Chinese lottery specialist Betex says mobile lottery contracts, scratch card deals and other moves bode well for 2007.

AIM-quoted Betex, chaired by its well-connected Hong Kong-based founder Johnny Hon, is putting £4.7 million into a pioneering deal with the province of Hebei to co-manage gambling-mad China's first scratchcard lottery. The lottery is expected to be launched next month and Betex will receive a hefty four per cent of all ticket sales, which Hebei lottery officials estimate will reach the equivalent of £14 million this year.

Chief executive Peter Greenhill points out that Betex persuaded the Chinese authorities to relax the ban on 'single match' football betting, much the most popular form of betting in China with an estimated £38 billion annually wagered but hitherto illegal and allegedly controlled by shady Taiwanese bookmakers. In October Betex was allowed to launch single match betting at its shops in Beijing and two other cities and, says Greenhill, turnover at these outlets has since then soared 480 per cent.

Mobile lotteries and other co-management deals are among further developments which the company 's fans suggest will make this a good year and potentially transform its financial performance after losses of £2.5 million in the six months to last June and recently took a hit on mis-pricing one of its products – a slip which Greenhill insists was put right immediately.

He is equally adamant Betex has and wants nothing to do with online gaming in the USA or with US citizens. At 37.5p, down 0.25p today, the shares have worse than halved since their April peak of 81p and could be due a rally at some stage.

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