Sport is made for betting

The rumours were all saying the company was primed for an October float but lacklustre results from recent flotations may push it back to 2011 or beyond. A study reported by The Financial Times has shown that more than half of the big "initial public offerings" in Europe this year had shares trading below their issue price, leaving investors sitting on a loss. Betfair to play waiting game over flotation (subscription) ) ( free link ) THE prospects of being able to buy shares in Betfair from as soon as next month appear to have taken a knock from the performance of other Stock Market listings in 2010. In the absence of a commitment from Betfair on its long-mooted Stock Market flotation at a value of as much as £1.5 billion, evidence from other firms appears to show the timing may be wrong. . . . Preparing for such a massive sea change in the company's ownership is not without its difficulties, but thoughts that October was the favoured month for a Betfair flo...

If the big guys had stopped moaning about Betfair and worried more about balancing their books by heading at better prices, the financial market would be shedding less tears... William Hill down on its luck Profits at the company dropped to £91.5m in the six months to 30 June, down from £111.1m a year earlier, due in part to a poor performance in horse racing. It admitted that trading has been disappointing this month, and claimed to have lost money on every major horse race in recent months, with the exception of the Grand National. Boohoo, only £91.5m profit.