by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

Despite the tough economic climate in the world, the French betting company PMU continued its success in 2012 and for the 15th consecutive year the handle increased and reached a new record of 10.498 billion Euros or $13.75 billion.

That was up 2.5 percent compared to 2011.

PMU offers betting on horse racing as well as sports betting and it was especially the handle on sports betting which contributed to the growth in 2012. But there was an increase of 0.5 percent on horse racing alone.

The figures for betting just on horse racing were 9.8 billion Euros or $12.8 billion.