apply for a B2C gaming licence under the new Spanish gaming law and does not currently target the Spanish market”.
NET LOSS FOR SPORTINGBET
CEO says it has been a “transformational” year for the operator
Sportingbet’s acquisition
of Australian bookmaker Centrebet last year has produced better than expected results, with an increase in amounts wagered on sports of 82%, the company has announced in its ?nancial results for the year ended 31 July 2012. Overall, the operator reported an operating loss of £39.1m for the year, citing exceptional costs of £71.6m including expenses related to the acquisition and integration of Centrebet, its settlement with the Spanish tax authorities and costs arising from exiting the Turkish market. As economic dif?culties in Europe stunt growth for Sportingbet in the likes of Greece and Spain, its two largest markets,
a strong 12 months from the Australian business has proved invaluable. The operator is now the country’s leading ?xed odds internet and phone bookmaker by amounts wagered, which grew to £2.3bn in 2012 from £2bn, leading to net gaming revenue (NGR) down from £146.7m in 2011. Some 80% of Sportingbet’s revenues are now derived from regulated markets, and Andrew McIver (pictured), the operator’s group chief executive, told eGR: “It has been a transformational year and probably the most so since we dropped out of the US back in 2006. With many countries across Europe starting to regulate, we have for the ?rst time been able to choose which markets to operate in.” McIver refused to comment on the Hills-GVC bid.
Gauselmann boosts UK activities with £76m Praesepe purchase
German land-based casino and arcades operator Gauselmann Group has boosted its UK presence with the acquisition of Marwyn Gaming, the owner of low stake gaming operator Praesepe. The purchase includes 159 adult gaming centres, nine bingo clubs, five family entertainment centres and egaming business Beacon Bingo Online. A new company, Merkur Casino UK, has been formed and will be chaired by Ulrich Wuseke, chief financial officer of the Gauselmann Group.
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