Bingo Boss Predicts Upturn In Fortunes For 2009

Gaming executive expects better market conditions for bingo next year.

The new chief executive of Gala Coral believes that market conditions will begin to improve for the UK's bingo operators next year.

Although the firm's bingo business has struggled recently, with 13 of its clubs shut down since the introduction of the smoking ban, Dominic Harrison said the decline in bingo revenues is beginning to level off.

"We're predicting a modest increase in bingo next year," he told the Times.

Mr Harrison recently succeeded Neil Goulden as chief executive of Gala Coral, which runs 162 bingo venues and more than 1,500 betting shops in the UK.

Gala's bingo profits have suffered due to the smoking ban and legislation changes which reduced the number of high-jackpot gaming machines permitted in clubs.

The firm received a cash injection from its three private equity backers earlier this year in an attempt to stabilise the business and avoid a violation of banking covenants.