DigiPlus bets on Brazil online gambling market

DigiPlus Interactive Corp. plans to penetrate the Brazil market following a landmark legislation in the South American country legalizing online betting, paving the way for the listed firm’s expansion to the West.

Through subsidiary DigiPlus Brazil Interactive Ltda, the online bingo and lotto operator said it had filed for a federal license in Brazil that “allows operations of land-based and online sports betting, electronic games, live game studios and other fixed-odds betting activities”

This comes after the Brazilian government in December legalized fixed-odds betting related to sports events and online games. Fixed-odds is a form of gambling where players bet on the probability of a certain event happening, say the odds of a horse winning or losing in a race. If the expected outcome doesn’t happen, the bettor will lose the money wagered.

READ: Digital gaming boom boosts DigiPlus earnings

Currently, DigiPlus runs ArenaPlus, an online sports betting platform that livestreams local and international sports events.

DigiPlus said the new law showed that Brazil had an “enabling regulatory environment” for iGaming, or online gambling.

According to the company, the results of its application for the license would be released before the end of November.

“DigiPlus recognizes Brazil’s strong potential as one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in Latin America,” the company said in a stock exchange filing, adding that 87 percent of Brazil’s 200-million population had access to the internet.

It clarified, however, that the Philippines would remain its core market.

Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed that DigiPlus was the bourse’s seventh top gainer in the first semester, as its share price more than doubled to P16.86 by end-June versus P8 at the beginning of the year.

Its earnings in the January to June period surged by nearly fivefold to P5.2 billion from P1.1 billion a year ago, buoyed by its digital retail segment.

Revenues soared by 295 percent to P32.5 billion.

Apart from ArenaPlus, DigiPlus also operates 24/7 online bingo streaming platform BingoPlus. The other games it offers are Color Game, BingoPlus Poker and TongitsPlus. INQ