The Australian betting company announced a total turnover of $343m and a profit after tax of $1.9m for the first half of the year, compared to a loss of $2.0m the same period last year.
Total gross margin was up 42 per cent to $12.6m, while the sportsbook margin benefited from the adoption of policies favouring smaller recreational players and grew at 4.13%, up from 2.47% the same period last year.
Betcorp said the group had made “substantial positive progress” in the first half of 2005 and the result was comfortably ahead of internal forecasts and reflected a re-positioning strategy undertaken over the past year.
The integration of Antigua-based Sinsational Intertainment, acquired in January 2005, had paid immediate dividends, particularly in the casino and poker area, while the migration of all the group\’s products to a single operating platform contributed to an 18 per cent reduction of operating expenses to $7.9m.
The company appointed KBC Peel Hunt as adviser on a possible listing on the London Stock Exchange, which has recently become the leading market for online gambling companies, attracting substantial institutional investments.
“In planning the future expansion of Betcorp, the board is considering whether it is in the shareholders interests for the company to access that market by a dual listing or other means,” the company said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Betcorp, which has a market capitalization of less than 20 million, may use a London listing to raise funds for expansion.
The float is expected at the end of this year. Some analysts suggested Betcorp could eventually drop its Australian listing altogether.
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