The online gambling group is expected to announce pre-tax profits of around £100m when it reports its full-year results on Tuesday.
Following the passage of the legislation that makes it illegal for US financial institutions to process payments to and from online gambling sites, Sportingbet was forced to sell its US-facing brands and to close its Paradise Poker website to US customers.
Industry analysts estimate Sportingbet will earn just £10m in 2007, down from the £125m originally forecasted before the passage of the UIGE Act of 2006.
During a visit to Antigua last week, Sportingbet\’s CEO Nigel Payne said he did not expect any of the UK’s publicly traded gambling companies to continue to take bets from the US market as they have responsibilities to their shareholders that would preclude them from taking the risks involved in defying the US legislation.
“I’m not actually aware of any private operators in the industry who are intending to change their business model at this time and that includes taking US bets. What will change, I think, is that public companies will either have to close down their US business, sell their US business or some other creative idea that people haven’t yet thought of,” Payne said.
Calvin Ayre, founder of Costa Rica-based Bodog.com, confirmed Payne\’s view: “We\’re confident that we\’ve structured our business in such a way that we\’ll have no problems adapting. If anything, the US legislation has validated our broad-based digital entertainment model and our decision to stay private.”
Calculators
