The parent company of online gambling brand Unibet set a new revenue record in the final quarter of 2016, which helped push full year revenue to its own new record high.

Figures released Tuesday by the Stockholm-listed Kindred Group show revenue hitting an all-time high of £152.8m in the three months ending December 31, 37% higher than Q4 2015 (+16% in constant currency). Earnings rose 48% to a record £38.9m and after-tax profit hit £29.4m despite betting duties rising 67% year-on-year.

For 2016 as a whole, revenue was up over 53% to £544m, while earnings gained a similar share to £123.7m and profit gained over 50% to £84m.

Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström said the results proved “the scalability of our business model and our ability to face and absorb the impact of regulatory changes.” Tjärnström said the momentum had carried forward into 2017, with average daily revenue to date up 36% from the same period last year.

Gaming regulators in the Netherlands have slapped yet another six-figure fine on an unauthorized online gambling operator.

On Tuesday, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory body announced that it had imposed a €170k fine on Trustfulgames, the operator behind the Malta-licensed Tiplix.com online betting site, for offering unauthorized online gambling services to Dutch residents.

The KSA initially determined that Tiplix.com was ripe for disciplinary action due to its offering a Dutch-language version of its website, although the site has evidently scrapped its Dutch-language option following the KSA’s investigation. Regardless, the site had clearly been pitching sports betting, slots and online casino games to Dutch punters without a Dutch license, so wham, bam, Amsterdam.

The KSA hasn’t been shy about cracking the whip on online operators deemed to be flouting Dutch gambling law, having tarred nine operators with its scarlet letter in 2016. Last December, the KSA streamlined its enforcement policies to allow it to proceed directly to the punitive stage rather than first issuing the offending company a written warning.

Swedish mobile gaming company LeoVegas is back in Ireland after securing a “remote operator license” for sports betting from the Irish Revenue Commissioners.

The Stockholm-listed company announced that it will soon relaunch its betting services within the regulated Irish market. LeoVegas currently serves the market with its mobile casino and expects to roll out its Kambi-powered sports betting offering in the near future.

“LeoVegas continues to grow in regulated markets,” LeoVegas co-founder and CEO Gustaf Hagman said in a statement. “The fact that we have in a short time been granted licences in two regulated markets shows that we are delivering in accordance with our expansion strategy. But it also shows that we have high capacity and quality in our organisation and in the work we do. I am convinced that our market-leading sport product will contribute to strong growth in Ireland.”

LeoVegas currently holds gaming licenses in the regulated markets of Malta, the United Kingdom, and more recently, Denmark.

The Chinese central bank’s crackdown on domestic bitcoin exchanges has claimed its first casualty.

Bitcoin company HaoBTC announced that it is shuttering its bitcoin exchange operation effective Feb. 15, while RMB deposits will close on Feb. 17. Any open orders by 14:00 local time on those dates will be canceled automatically, according to the company.

HaoBTC, a company known as a mining pool, started operating a bitcoin exchange in April 2016.

“Given the fact that the prospect of a regulatory policy for a bitcoin exchange isn’t clear yet and to ensure that the majority of users use our Wallet like always, after a reluctant deliberation, we have decided to remove the Exchange from our Wallet and to cease the RMB deposit,” the bitcoin company announced on its website.

The Chinese central bank’s crackdown on domestic bitcoin exchanges has claimed its first casualty.

Bitcoin company HaoBTC announced that it is shuttering its bitcoin exchange operation effective Feb. 15, while RMB deposits will close on Feb. 17. Any open orders by 14:00 local time on those dates will be canceled automatically, according to the company.

HaoBTC, a company known as a mining pool, started operating a bitcoin exchange in April 2016.

“Given the fact that the prospect of a regulatory policy for a bitcoin exchange isn’t clear yet and to ensure that the majority of users use our Wallet like always, after a reluctant deliberation, we have decided to remove the Exchange from our Wallet and to cease the RMB deposit,” the bitcoin company announced on its website.

There is no longer a legal impediment that will prevent billionaire investor Carl Icahn from selling the now shuttered Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.

The New Jersey Senate on Tuesday came too close in overriding Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a controversial legislation that will suspend for five years the gambling license of any New Jersey casino that “substantially closed” last year or in the future.

NJ.com reported that the Democratic-controlled Senate could only muster 24 of the 27 votes needed to overturn Christie’s veto on measure S2575. The 13 Republican senators were all united in opposing the override despite four of them voted in favor of the bill.

