12-01-2006 UKbetting announces results in line with market expectations

The online sports content and betting provider said revenue has increased by 38%, year on year, with gross win at 11.2%, remaining constant on 2004, despite a very poor run of sports betting results in the second half.

UKbetting finished the year with a 26% growth in betting customers, up to 332,000, with over 50% coming through the group's content network, which includes sportinglife.com, football365.com, rivals.net and teamtalk.com.

Casino and poker revenues grew 65% and 78% respectively, reducing the group's dependency on sports betting.

Consumer advertising in the content network rose 9% over 2004, with 41% growth in the second half. Monthly users for the content network were up 20% to 8.5 million over 2004 and the number of pages viewed rose 38% at 300 million.

The group's content network is becoming more and more valuable and since removing competitive advertising from its group of sites, the revenue per user has seen a marked improvement. The value of the content network is particularly emphasised during key sporting events, such as the Ashes, when the group's sites received 10 million hits per day from cricket fans.

Peter Dubens, Chief Executive of UKbetting, said speaking to eGaming Review that the sportsbooks operations are currently losing around £4m a year. Dubens added that the group is looking at alternative options, including "a different way" to look at its trading operations, a partnership, or the disposal of the operations altogether.