Retail

Norway state-run national gambling operator Norsk Tipping has confirmed that Chief Executive Torbjørn Almild is set to step down from his leadership position at the end of 2016. Norsk Tipping governance informed Norwegian business news sources that they had begun their search for Almild’s replacement. Almild steps down as CEO of Norsk Tipping a position he had held since 2009. …

Horseracing and the government has been warned that the current level of Horseracing Levy being paid by betting shops is unsustainable and will need to be lowered if the sport is going to thrive in betting shops. Speaking at the Association of British Bookmakers AGM in London yesterday, Paul Darling QC underlined the fact that betting shop operators are paying …

With the German state currently investigating regulatory procedures around sports betting, and with a potential overhaul on the cards, the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) President Mathias Dahms has welcomed the discussions. Back in October 2015 the state of Hesse presented five guidelines focused on reform and gambling regulation. Government officials will meet this week to discuss what must be done, in terms …

On Friday it was announced that Sky Bet has become the latest bookmaker to sign up as an authorised betting partner in association with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). This agreement, which was first reported by Racing Post, was speculated upon in recent weeks and comes just in time for Cheltenham Festival which begins on Tuesday of this week. Now its ABP …

Publishing its unaudited full-year results for 2015 (period ending 31 December), Eastern European gambling operator Fortuna Entertainment (Fortuna) has reported that Polish VAT charges have impacted company performance as Fortuna posted a flat adjusted EBITDA of €27 million (2014: €27.2 million). Despite recording no EBITDA growth, Fortuna governance detailed positives as the company saw top-line revenue and gross win growth …

Virtual games provider Vermantia has announced that it has entered the Dominican Republic betting and gaming market in partnership with local licensed operator Juancito Sport. The newly formed partnership, will see Juancito Sport integrate Vermantia CONNECT system, which will give the Dominican operator access to 12 Virtual Games made available throughout its retail betting network. The initial rollout includes Horse …

The feature race of the Cheltenham Open meeting is to be known as the BetVictor Gold Cup, after the firm took over the sponsorship lost by Paddy Power due to the authorised betting partner row. The race has been sponsored by Paddy Power since 2003, but the bookmaker has not signed up for ABP status and is therefore unable to …

Stories have been circulating in the tabloids that the Queen is in favour of a Leave vote in the forthcoming EU Referendum in June. Ladbrokes has responded to the rumours by offering odds of 100/1 that Queen Elizabeth will publicly announce her backing of the Boris Johnson fronted Leave campaign. Buckingham Palace also moved quickly to respond to the allegations, …

William Hall has reported that a fan in Leicester has decided to cash in on his bet for the Foxes to win the Premier League title to the tune of £29,788. The customer had placed a £20 each way bet after the first round of Premier League fixtures with odds of 2500/1. He stood to win £51,600 if Claudio Ranieri’s men can hold …

Alibaba Group, Asia’s biggest online retailer, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed lottery technology provider AGTech Holdings for HK 2.4 billion ($308 million). The deal which will be processed through Alibaba investment subsidiary, Ali Fortune Holdings will see the retailer enter the rapidly growing Chinese lottery sector. Issuing a public filing with the Hong Kong Stock …