Bad year for Bwin

The Austrian public company and major European gambling group Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG was being studied intently by analysts and market commentators this week after releasing a disappointing set of results that revealed a bigger than anticipated full year loss of Euro 539.6 million, compared to the previous year's profit of Euro 6.4 million.

Analysts attributed the loss to a Euro 515.1 million impairment charge on depreciation and goodwill. The consensus at Thomson First Call was a full year net loss of Euro 50.12 million. The depreciation element is referenced to Bwin's closure of its American business following the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and goodwill related to the acquisition of US unit BWIN Games.

By Thursday morning, Bwin shares were down just over 4 percent in reaction.

Commenting at the time of the passage of the UIGEA, the company estimated that restructuring costs associated with the closure of the US business would be around Euro 5.5 million. It later added it expected to make a non-cash charge for the write-off of assets with a net book value of Euro 534 million received as a result of the Games acquisition.