Bwin.Party turnaround under way

But the elephant in the casino is the ongoing takeover situation. 888 Holdings (888) made a formal offer for the company that was backed by Bwin's board in July. The prospectus was published on August 28, shortly after these results. But GVC Holdings (GVC) has expressed interest too, and on September 1 Bwin announced that 888 had reacted with a "revised proposal". The board is now considering both offers. Further news seems likely.

As for Bwin's operational progress, chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said the group had been "transformed" into a new structure whereby activities were grouped under 'labels' rather than broken down into products such as sports betting or casinos. He said this had removed duplication and helped up its exposure to regulated and taxed markets - now at 60 per cent of revenues, from 56 per cent in the comparable period.

Mobile phone or tablet apps have been another focus. The group said mobile or touch devices accounted for 37 per cent of gross gaming revenues in the period, up from 24 per cent. More than a third of new player registrations are also now coming through mobile devices, compared to 14 per cent in January 2014.

The bwin label - the group's largest revenue generator, including the bwin website and Gamebookers - was hit by the absence of a major football tournament, the implementation of VAT in some European countries and the UK's new Point of Consumption tax, yet adjusted cash profits still rose 14 per cent to €40.2m. Ironically, the only other business unit to register a rise in cash profits was the 'non core' division, thanks to strong performances from payment website Kalixa and financial derivatives company InterTrader.

Broker Peel Hunt expects pre-tax profits of €50.4m, leading to EPS of 5.4¢, compared to €51.3m and 5.3¢ in FY 2014.