Profits Up At Leisure And Gaming

London-based online betting and gaming operator Leisure And Gaming has released its unaudited results for the first half of the year showing a 15 percent year-on-year rise in gross profits to four million Euro.

Helped by the popularity of its new services for Greece, Italy and Cyprus, the British firm revealed that amounts wagered grew by 52 percent year-on-year to €61 million while net win increased 17 percent over the same period last year to €13.9 million.

Leisure And Gaming stated that its overall net win margin decreased by 5.8 percent year-on-year to 22.8 percent while its overheads grew by €100,000 to €2.1 million.

The total volume generated by all of the firm’s products for the six months to the end of June was €80.6 million, a massive improvement from the €59.4 million it reported for the first six months of 2008, while its earnings net win grew to €13.9 million from €11.5 million.

The amount wagered on sportsbetting including horseracing dropped year-on-year to €37.2 million from €39.3 million to generate a net win of €9.4 million. The net win twelve months ago was €10.6 million while the most recent net win percentage was 1.6 percent lower than the 26.9 percent Leisure And Gaming reported for the first six months of 2008.

The amount played on the firm’s casino products rose €400,000 year-on-year to €19.1 million to generate a static net win of €600,000.

The amounts played on Leisure And Gaming’s lotto and skill games were also unchanged at €1.4 million, generating a stable net win of €300,000.

Leisure And Gaming revealed that it generated €22.9 million through poker tournament fees and earned gross rake of €3.6 million. It reported that its net cash position improved by €2.2 million to €2.4 million while earnings before interest and tax grew by €500,000 to €1.9 million.

“Results for the first half showed good growth from last year and diversification both in terms of geography, in Cyprus and online in Greece, and in terms of products with the launch of poker in Italy,” said Richard Creed, Chief Executive Officer for Leisure And Gaming.

“The enormous success of poker in Italy provides more secure earnings, albeit at a lower margin than in sportsbetting and higher than expected volumes have continued through the summer months. We approach the new soccer season in good shape with a stable partner network and sponsorship initiatives generating interest.”