Euro 2012 Marred Results at Bwin.Party
(Reuters) - Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (BPTY.L), the world's largest listed online gaming group, said a run of predictable results in the Euro 2012 championship marred a solid performance in its casino and bingo operations in the second quarter.
The company said its trading performance since the beginning of April was broadly in line with expectations, with solid performances in bingo and casino being offset by continued pressures in poker.
"In sports betting, although the Euro 2012 championship delivered a meaningful uplift in betting activity and customer numbers, gross win margins were lower than expected due to the majority of results following the predicted path," it said.
"While certain southern European markets remain challenging, the launch of the group's sports, poker, casino and bingo products in Spain went live on 5 June, and the early performance has been encouraging."
It said it expected a recovery in its sports gross win margin in the second half and also an improvement in poker.
But additional gaming taxes in Germany, which had already been flagged, would shave an additional 5 million to 10 million euros off its full-year core earnings, it said.
