Online betting firm Bwin suffered a loss of nearly £2.5 million for the second quarter of this year as a result of mounting marketing costs.

The Austrian firm, which recently launched in France, had reported a 100,000 euro profit the previous year. The losses reported for the three months until June are a reflection of a 31 per cent hike in marketing costs even though the World Cup in South Africa boost revenues 33.7 per cent.

It said in a statement: "Measured in terms of sports betting gross gaming revenues, Bwin reported almost the same results for the 2010 World Cup as for the last two major soccer events combined, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008."

Bwin stressed that its planned merger with Partygaming was on track to complete early next year. Last month, Bwin and Partygaming revealed plans to merge, in a deal which would create the world's largest online gaming business.