Online gaming operator Sportingbet has reported an annual loss of £312.9m but said its other operations were doing well and that it expected to grow in Europe. The firm said it will experiment with new markets, as part of an effort to offset the forced sale of its business in the US for $1.

Having posted a profit of £69.9m last year, Sportingbet reported a loss of £312.9m for the year ending July 31 2007. Its revenue fell 36 per cent to 1.32 billion pounds from £2.06bn. However, the firm said it was pleased with results from its continuing operations, where turnover was up 23.3 per cent at 1.1 billion pounds compared with £890m for the same period last year.

Sportingbet chief executive Andrew McIver commented: “Given the enormity of the change and restructuring that has taken place at Sportingbet, I am pleased to report a strong increase in gross win in the continuing business and especially pleased with the growth in our core European sports betting business of 48 per cent.”