Interim figures from Sportingbet.com, the on-line gambling concern, were very strong but affected by the US terrorist outrages. For the six months to end-September, sales leapt from £114.1m to £293.2m and pre-tax losses were trimmed from £4.2m to £1.63m. Sales were boosted by the acquisition of US-based internet sports bookmaker 'Sportsbook' for £35.9m, which made a two month contribution to turnover, and boosted the proportion of North American customers from 48% at end-June to 84%. Events in Manhattan culled operating profits by £1.2m because sport was postponed for nine days in the United States. Encouragingly however, directors said that by the middle of October, US trading had recovered to levels higher than immediately before the tragic events. Going forward, investors can expect a strong third quarter, which chairman Peter Dicks describes as 'the busiest trading quarter for the company'.