Sportingbet a Good Buy? U.S. Market Entrance Still Has Many Obstacles
Analysts have been talking up one of the leading online gambling ventures this past week, Sportingbet, in the wake of a measure to legalize the activity passing in a House Subcommittee earlier this month.
Sportingbet is another company that has been working with the U.S. Government as a means of trying to enter the lucrative gambling market should online gambling become legalized there.
Gambling911.com readers might recall back in 2006, the state of Louisiana issued an arrest warrant for Sportingbet Chairman Peter Dicks. Though he was apprehended at New York’s JFK Airport, that state refused to extradite him to Louisiana. Dicks later settled with the state but Louisiana serves as just another example of additional obstacles at the local level that must be overcome regardless of whether federal legislation ultimately passes.
Gambling911.com first broke the news about PartyGaming being named in a Kentucky state lawsuit this past Wednesday (see full complaint here)
For the time being, analysts seem undeterred.
From City A.M:
SIMON DAVIES| COLLINS STEWART
We are leaving our 2010 forecasts unchanged, although we expect the firm to come in modestly ahead. Trading into the first quarter has been relatively strong [with no obvious World Cup hangover on sports betting] and guidance for 2011 is unchanged – the key risks, as previously, remain regulatory change in its core markets of Greece, Turkey, Spain.
KARL BURNS | SHORE CAPITAL
The group reported a strong performance from the World Cup with £50m staked during the tournament, with an aggregate margin in excess of 17 per cent ahead of our expectations. We continue to believe sportingbet will participate in industry consolidation, with further growth in sports betting. therefore trading on a price to earnings ratio of 10 times, EV/EBITDA of six times, with a dividend yield of around two per cent, we reiterate our ‘Buy’ recommendation.
Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
