Betonsports Share Discussion Threads

[very quick] 28/11/2004 18:46

This has got stink and insider dealing written all over it

[very quick] 28/11/2004 18:46

See my post of 170-182: Said it was fishy and i was spot on. And EVOLUTION involved again now there is a surprise NOT????????????????????????????

[markycrispy] 28/11/2004 18:36

Article in The Mail on Sunday states the FSA are to investigate share sales of 200,000 the day before the profit warning. What a surprise someone was in the know. Hope it doesn't lead to a suspension!

[brownie69] 27/11/2004 12:41

Agreed gamma, but does the NAV include client funds?
Dont forget the founder had 50% of the initial floation funds. Then some more got turned into goodwill when they bought Millenium.

[brownie69] 26/11/2004 18:07

FYI; taken from the gambling911.com forum

BetonSports Business Model Finally Catching up to Them

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BetonSports business model finally catching up with them

Few people have a better insight into this company than I do. I've had a very close relationship with the folks here for years and even consulted with them during two summers to help them improve their online presence. During the summer of 2001 they had employed an entire department to oversee online marketing, an area where they lacked but not to the extent they do presently. In 2001 they were dominant in most of the major search engines.
BoS over the years has been most successful with print advertising and mailers. OSGA and Insiders has always provided the company with a brunt of its business. These two models were especially successful. I'm not sure how strong OSGA is today as they have very little internet dominance. Their success relied on piggy backing BoS advertising, something therx.com also took advantage of with some degree of success in 2001. Today I do not see OSGA in as much print.

Here is the problem I always felt would happen with BetonSports, albeit sooner than this year. BoS is excellent for this industry because they play an instrumental role in introducing the average square to online gambling through aggressive no holds barred advertising. Herein lies the problem, BoS online presence is NOT up to par with the competition and while I do believe they have some degree of success in retaining customers, this week's announcement of losses suggests that many of their customers eventually find their way to other betting firms providing much more user friendly web technology. BetonSports suffers from what I believe to be information overload. Most gamblers want quick and simple, easier navigation and have attention spans of knats. I have ADD and become highly intimidated by the BetonSports web site.

In order for BoS to succeed over the long haul, they must abolish their current online department, which I believe is 5 years behind the rest of the industry. SEO is virtually nonexistent at BetonSports. Review of the Bodog, Sports Interaction, MyBookie and Sportsbook.com internet models are pertinent for continued success.

While I agree with the Insider that offline branding is essential (and quite frankly BetonSports would not be where they are today without such branding), I personally feel at times he underestimates the power of the internet and its virtually untapped market.

We are guaranteed several million newly turned adults (age 17) each year who suddenly have the ability to use a credit card and will be exposed to more adult-oriented sites like online gambling. Better yet we are guaranteed several million individuals who have graduated from school, now hold successful jobs and have the ability to dabble a bit in online gambling. This is in addition to those who are older than 25 and are just becoming accustomed to the World Wide Web and online gambling as a result of finally learning how to use a computer or an increased population of world users in places such as China.

If BoS had more success over the internet, I seriously doubt we'd be reading about the significant losses of this past weekend. They'd still have losses but online gamblers would help to cushion the blow in my opinion. If I had to guess I would say BoS is 50/50 internet to phone and that would be a conservative estimate based on the number of employees they have.
One major online company (probably 90% online) which reports to us each week had what it termed its worst Sunday ever, but the losses were only 1/3 of what BetonSports experienced based on the public information that came out this past Tuesday.

Some of the most successful companies are those that focus almost exclusively on internet marketing (i.e. Sports Interaction). By branding through other mediums as BoS, Bodog, Sportsbook.com, PartyPoker etc... all do, this helps prop these companies up another notch, I agree here. But without a significant online presence, a company like BetonSports will watch its competition pass them on by over time.

The founder of BetonSports has always grasped the importance of internet marketing but has never quite understood how to implement it.
Proof of what I am saying can be found at Google.com. Why when I type in Bet on Sports, BetonSports is nowhere to be found on the first page? Even when I type in the term as a single word "BetonSports" only the company's UK site pops up in the number one spot. I can type in Sport bet as two words and the company Sportbet will at least appear in the number two slot. BetonSports is fortunate enough to have a number one rank for the term "Bet on Sports" at Yahoo.com.

