Sportingbet, losing its shine?

What with the potential takeover of Sportingbet by William Hill and GVC Holdings still in limbo you might think that producing a poor set of results could be a negative on proceedings and explains a little why the company share price has fallen to around 45p. Actually, for the purpose of the takeover, parts of today's results are probably welcomed better than others.

The BBC reports;

Online gambling firm Sportingbet has reported a fall in first quarter revenues citing "challenging" conditions."

European online poker revenue collapsed nearly 50% reflecting "continued structural decline" of the game, the company said.

The total amount wagered in the three months to 31 October fell to £594.3m, compared with £693.7m for the same quarter last year.

Group revenue fell £21m to £38.8m.

Group chief executive Andrew McIver said: "It was a challenging first quarter but a very strong November".

Sports margins in Australia had been "particularly strong", the company said, after a 29% increase in active customers and rapid growth in the amount being wagered via smartphones and other hand-held devices.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20551977

Looking at that report again we see the word "challenging" being used quite a bit (key words in company reports). Could it also be a signal of challenging conditions for the likes of William Hill and Ladbrokes when they next report? Perhaps not, but 2013 might not be as rosy for them as recent times. (Panorama, undercover in the bookies)

However, it was reported before that William Hill were particularly interested in the Australian growth side of the Sportingbet business and they will look at the "particularly strong" results there with interest. Sportingbet investors hoping for that 60p+ pay off may be hoping that the takeover gets sorted sooner rather than later.