• Punters' winning streak hits bet firms

November 21, 2005 - THE gloom over the gambling sector thickened yesterday when online bookmaker ukbetting said a run of poor sporting results had left its earnings under pressure. Ukbetting joined rivals such as Irish bookmaker Paddy Power and William Hill in warning that the lucky streak by punters had hurt its gross win - turnover less winnings paid out. This was despite a significant increase in revenues as more and more customers logged on to its sports websites, which include the TEAMtalk and Sportinglife brands. Ukbetting said annual earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation would be nearer the £1.3m bottom-of- the-range expectations in the City than the £2.6m forecast by the most optimistic brokers. "In common with other bookmakers, we experienced a very poor run of sports betting results which impacted gross win," the company said. Shares in Ukbetting fell 10% - just 24 hours after millions of pounds were wiped from the value of gambling stocks following a profits warning from Paddy Power and a downbeat trading update from William Hill. But the company said revenues would be at the top end of current market estimates of between £102m and £120m. Moreover, the rocky run of sporting results had not shaken its faith in its prospects, which were established on strong revenues growth and sports websites that reach 8.75 million users. Ukbetting said, "As we continue to grow across all revenue streams, ukbetting's sensitivity to the vagaries of the sports results will diminish. "As a result of this and the very strong fundamentals of the group, the board remains positive for the outlook for 2006 and beyond." Ukbetting said revenues were growing without it having to spend more on marketing as customers who logged on to sportinglife.com or teamtalk .com also decided to lay bets via its gaming sites. Since the end of last month, rivals in the gaming sector have been banned from advertising on its sporting websites.

> Read the full story here Source: icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

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