Online Betting Giant Unibet Shows Impressive Profits

Unibet is an internet wagering company that was first established in 1997 obtaining its U.K. licence in 1998 when it established an office in London and commenced trading as a betting operator using telephone lines. An internet web site in Swedish and English was launched in 1999 then Unibet International was granted a license and established an office in Malta. In 2001 the second version of Unibet’s web site was launched and translated into 12 languages and now has customers in more than 50 countries.2003 saw the updated web site launch with new products including live betting and the online casino products. The company has grown to over 4.1 million worldwide customers in over 150 countries. With constant growth as a staple of the company the giant has had a remarkable year reporting an impressive 67 percent year-on-year increase in profits after tax for 2009. Profit before tax for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 8.7 million, GBP which was up from a loss of 300 000 GBP for the same period in 2008, while its profits before tax for the full-year almost tripled to reach 28.9 million GBP. Petter Nylander CEO of Unibet was excited by the report and stated, "Another all-time high in active customers and in gross winnings revenues in the sports book together with a high gross winnings margin resulted in a strong fourth quarter for 2009. Another important step for Unibet has been our decision to participate in the global sports book business-to-business market and offer our proprietary sports book and risk management services to external customers. During the fourth quarter, we made an early redemption of the Euro bond and expect to save between four to five million euros in finance costs during the facility’s duration compared to holding the bond to maturity. This saving includes early redemption costs of 1.2 million GBP that have been charged to the consolidated income statement in the fourth quarter of 2009." Nylander added, " During the first six weeks of 2010, we see good growth in the business with live betting as an important driving force."