On the latest survey, “Betting & Gaming Industry - Business Ratio Report” by Internet business research specialists Research and Markets.com compare compares the financial performance of the leading players in this industry sector, thus offering a quick and cost-effective competitor analysis tool for senior management. They use ratio as an important tool for comparing the performance of companies on a like-for-like basis. By using ratios, you can directly measure or compared with ease the profitability relation such as debt and growth levels of different sized companies. The study made by R&M focuses on the performance of key players in the industry, having closely analyzed the sector. They are also focusing on the 118 leading companies in the Betting and Gaming Industry and their performance for over three years up to 7th April 2008. It is being discovered that during this term, an average company has a 17.4 percent increase in turnover, with sales rising from GBP243.7 million in 2005/06 to GBP271.9 million in the middle analysis year, before peaking at GBP285.9 million in 2007/08. Pre-tax profits increase from GBP8.1 million in 2005/06 to GBP9.1 million in 2007/08, which resulted to an overall increase of 11.6 percent. This study as the authors claim helps to enable the companies in the online gambling space to identify the financial strengths and weaknesses of competitors in terms of profitability, liquidity, gearing, efficiency and employee performance, and benchmark their own business performance. This can also be an effective tool to identify the potential acquisitions using the Performance League Tables.

Thursday, a Swedish court sentenced gangster Rade Kotur, aka “Spelkungen,” or the Gambling King, to 14 years in prison. Kotur stands convicted of instigating a murder, illegal gambling and several other serious crimes.

Eleven others were also tried by the Gothenburg District Court in connection with Kotur’s activities. Among the nine convicted was Nenad Misovic, a 36-year-old already serving a life sentence for carrying out a murder at the gangster’s behest.

According to The Local, an online English-language source for Swedish news, prosecutors struggled to secure the convictions. Several witnesses, the news source said, went into hiding or left Sweden to avoid testifying.

Prosecutors said they would have preferred a life sentence for Kotur, who was arrested in England shortly after police raided 150 suspected gambling dens in November 2007. Initially Kotur was charged in connection with collecting 460 million kronor ($52.2 million) in untaxed revenue from nearly 600 illegal slot machines.

Sentences for the nine others convicted with Kotur ranged from two years in prison to community service. Two of those tried were acquitted.

Monday, Europarl announced that Members of European Parliament will debate a report that would leave regulating online gambling up to individual member states.

The report, prepared by Danish Socialist Christel Schaldemose, was adopted 32-10 by the Internal Market Committee after generating marked controversy. Some 400 amendments were tabled in Committee, with dissenting members maintaining a strong stance against several provisions after the vote.

Schaldemose’s report specifically stipulates the EU take a super-national stance against gambling addiction, personal data farming and match fixing. It also proposes banning credit transactions and setting age limits and includes an amendment by Dutch Liberal Toine Manders that would impose ceilings on the amount a person can gamble each month.

The report would leave other responsibilities, including taxing and policing online casinos and poker rooms, to national parliaments and would generally prevent regulation in line with other internal-market activities.

MEPs are expected to debate the report during the current plenary session.

A scheme to start up the online gambling market in France in 2010 to state-rival internet gambling companies is in the works by the country’s government, it was revealed this week. As said by France budget minister, the online gambling market is going to be open in 2010 and the authorities are going to being granting licenses to companies to run online gambling sites in France the same year, after the country’s coffers have suffered from the losses in the latest years from the state control on gambling. PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) is now the only authorized choice in France for gambling, both offline and online, providing more than $6 billion annual to the country’s finances. But force from the European Union for canceling sports betting and gambling domination in the Union has caused the conclusion to release the internet gambling market to other members. The plan indicates that betting companies with license to run lawful online gambling websites in France are going to pay tax of around 7.5% for sports betting and horse racing wagers and 2% for online poker rooms.