Republican Senators Jennifer Beck of Monmouth County, Christopher Connors of Ocean, Michael Doherty of Warren, and Jim Jim Holzapfel of Ocean joined the Democratic senators in enacting the bill that some lawmakers said would punish Icahn for closing the Trump Taj Mahal casino in 2016.

There is no longer a legal impediment that will prevent billionaire investor Carl Icahn from selling the now shuttered Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.

The New Jersey Senate on Tuesday came too close in overriding Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a controversial legislation that will suspend for five years the gambling license of any New Jersey casino that “substantially closed” last year or in the future.

NJ.com reported that the Democratic-controlled Senate could only muster 24 of the 27 votes needed to overturn Christie’s veto on measure S2575. The 13 Republican senators were all united in opposing the override despite four of them voted in favor of the bill.

Republican Senators Jennifer Beck of Monmouth County, Christopher Connors of Ocean, Michael Doherty of Warren, and Jim Jim Holzapfel of Ocean joined the Democratic senators in enacting the bill that some lawmakers said would punish Icahn for closing the Trump Taj Mahal casino in 2016.

Fitch Ratings has painted a rosy picture for the Philippine casino industry as it predicts the local market to see a high, single-digit revenue growth this year.

In its report “Eye in the Sky Series: Philippines,” the global debt watcher pointed out that the initial results of the first three casinos operating under the licenses granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) are “encouraging” relative to the investments made.

The growth of the Philippine gaming industry, however, will be restrained by a tough competition from other Asia-Pacific gambling hubs, according to Fitch.

“We expect high single-digit gross gaming revenues in 2017 driven by the opening of the $2.4-billion Okada Manila and the continued economic growth in the Philippines,” Fitch Ratings said. “Longer term, competition from Macau and other APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries will restrain growth (junket-sourced VIP business makes up about one-third of the private casinos’ gross gaming revenues),” the debt watcher added.

Fitch Ratings has painted a rosy picture for the Philippine casino industry as it predicts the local market to see a high, single-digit revenue growth this year.

In its report “Eye in the Sky Series: Philippines,” the global debt watcher pointed out that the initial results of the first three casinos operating under the licenses granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) are “encouraging” relative to the investments made.

The growth of the Philippine gaming industry, however, will be restrained by a tough competition from other Asia-Pacific gambling hubs, according to Fitch.

“We expect high single-digit gross gaming revenues in 2017 driven by the opening of the $2.4-billion Okada Manila and the continued economic growth in the Philippines,” Fitch Ratings said. “Longer term, competition from Macau and other APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries will restrain growth (junket-sourced VIP business makes up about one-third of the private casinos’ gross gaming revenues),” the debt watcher added.

Fitch Ratings has painted a rosy picture for the Philippine casino industry as it predicts the local market to see a high, single-digit revenue growth this year.

In its report “Eye in the Sky Series: Philippines,” the global debt watcher pointed out that the initial results of the first three casinos operating under the licenses granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) are “encouraging” relative to the investments made.

The growth of the Philippine gaming industry, however, will be restrained by a tough competition from other Asia-Pacific gambling hubs, according to Fitch.

“We expect high single-digit gross gaming revenues in 2017 driven by the opening of the $2.4-billion Okada Manila and the continued economic growth in the Philippines,” Fitch Ratings said. “Longer term, competition from Macau and other APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries will restrain growth (junket-sourced VIP business makes up about one-third of the private casinos’ gross gaming revenues),” the debt watcher added.

Fitch Ratings has painted a rosy picture for the Philippine casino industry as it predicts the local market to see a high, single-digit revenue growth this year.

In its report “Eye in the Sky Series: Philippines,” the global debt watcher pointed out that the initial results of the first three casinos operating under the licenses granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) are “encouraging” relative to the investments made.

The growth of the Philippine gaming industry, however, will be restrained by a tough competition from other Asia-Pacific gambling hubs, according to Fitch.

“We expect high single-digit gross gaming revenues in 2017 driven by the opening of the $2.4-billion Okada Manila and the continued economic growth in the Philippines,” Fitch Ratings said. “Longer term, competition from Macau and other APAC (Asia-Pacific) countries will restrain growth (junket-sourced VIP business makes up about one-third of the private casinos’ gross gaming revenues),” the debt watcher added.