Newly streamlined operations helped gaming operator Entertainment Gaming Asia (EGT) post a seven-figure profit in the second quarter of 2015.

The Nasdaq-listed EGT’s revenue in the three months ending June 30 rose 54% to $7.6m while earnings rose 57% to $3.3m and net income hit $1.5m compared to a $22k loss in the same period last year. It should be noted that Q2 2014 was negatively affected by the loss-making sale of EGT’s underperforming Cambodian casino Dreamworld Pailin last June.

Most of this quarter’s revenue uptick came courtesy of EGT’s gaming products division, which reported sales of $2.7m compared to just $524k in Q2 2014, thanks to significant reorders of casino chips and plaques from existing customers.

EGT is majority owned by Hong Kong’s Melco International Development, whose boss Lawrence Ho is CEO of casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment, which struck a $4.9m products deal with EGT last December. In April, EGT struck a $1.29m products deal with Ho’s in-development Tigre de Cristal casino project in Primorye, Russia, which is set to opens its first phase on Aug. 28.

Spain’s regulated online gambling market contracted in Q2 as all verticals except casino suffered revenue declines.

According to figures released by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), Spanish-licensed online gambling operator revenue fell 6.3% year-on-year to €66.7m in the three months ending June 30 despite a 29% gain in gambling turnover.

The dominant sports betting vertical saw stakes rise 51% to €1.01b but punter-friendly results pushed sports revenue down 2.3% to €31.1m. Pre-match wagering revenue was down 3.8% and its share of the total sports pie fell to 25.3%. Live betting’s share rose to 71.7% (€22.3m) while horseracing contributed a mere 2.7%.

Poker’s popularity continued to erode, with revenue down 6.6% to €14.4m. While tournament revenue improved 35% to €7.1m, cash games fell 28% to €7.3m. Bingo mirrored poker’s decline, falling to €1.85m while the ‘contests’ segment fell 11.7% to just €800k.

Antigua’s contentious online gambling trade dispute with the United States has taken a more cordial turn following meetings in Washington between the two nations’ trade representatives.

Late last month, Antigua’s Minister of International Trade and Foreign Affairs Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez traveled to Washington to meet with the US Trade Representative (USTR) in a bid to resolve the 12-year-old standoff over the US refusal to grant Antigua’s licensed online gambling operators access to the US market.

Following Fernandez’s meeting with Assistant USTR for the Western Hemisphere John Melle, the two parties issued a joint statement calling their discussion “productive and useful for the exploration of various elements that could ultimately bring closure to the matter.” Both governments have now vowed to continue their talks “at an early date with a view to reaching a final settlement … as expeditiously as possible.”

While slight on details, considering the acrimony that has surrounded this dispute, this is roughly on par with Sheldon Adelson publicly hugging Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khameini. Okay, not quite, but you get the picture.

UK bookmaker Ladbrokes reported a sizable drop in H1 profit on poor sporting results, higher taxes and continued underperformance by its lagging digital division.

Excluding exceptional items and its high-rollers business, Lads’ revenue nudged up 1.3% to £585.4m in the six months ending June 30, but operating profit fell 31.5% to £38.9m and profit after tax fell 44% to £22.2m. On a statutory basis, Lad’s reported a £41.4m after-tax loss vs. a £23.7m profit in the same period last year.

Lads CEO Jim Mullen, who accelerated a company-wide review in April following the firm’s disappointing Q1 numbers, said the H1 results “clearly show why we need to change and why we need to do so quickly.”

Overall online revenue fell 6.7% to £84.6m and the division reported an £11m loss in H1, compared with a £6.2m profit in H1 2014. Lads says the UK’s new 15% online point-of-consumption tax (POCT) cost the company £12.6m in H1.

International Game Technology Plc (IGT) has posted a double-digit revenue growth for the second quarter ending June 30th.

The newly formed IGT Plc. has reported a consolidated revenue increase of 36% to $1.29b from $945.32m in the same quarter last year.

IGT was created by the $6.4b merger in April of Nevada-based slot machine maker International Game Technology and Italy-based lottery specialist GTech SpA. The new entity is now listed as IGT on the New York Stock Exchange.

However, IGT has also reported a net loss attributable to IGT of $117m compared to net income of $55.17m in Q2 2014. The company expects to realize $230m in cost synergies by April 2018, and to achieve two-thirds of targeted savings on an annualized basis by April 2016.