ban on internet gambling is fading

[rla]

by TheHerald.Co.Uk

Shares in PartyGaming soared 10% yesterday as the prospect of a ban on internet gambling in the key market of the United States appeared to fade.

The online poker specialist was the best-performing stock in the FTSE-100 following news that some legislators in Washington were opposing attempts to crack down on web-based betting.

Bills introduced in Congress had proposed curbs on some forms of internet gambling and the use of credit cards to pay for online flutters.

They had threatened to cause major problems for firms like Partygaming, which see America as a crucial market.

However, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, proposed by Republican senator Bob Goodlatte came under fire from law-makers at a meeting of a subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Some Congressmen were concerned that the bill clamped down on some forms of betting while allowing others to continue.

With no date set for a further hearing for the bill, sector watchers said the odds of it making it onto the statute book had lengthened, in a development that would be welcomed by the likes of PartyGaming.
Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: "This has very positive ramifications for (PartyGaming) – estimates put 2004 overall industry revenues at over £5bn and this figure is expected to double by 2008. If confirmed, this news will further underline the phenomenal onward march of the industry. The shares remain extremely positively viewed by the market."

Concerns about the outlook for the US market helped prompt a sharp fall in Party Gaming's shares last September, three months after it completed a £4.6bn flotation.

Yesterday shares closed up 13p at 142.5p.