AmResearch noted in a report yesterday that Genting had been “besieged” by a lot of rumours of late, relating to Genting International’s financial position. Investors have been concerned that the cost of Genting International’s integrated resort project in Singapore is on the rise. Additionally, its British operations have been affected by lower business volume, higher net bad debts written off and increased gaming duties.

According to AmResearch, however, as of May, Genting’s management had indicated there were no cost overruns for the Sentosa Island project and that it should be “comfortably financed” by borrowings of S$4.3bil and equity proceeds.

“We understand that Genting International bought forward some of its materials, like concrete and structural steel, more than 12 months ago,” it said.

Meanwhile, Genting International said the launch of CircusCasino was not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share of the company for the financial year ending Dec 31.

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“Being realistic, we're beginning a controlled opening up of online betting, which we have presented to the European Commission,” Woerth told reporters.

France has agreed a “controlled opening” of its gaming sector, which is composed of two monopolies — PMU for horse racing and Francaise des Jeux for lotteries.

But EU authorities are still waiting for detailed provisions before making a final decision on suspending legal proceedings. Woerth said the government would seek to preserve its share of revenues from the gambling sector, which he put at 5.3 billion euros ($8.27 billion), but he said there was no alternative to meeting EU demands.

“Proceedings against France for our monopoly as regards online betting have been open since June 2007. In these circumstances, either we dig in our heels or we change our position,” he said. He said a law would be presented in parliament after the summer break and a regulatory authority established by the beginning of next year. The first approvals should be issued in the second half of 2009.

“Regarding horse racing, only parimutuel betting will be allowed,” Woerth said, referring to the system in which the total sum bet on a race is placed in a pool and the final prize is not set until all bets are placed.

“For other forms of sports betting, we will hold discussions with leagues and federations. There, we will not have parimutuel betting but fixed odds betting,” he said, referring to a system in which the prize is agreed before bets are placed. . . We also want to open up casino games like poker but also roulette or black jack,” he said.

Woerth said licenses would require minors to be prevented from betting and would contain strong protection for gamblers given the risk of addiction, as well as restrictions on advertising and controls against money laundering. The European Union's top court, the European Court of Justice, has ruled that gaming firms registered in one EU state must be allowed to operate across the 27-nation bloc unless there is an overriding national public interest not to do so. Free movement of services is enshrined in the EU treaty, but Paris has refused to grant licenses to private operators, saying there was a need to protect consumers and stop online fraud.

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British bookie William Hill and Spanish gambling firm Codere plan to set up 70 sports betting shops across the Madrid area — the first of Spain's 17 regions to grant licenses — under the joint venture's Victoria brand. The Spanish betting market is expected to grow to 39 billion euros ($57.8 billion) by 2010, with the sports betting market set to hit 4.5 billion euros, according to MECN consultants.

“There is a huge demand everywhere,” said Victoria's Operations Manager John Hallahan. “It's an old cliche but the sky is the limit,” he added. Spaniards already spend an average of 670 euros each a year on betting, according to industry and government figures. Spain's state-run Christmas lottery, known as 'El Gordo' or 'The Fat One' is the world's biggest prize draw, dishing out 2.2 billion euros last December.

However, apart from a workplace sweepstake or an informal wager between friends, up to now Spaniards have had to go online to bet on sporting events, although the state-run lottery does offer a twice-weekly football pools game. Although Madrid's residents will be able to bet on social events and TV competitions like Pop Idol or Big Brother, authorities have banned wagers on religion or politics.

Madrid has granted a license to a joint venture between Britain's Ladbrokes and Spain's Cirsa, while Greece's Intralot were awarded one last week. Austrian firms bwin and Betbull also plan to launch a joint franchise and private-equity owned Gala Coral has been in talks with potential Spanish partners for the last six months.

Victoria's new shop, located above a Codere casino, gleams with chrome and glass and has comfortable sofas and a bar — a far cry from the stereotypical British bookie, offering plastic seats and a bank of screens showing the 3.45 from Kempton Park. Hallahan said Spain was “virgin territory” which offered bookies the chance to redefine betting shops as a more attractive destination for women.

“We are starting with a blank sheet… I would expect a healthy interest from women, who won't be deterred by a historical perception in the UK that betting is a male-only activity,” he said.

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