700.000 New Online Gamblers Join Sportingbet
Published: Thursday, December 01, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
700.000 NEW ONLINE GAMBLERS JOIN SPORTINGBET
"The company has recruited more new customers, taken more bets, played
more games of poker and made more profit then in any other previous first quarter”.
UK-based online betting firm Sportingbet announced a sharp jump in quarterly
profits this week after attracting a record number of customers.
The group, which offers online poker and the chance to bet on sporting events
around the world, saw operating profits leap 396 percent to GBP 22.3 million (€32.6m)
– up from GBP 4.5 million (€6.6m) and at the top end of market expectations.
Profits before tax for the period – covering the three months to October
31 - also rose 450 percent to GBP14.3 million (€20.9m) from GBP2.6 million
(€3.8m).
Chairman Peter Dicks said the company had “...recruited more new customers,
taken more bets, played more games of poker and made more profit then in any other
previous first quarter”.
The company said it signed up 700,000 new gamers worldwide at a growth rate 245
percent faster than a year ago.
The United States was its biggest market, where it had a “record quarter
across all measures”. It has attracted 173,748 sports betters in the country
- up 60 percent and drawing an average of $54 (€46).
The number of gamblers interested in Sportingbet facilities such as online poker
rose 29 percent to 63,028.