With all of this said, it would be fool hearty to believe BetonSports is closing shop any time soon. This company is equipped to handle losses of the past weekend. Nonetheless, they should be in a much better position than what was suggested earlier in the week. The quoted numbers are staggering and unacceptable in my opinion regardless of how many favorites came through and how poorly all other betting companies performed across the board.
BetonSports weaknesses in key areas including lines management and online marketing presence undercut its key strengths (primarily offline branding). BoS must address these weaknesses and put in place a game plan much more aggressive than what we read about this week.

I made reference to the fact that BIG does not always translate into profitable and I used American Airlines flirtation with bankruptcy as an example. The number two airline, United, is already in bankruptcy and in danger of liquidation. Many times companies become stronger once they've exited bankruptcy (KMart, Continental, etc..). It will be interesting to see if BoS can overcome current obstacles and I do believe we will see some management upheaval in the coming weeks. I'm thinking that is unavoidable.

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 17:03

bownie - without sounding rude, I suggest you do some basic research of your own. (They've got a pile of cash from selling some shares for example).

[brownie69] 26/11/2004 17:00

NAV 35p. What are the assets of an internet business? (Apart from clients funds...)
PE now higher than before, = worse value, especially as management ability has to be questioned after SBT's performance, including its US division.

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 16:24

Just sold out @ 90p.

Still like the share - and would stay in the party longer - but a little over 10 bags was always my target.

Good luck all.

[sparky333] 26/11/2004 15:47

Told u all £1 here we come

[blueblood] 26/11/2004 15:28

Bloody strange trading this. Delayed buy?

[blueblood] 26/11/2004 15:25

Well niti why are they right see my earlier post. I'm laughing if you believe anything that EVO say, seen their shares today hammered due to their inability to get anything right. Short EVO and make them pay!!!

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 15:06

Nitin

Quote
Miami steve's numbers are exactly right
End

How can they be 'exactly right' - they are one (EVO's?) analysts estimates. You want my 'exactly right' numbers ?

You are however correct - the market 'spoke' when it cut the price in half - lots of people said 'you're wrong' and bought (Me and the directors to name a few) others sold. Now we'll just have to sit back and see what happens (the market keeps talking).

[nitinshori] 26/11/2004 14:56

Miami steve's numbers are exactly right. It's worse value now. Market speaking???? What???? The company spoke when it said it was screwed. The market spoke when it cut the price in half. If it was just a short term problem, i wouldn't be so worried but no advertising means that they are screwed. I will continue to watch in case there is a change in US policy but otherwise, this is a short term bounce and holders should look to bail. There is nothing to support the rise in the medium term. I hope for you lot that i'm wrong. Break £1?? Maybe short term. But medium term, it'll test 80p again and fall through it.

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 14:15

Very Quick

Why is it fishy ? It's the market that put the price down to a level that they thought was cheap - why shouldn;t they be able to buy like the rest of us ??

[very quick] 26/11/2004 14:04

RNS chairman buys cheap shares at 80p after profits warning another one to fill the Xmas stocking. Very fishy if you ask me.

[very quick] 26/11/2004 14:01

Now thats funny; Profits warning/Shareprice drops over 50%/Then CEO buys shares at half price 79p. And like i said a few days ago this will be back at £1.60 before you know it. CEO makes a bundle. Thats one way of filling your Xmas stocking CEO. LOL?????????????????

[sparky333] 26/11/2004 13:59

more director buying

[dennyinv] 26/11/2004 13:52

steps and ladders anyone? cheerio.

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 13:42

Little more insider buying.

[blueblood] 26/11/2004 13:21

Price ticks up on sells is a big order being filled?

[sparky333] 26/11/2004 13:10

further to go yet chaps

it was way over sold compared to the Institution bailing out. The MM's expected a massive raft of selling and wanted cheap stock, they did not get the selling pressure the opposite in fact thus it will be walked back up until the selling intensifies - seen it time and time again on profit warnings.

The key will be £1 and whether we can break it

my 10,000 shares at 79.25 are looking good

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 13:00

90p to Buy ??

Is the market speaking ?

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 12:56

tick tick tick...85 bid now.

lucky someone who bought 100k shares on Wednesday :)

[gammabod] 26/11/2004 12:37

Certainly no overt selling Sparky - but MM's very reluctant to bid yet given their recent 'order' to sell. I would expect the bid to improve slowly over the afternoon (nothing to get excited about - but just a bit more confidence coming back).

[sparky333] 26/11/2004 12:34

where is all the selling pressure ? Oh i see none at all.

Back to over £1 today possibly