bwin's Preliminary Figures: First Nine Months 2010

Announcement by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG ("bwin")

Below is the text of an announcement issued today by bwin.

Preliminary figures for the first nine months of 2010

Friday, 22 October 2010

Preliminary figures for Q3 and first nine months of 2010

Highlights

Q3 2010

First nine months of 2010

Selected Key Figures

Pro-forma consolidated figures for bwin Group (incl. bwin e.K)

Highlights

Merger with PartyGaming proceeding as planned - Simon Duffy confirmed as Chairman-elect of the enlarged group on completion of the merger

Current trading reflects seasonal strength although sports betting margin is currently below Q3 2010

Q3 2010 (pro forma consolidated)

·; Gross gaming revenues: up 21.9% to EUR 123.1 million (Q3 2009: EUR 101.0 million) - Growth in all product segments except casino

·; Sports betting gross gaming revenues: up 22.5% to EUR 64.6 million (Q3 2009: EUR 52.7 million) due to expanded product portfolio coupled with turnover growth and rise in sports betting margin to 7.9% (Q3 2009: 7.1%)

·; Poker gross gaming revenues: up 43.5% to EUR 33.2 million due to acquisition of Gioco Digitale, addition of Betfair and successful market launch in France (Q3 2009: EUR 23.1 million)

·; Casino gross gaming revenues: down 9.8% to EUR 16.3 million due to termination of casino operations in France and Italy (Q3 2009: EUR 18.1 million)

·; Gross gaming revenues for games: up 28.4% to EUR 9.0 million due to successful portfolio expansion, especially bingo in Italy (Q3 2009: EUR 7.0 million)

·; 1.2 million active customers and 299,000 new active real money customers (Q3 2009: 1.1 million active and 258,000 new active real money customers)

First nine months of 2010 (pro forma consolidated)

·; Gross gaming revenues: up 22.2% to EUR 383.5 million (Q1-Q3 2009: EUR 313.7 million)

·; Sports betting gross gaming revenues: up 21.6% to EUR 194.2 million (Q1-Q3 2009: EUR 159.7 million) - sports betting margin of 7.5%

·; Poker gross gaming revenues: up 28.0% to EUR 103.9 million (Q1-Q3 2009: EUR 81.1 million)

·; Casino gross gaming revenues: up 3.3% to EUR 55.3 million (Q1-Q3 2009: EUR 53.5 million)

·; Gross gaming revenues for games: up 55.6% to EUR 30.2 million (Q1-Q3 2009: EUR 19.4 million)

·; 2.3 million active customers and 978,000 new active real money customers (Q1-Q3 2009: 1.9 million active and 804,000 new active real money customers)

Development of business in Q3 2010 (pro forma consolidated, unaudited)

bwin reported double-digit growth in gross gaming revenues in the segments sports betting, poker and games in Q3 2010. The third quarter was characterized by the final stages of the Soccer World Cup in July, and turnover in the sports betting segment benefited from a significantly expanded product portfolio, particularly with respect to live betting. A new video promotion page is proving popular with new customers, and the "country highlights" function is a further step in the personalization of bwin's betting services. The fact that the sports betting margin rose to 7.9% (Q3 2009: 7.1%) also contributed to the double-digit growth of gross gaming revenues in this segment.

Due to the acquisition of Gioco Digitale and the successful market launch in France, poker gross gaming revenues achieved the strongest growth of all product segments. Results were also boosted by Betfair, the world's biggest betting exchange, joining the Ongame poker network (a 100%-owned subsidiary of bwin) on 12 July. On a comparable basis, i.e. excluding Gioco Digitale, poker grew by 5.3% despite the fact that the international poker business is still affected by strong competition, particularly from poker providers continuing to offer real money gaming to US customers.

In compliance with regulatory requirements, the casino product portfolio on bwin.com was not available to French customers in Q3 2010, nor to Italian customers as in previous quarters. Technical issues also affected casino performance during Q3 2010. In a year-on-year comparison, bwin reported a 9.8% decrease for this segment, which was below management's expectations. It is expected that casino is one of the areas of synergy that will benefit from the planned merger with PartyGaming.

There is every chance that Italy will be issuing its first licenses for casino and poker cash games in Q1 2011, which the Directors believe will create attractive growth potential in these segments.

In a year-on-year comparison, the games business grew by 28.4% to EUR 9.0 million (Q3 2009: EUR 7.0 million). This was primarily attributable to the satisfactory development of bingo, which has been available on www.giocodigitale.it since the beginning of the year, and on www.bwin.it since 21 September 2010.

As far as active and new active customers were concerned, bwin reported growth of 14.1% and 15.6% respectively compared to Q3 2009. Strong growth rates for active customers were achieved especially in France. In the poker segment, the number of active customers in France rose by nearly 70% in Q3 2010 compared to Q3 2009. In relation to Q2 2010, the increase in active French poker customers was up by 82.4%, and in active sports betting customers by 50.4%. This meant that in Q3 2010 about 9% of bwin's active customers were from France (Q3 2009: 7%).

Seizing the opportunities from the wave of regulation in Europe

From the Company's point of view, in recent months the regulatory impetus has increased even further. Due to the latest judgments of the European Court of Justice (Germany, Austria), regulations already approved or planned in various countries of the European Union (Denmark, Greece, Spain, Poland, Belgium) may be given greater priority. In addition to this, further legal requirements have also been added in already regulated markets such as France and Italy. Even in Q3 2010, this necessitated increased expenses for consulting and legal costs. However, the Company believes that it must make preparations today in order to seize the opportunities for tomorrow arising from the anticipated wave of regulation in Europe. This has also resulted in heavier investment in software development. Over the next four to six months, management therefore predicts higher expenses in connection with increased regulatory requirements, which may subsequently lead to significant growth.

Current trading

Over the period 1-19 October of the current quarter, average daily gross gaming revenues were EUR 1.38 million, 3.1% up on the level of Q3 2010. However, due to a number of wins by favourites in soccer, the sports betting margin is currently lower than it was in Q3 2010.

Market guidance

In August 2010, as a consequence of the continued uncertainty in Italy regarding the introduction of cash poker and casino, the acceleration of regulatory developments in a number of European markets and also the proposed merger with PartyGaming, management no longer considered it appropriate to provide guidance to the market regarding bwin's anticipated outcome for 2010. There has been no change in this position and accordingly management will not be providing any profit guidance to the market and, for the avoidance of doubt, all previous profit guidance has been withdrawn.

Notes

This report contains statements about possible future developments that have been made on the basis of information currently available. These statements reflect the present opinion of the Executive Board with respect to such future events, and should not be taken as a guarantee of future performance, since they entail risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. For many different reasons, actual events or circumstances may differ significantly from the assumptions made for such statements.

This report contains the pro forma consolidated figures for the silent investment bwin e.K. and therefore differs from the consolidated financial statements. This has no impact on fundamental statements by the management on the development of the Company.

A report containing the preliminary figures for the third quarter of 2010 and details of the appointment of Simon Duffy as Supervisory Board Chairman of the new company can be found on the bwin investor relations website at www.bwin.org in PDF version.

Contacts

Press:Matthias Winkler, Chief Communications Officerbwin Interactive Entertainment AGBörsegasse 11, 1010 Vienna, AustriaTel.: +43 (0)50 858-20067Fax: +43 (0)50 858-16E-mail: [email protected]www.bwin.org