UPDATE 2-Sportingbet eyes World Cup turnover boost

* Q2 net gaming revenue 52.6 million sterling vs 43 million

* Q2 adj opg profit 11.2 million sterling vs 10.4 million

* Talks with U.S. DoJ ongoing

* Shares up 1.6 percent

(Adds CEO comments, shares, analyst)

By Victoria Bryan

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British online gaming firm Sportingbet is looking forward to a boost in turnover from this year's soccer World Cup after reporting a 7 percent rise in second-quarter profit.

"It will help the turnover but I'll be surprised if the profit gets a particular boost," Chief Executive Andrew McIver told Reuters.

"Bookmakers don't tend to make a lot of money on things like the World Cup because there's not many teams and the predictable ones tend to be there at the end," he said.

Sportingbet, which gets almost 90 percent of its bets from Europe, said it was pleased the second quarter ended Jan. 31 came in line despite the recessionary backdrop.

The firm reported adjusted operating profit of 11.2 million pounds ($16.7 million) and saw net gaming revenue rise 22.3 percent to 52.6 million pounds.

But margins dropped to 8.2 percent in February from the group's target of about 10 percent after a run of football results went against the firm despite more bets being placed.

"It was really down to more favourites winning in European football," McIver said, adding that 65 percent of all the bets takes in Europe are on football, with the percentage increasing every year.

McIver also said that consolidation was not a priority for Sportingbet unless the right deal came along.

Analysts are expecting a wave of M&A activity among online gaming groups this year amid talk of a possible merger between PartyGaming and Austria's bwin.

U.S. SETTLEMENT DRAGS

McIver said the firm had yet to reach a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over a resolution regarding its previous activities in the country.

"We suspect based on the resolution they had with PartyGaming that it will be some sort of financial penalty but certainly haven't discussed quantum or timing," he said.

The firm had not specifically set any funds aside to pay a possible fine but he highlighted that Sportingbet had net cash of 27 million pounds on its balance sheet.

KBC Peel Hunt said a settlement remained key to unlocking the value at the firm.

"With industry consolidation being a key attraction of the sector, it is difficult to see Sportingbet outperforming until it settles with the DoJ," KBC's Nick Batram said.

Shares in the firm, which is planning to move to the mian list of the London Stock Exchange, were up 1.6 percent at 64.5 pence at 1017 GMT.

McIver said the move was going more slowly than hoped but that Sportingbet would give the market an update on timing by April. (Editing by James Davey and Louise Heavens) ($1=.6713 Pound)