Webis Regulatory News (WEB)

6 Jan 2005 14:10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6 January 2005 BETINTERNET.COM PLC ("betinternet" or the "Company") AGM STATEMENT At today's Annual General Meeting of betinternet, the Chairman, Mr Denham Eke,made the following statement regarding the Company's current trading position:Shareholders will be aware that since July 2004 the directors have undertaken amajor strategic review of betinternet's business. The results of that reviewwere announced in October and the fundraising to support the development of thebusiness was completed during December. The Company is now strongly placed toaccelerate the growth of its pari-mutuel business and, in addition, intends tocontinue to seek out further enhancements to the offering it provides to itssportsbook customers.As I indicated in my Chairman's Statement which accompanied the 2004 report andaccounts, the Company's pari-mutuel business has traded well ahead ofexpectation during the current financial year. We believe that we can buildupon this trend. In particular, our extensive range of host track contractsprovides non-US residents with unrivalled opportunities to wager on USthoroughbred and greyhound content and therefore participate in the improvedreturns now available due to the elimination of US withholding tax.To further enhance the attractiveness of our offering, I am delighted toannounce that, following the signing of contracts within the last few days, weare able once again to offer our customers the opportunity to wager on MagnaEntertainment product, to include major venues such as Gulfstream Park, Pimlicoand Santa Anita Park.The sportsbook operation will also benefit from the policy change, announcedrecently, by the Isle of Man Government to allow operators to accept wagersfrom the US, thus opening up the largest gaming market in the world to yourCompany.The policy of widening the sportsbook offering to include casino, poker andgames is proving to be successful. I am delighted to announce that in only thesecond week of operation and following a deliberate `soft-launch' the Company'sPlay Live Casino achieved a turnover in excess of $1.1m. The Play Football gamelaunched at the same time has had a similarly encouraging start.The Company will be announcing the interim results for the 26 weeks to 28November 2004 on 27 January 2005. The Board expects these results to show aconsiderable improvement in the sportsbook division when compared with thecomparable period in 2003. There will nevertheless still be an operating lossafter attributable overheads.Pari-mutuel activities will be consolidated for the first time in theforthcoming interim results, and the Board expects these to show continuingstrong levels of growth, with turnover more than doubled when compared with theprevious period.In looking towards the remainder of the financial year to 30 May 2005, theexpectations of the Board are that there are significant opportunities toexploit the wagering and technical services that the Company can provide fromits Isle of Man hub on a global basis. The Board considers that betinternet isuniquely placed to provide the link between the major track operators andcontent providers and the customers who wish to wager.Overall, the Board remains confident that the Company will achieve its goal ofbecoming one of the leading providers of online gaming technology. END For further information:betinternet.com plc Tel: 01624 629699Paul Doona, Managing DirectorWaughton Tel: 020 7796 9999Robin Hepburn/Sorrel DaviesWilliams de Broe Tel: 0113 243 1619Joanne LakeEND