Latest casino news mostly good

April was a busy month for online casino news, with many of our best known online casino operators featuring in the financial pages for various reasons. 888 Holdings announced earnings increasing for 2011 from $28.6 million to $55.6 million, plus an increase in daily revenues for the first quarter of the current financial year of 2% over the previous quarter. As previously reported in these pages, 888 are also well placed to benefit from any expected relaxation of the online gambling laws in America following their agreement with Caesars of Las Vegas. Meanwhile Betfair have also been on the receiving end of good news with the award of an online gambling licence by the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, leading to a significant increase in their share price in the hope of additional business in this part of Europe. Another of our online casino operators, Bwin Party are also expected to secure a similar licence in the near future, and will also be anticipating the opportunity to gain significant new business for their online casino operations in Germany. Then we come to news concerning one of the biggest names in the Irish online casino sector, namely Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes are in the process of what their chief executive Richard Glynn calls dragging the company into the 21^st century, and have been forced to invest £50 million in new technology in each of the last two years, but there are signs of progress in parts of the business. Their online sports betting arm reported a 22.4% increase in revenue during the first quarter, and their betting shops also made gains, due in part to bookie friendly results at Cheltenham and the Grand National, but also based on good results from their high street slot machines. There is a long way to go for Ladbrokes, but April has generally been a good casino news month for our online casino businesses, and we look forward to a bright future for all our favourite online gambling operators.