April 21, 2010 (CAP Newswire) – Austrian-based online gambling brand bwin Interactive Entertainment has released its latest earnings report, which has showed huge growth that the Internet betting company attributes to “cost cuts and successful marketing”, according to Reuters.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, bwin’s earnings jumped 79 percent, about in line with industry expectations. “Q4 gross gaming revenue was up by 13% (ahead of our forecasts at the time), with poker up by 36% YoY, casino up by 5% and sports up by 3% (sports relatively weak due to a soft December 2009 sports margin and adverse currency movement),” reports StockMarketsReview.com.
“Bwin said starting from the first quarter of this year it expects 2010 revenues to be boosted by its purchase of Italian online poker operator Gioco Digitale for 115 million euros last year,” the Reuters article continues.
“Q1 gross gaming revenue was up by 13% against Q1 2009, representing a decline of 1% LFL (excluding Gioco Digitale that was acquired in September 2009), likely due to a lower sports margin against a tough comparative in Q1 2009,” StockMarketsReview.com adds.
Despite this strong performance (or perhaps because of it?) the persisting rumors of a bwin/PartyGaming merger continue. “Online gambling groups PartyGaming and Bwin, long the subject of merger speculation, will complete a deal this summer, an Austrian magazine reported on Friday without citing sources,” another Reuters article states.
“The merger should be wrapped up this summer,” Format magazine is quoted in the article, “adding that talks had entered an ‘intensive phase.’”
However, bwin would not comment on this news, and a PartyGaming spokesperson told Reuters, “We will not comment on market speculation.”
Click here for details on the bwin affiliate program. PartyGaming’s online gaming affiliate program details can be found here.