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SMART INVESTORS BUYING INTO, NOT OUT OF THE INDUSTRY
(196) (30-jul-06)
Leading brokers confident in long term for online gambling stocks
The BetonSports happenings in the USA may have increased volatility in online gambling stocks and shares in the UK, but the long term future of the business is still widely regarded as positive....and smart investors are buying in whilst stocks are still low.
British business publications reported towards the end of last week that earlier reports of disinvestment by major funds like Fidelity were both premature and inaccurate. Fidelity International is a major investor in UK-listed Internet gambling stocks, and although the US division no longer has any holdings in the sector, this did not apply to Fidelity in the UK, where it holds substantial interests, particularly in leading companies like Sportingbet and PartyGaming .Confirming the trend, funds managers at New Star are reported to be "...not overly concerned" and have taken the opportunity of weakness in the sector to buy more shares. Stephen Whittaker , manager of the New Star's UK Growth fund, and James Ridgewell, manager of the UK Special Situations fund, both have exposure to online gambling companies within their portfolios.
As of the end of June, UK Growth had 6.86 percent within the sector and the UK Special Situations had 6.36 percent. Both managers have Sportingbet, BetonSports, PartyGaming and 888.com within their portfolios.
A New Star spokesperson revealed that fund managers remained confident, saying: "....both fund managers have been buying more stock this week. To summarise, the current nervousness is continuing to create volatility in the market. Both managers remain confident in the sector for the long-term and have been adding to holdings on the current weakness."
Elsewhere, a senior executive at Easybets , which was taken over by BoS last year told eGaming Review that he would be happy to take Easybets back into private ownership should BetonSports cease to operate its US-focused website and de-list from the London Stock Exchange.
CEO Tim Lambe said there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the group and at the moment Easybets would keep operating and focusing on its core Asian markets. He added that he had not yet spoken to the BetonSports board and that it all depended on how the group would restructure following events over the past two weeks.
"`It all depends on how BetonSports want to treat the situation," he said. "If they were to dissociate themselves from the US and focus on Asia through Easybets and the other operators then that would be an option. Alternatively, there could be a takeover by another operator and Easybets would be incorporated into that or I would be happy to take it back into private ownership."
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