Internet sports betting outfit Sportingbet has bought the fixed odds business of spread-betting firm Sporting Index for £4.5m. It is buying Sporting Odds - a pure internet-based sports-betting vehicle focused on the UK market - for shares and a £2.5m loan note. In the year to May, Sporting Odds posted sales of £38m. It has over 65,000 registered customers. Sportingbet also cheered followers with a move into profit in the year to March, as sales rocketed from £324.7m to £991.5m. Sportingbet made £5m pre-tax, after charging for goodwill and exceptional costs. Impressively, its number of customers leapt from 90,065 to 558,587. The board says the World Cup is boosting that figure. Acquisitions during the year included Australia's largest private bookmaker, The Number One Betting Shop, and US internet bookie Sportsbook. Under pressure in 2002, the shares have traded as high as 167.5p and as low as 73p over the past year. This business looks to be on the right track.