Bwin.party sales inch up, bullish on Germany license

Bwin.party digital, the world's largest listed online gaming company, said first-quarter revenue edged up and that it expects to be offered a licence to offer online gambling in Germany soon.

The company, which was formed by the merger of Austria's Bwin and PartyGaming last year, on Wednesday said revenue rose 1 percent to 215.9 million euros ($275.8 million) in the three months to the end of March as growth in casino and gaming offset weakness at its poker and bingo businesses. It added that April trade was in line with last year.

The Gibraltar-based firm said it expects to be offered a licence to offer online gambling in Germany from the state of Schleswig Holstein.

The northern state, whose centre-right coalition government voted in favour of relaxing its gambling laws in September, said last week that it had awarded three licences valid to 2018 - one to Britain's Betfair for sports betting, one to Germany's Jaxx AG and one to the state lottery.

"Whilst the political situation remains unclear, we expect more licences to be issued by Schleswig-Holstein shortly and that we will also receive a licence," Bwin.party said.

In Spain, where the licensing process has been delayed following the change of government, operators have now been told to expect licences to be issued from the beginning of June 2012, it said.

Bwin.party last week prepared the ground for a possible relaxation of U.S. internet betting laws by signing a deal with a Native American tribe which operates gambling in California.

The company said the amounts wagered in sports betting rose 11 percent in the quarter to 1.08 billion euros but that margins were down on last year which was particularly strong.

"With the imminent launch of our download casino product on the bwin platform, the Euro 2012 football tournament starting next month and the integration of our poker liquidity in the second half, we remain confident about the group's full year prospects," the company said in a statement.

Gaming software group Playtech On Wednesday said the strong performance experienced in the first quarter had continued in the six weeks since the end of March.