In preliminary figures announced today the Austrian online gaming company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG reports record gross and net gaming revenues in the last quarter of 2007, above the levels achieved before exiting the US and Turkish markets. In Financial Year 2007 bwin gross gaming revenue was up 21.4% to €350.5 million (US$545.6 million). The company reported 1.6 million active customers and nearly 800,000 new active real-money players.

Bwin International Ltd was established in 1999 and became a subsidiary of publicly listed Vienna-based bwin Interactive Entertainment AG in 2001. It holds a casino and sports betting licence from Gibraltar, a gaming jurisdiction recently ‘white listed’ by the UK government. However, Spain is now calling for Gibraltar to be black listed by international financial authorities for failing to cooperate in the fight against money laundering. Still under UK sovereignty, Gibraltar is the headquarters of major Internet gambling companies.

Last week the German Federal Court of Justice rejected the motion filed by bwin International requesting suspension of enforcement proceedings granted in judgement of a 2004 lawsuit brought by Westdeutsche Lotterie GmbH & Co OHG (Westlotto). The 2006 ruling in favour of Westlotto, preventing bwin from organising, brokering or advertising sports betting, casino and lottery games in Germany, is being appealed by bwin and a final judgement of the case is not expected for over a year.

In what has become a less than winning streak for bwin, the company has also suffered a setback in Argentina. A judge there has ordered the bwin Internet site in the country to be closed. The federal government assigns gaming licensing powers to provincial governments but the licence issued by Misiones to bwin Argentina SA is for online gambling, which goes beyond its mandate under Argentinean law. The Provincial Lottery and Casino Institute of Misiones and bwin local partners Grupo Bapra and Dinero Mail are all now under investigation to establish their levels of participation in the promotion of online betting.

On the positive side, bwin reports the industry’s strongest organic growth in Europe. Record sports betting revenue is up 19% in 2007 and poker revenue up 38.6%. According to bwin, the strong performance of its core business confirms the correctness of the company’s strategy of investing in proprietary poker and sports betting platforms to safeguard future earning potential, and of cautious regional diversification. Since the third quarter of 2007 bwin has also seen a rising trend for active and new active customers. The company is anticipating another record quarter. (E-03.20.08)

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