Blackjack Fueling Revenue Growth at PartyGaming
PartyGaming Plc (PRTY.L) delivered a trading update Thursday to reveal some of the great results it has experienced in the last two months. PartyPoker.com has performed strongly in the first two months of the fourth quarter, achieving an average daily gross poker revenue of US$2.67 million, which is 14 percent higher than that achieved in the third quarter and 32 percent higher than that achieved over the same period in 2004. The average number of new-player sign-ups, 2,455, was in line with expectations, and the company expects to hit its target of 800,000 real-money poker sign-ups for the full year. The number of unique active players increased from 443,000 in September to 487,000 in November.
The company also revealed that the introduction of blackjack, side bets, and a common purse to the PartyPoker platform on Oct. 8 has led to 40 percent of its poker players playing both poker and blackjack. Although this has reduced the poker revenue generated by these players, the overall revenue generated by the players during the period has increased substantially. Gross revenue for PartyGaming's casino division has ranged between $0.8 million and $1.2 million per day, which is between five and seven times higher than the average for the third quarter.
"PartyGaming is delivering on the strategy set out at the time of our IPO, and we are delighted with the results from cross-selling one of our casino products to our large customer base,"
CEO Richard Segal explained. "We are looking forward to raising the stakes again with the launch of our fully integrated, Party-branded platform and the addition of the first of our new games in the first half of 2006."
Shares rose 19p (16.5 percent) on Thursday to 136p, giving the company a valuation of £5.4 billion. As usual, PartyGaming's results similarly affected other I-gaming stocks. 888 Holdings Plc (888.L) shares rose 6.7 percent to 190p, Sportingbet Plc (SBT.L) rose 3.3 percent to 365p and Empire Online (EOL.L) rose 4.3 percent to 72p.
888 Could Be Bound for FTSE 250
With shares trading as high as 194p on the London Stock Exchange on Monday, 888 Holdings Plc (888.L) has experienced a more than 35 percent increase in its share price over the last three weeks. Shares floated at 175p on Sept. 29, but traded below the IPO price for two months before finally climbing rapidly. If 888's shares close high enough on Thursday, the company could be admitted to the FTSE 250, the London Stock Exchange's second most important index after the FTSE 100. Online poker giant PartyGaming was admitted to the FTSE 100 on Sept. 19, and British bookmaker William Hill was removed from the index last week.
BetandWin and Ongame Enter Acquisition Talks
Austria-based online gambling operator BetandWin.com Interactive Entertainment AG (BWIN.VI) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Swedish I-gaming software developer and operator of PokerRoom.com, Ongame e-solutions AB, over the prospect of acquiring it. Because talks are now in a preliminary phase, neither company wishes to disclose an asking price to the public, but expectations are that the figure could be around €500 million (US$590 million). Ongame is one of the many companies in the I-gaming space that has been planning a float on the London Stock Exchange in 2006. In 2004 Ongame reported $52 million in revenue with a pretax profit of $40 million. Betandwin recorded $891 million in turnover, $114 million in gross gaming revenues, $10 million in EBITDA and $1.7 million in profit before taxes during the first nine months of 2005. BetandWin is advised by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein on various aspects of the potential transaction, while Ongame is advised by HSBC Bank Plc.
Scandinavian Broadcaster Beefs up Interest in I-gaming Firm
Scandinavian television broadcasting company, the Modern Times Group AB, has spent €8 million to increase its holding in Nordic Betting Ltd., from 51 percent to 90 percent. Nordic Betting owns online gaming firm Bet24.com. Modern Times first began acquiring interest in Nordic Betting in April of 2004, at which point the company indicated that it planned to develop a major presence in the Scandinavian market by utilizing its own branding, Internet retailing presence and extensive TV sports rights.
Weak Sports Book Performance Hurts Rank
Rank Group Plc (RNK.L) has issue a trading update to reveal that higher operating costs and weak sports book margins will cause it to report slightly lower yearly profits than last year. Blue Square's performance has stabilized after a weak first half but sports betting win margins remain down on the year. Blue Square is, however, generating strong customer and volume growth in online gaming from casino, poker and bingo products.
Reporting
Gaming Corporation Plc (GMC.L), owner and operator of gambling portals Gambling.com and Casino.co.uk, has reported a maiden profit for the full-year ended September 2005. The group's maiden profit before tax and exceptional items reached £700,000, compared to a loss of £300,000 in 2004, while turnover increased 46 percent to £19 million and gross profit rose 200 percent to £2.7 million. The 12-month report covers a period in which Gaming Corporation acquired Gambling.com, raised £9.5 million through an institutional placement, launched a real money mobile gambling portal with Orange UK and launched portal sites findpoker.com and skillgaming.co.uk.
Gaming Corporation Plc - Annual Report