UK bookmakers Betfred swung to a net loss in its most recent fiscal year thanks to the double whammy of new taxes and lucky punters.

For the 52 weeks ending Sept. 27, 2015, the privately-held Betfred says it suffered an operating loss of £76.7m, a far cry from the £31.5m profit in the 78 weeks ending Sept. 28, 2014. Earnings were down nearly half to £56.5m over the same period but up 7.5% on a like-for-like basis.

As with other UK online and retail betting operators, Betfred’s bottom line was done in by the introduction of the online point of consumption tax and the hike in retail Machine Games Duty. Betfred said the combo had trimmed an additional £16.3m off its annual earnings.

All told, Betfred suffered £87.3m worth of exceptional items, including a one-off goodwill impairment from the December 2014 closure of Betfred’s Australian site, which failed to gain traction in the country’s “overpopulated” online betting market.

Online sports betting technology provider Asian Logic could be one of the first companies to feel the impact of the Philippines’ president’s vow to stop online gambling.

If you’re just joining us, newly sworn-in President Rodrigo Duterte made waves last week when he used his first cabinet meeting to announce that “online gambling must stop.” In response, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) announced it was temporarily freezing the issuing of new online permits.

PAGCOR’s freeze caused a 22% fall in the shares of PhilWeb Corp, which operates a network of 268 PAGCOR-licensed eGames cafés that offer online casino, video poker and lottery games. On Monday, PhilWeb sought and was granted a three-day suspension of trading in its shares. The timing could not be worse for PhilWeb, whose contract with PAGCOR is set to expire on July 11.

Duterte’s anti-online statements stressed the harm that such activities have on local residents, and therefore do not appear to have been directed at the Asian-facing online gambling companies licensed by the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp under the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). By law, CEZA-licensed sites are prohibited from serving Philippine customers.

Online sports betting technology provider Asian Logic could be one of the first companies to feel the impact of the Philippines’ president’s vow to stop online gambling.

If you’re just joining us, newly sworn-in President Rodrigo Duterte made waves last week when he used his first cabinet meeting to announce that “online gambling must stop.” In response, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) announced it was temporarily freezing the issuing of new online permits.

PAGCOR’s freeze caused a 22% fall in the shares of PhilWeb Corp, which operates a network of 268 PAGCOR-licensed eGames cafés that offer online casino, video poker and lottery games. On Monday, PhilWeb sought and was granted a three-day suspension of trading in its shares. The timing could not be worse for PhilWeb, whose contract with PAGCOR is set to expire on July 11.

Duterte’s anti-online statements stressed the harm that such activities have on local residents, and therefore do not appear to have been directed at the Asian-facing online gambling companies licensed by the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp under the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). By law, CEZA-licensed sites are prohibited from serving Philippine customers.