888 Better numbers in gambling group’s latest trading update
Thursday July 21,2011 : Better numbers in gambling group's latest trading update
888 Holdings investors will feel a little happier at the current trading update for the company, which show more promising second quarter results.
Financial highlights include:
• Group revenue US$79 million (Q2 2010: US$61 million), an increase of 29 percent year-on-year and a 4 percent increase compared to the strong Q1 2011 driven primarily by strong Casino and Poker performance
• Revenue B2C US$66 million (Q2 2010: US$52 million), an increase of 29 percent year-on-year and a 3 percent increase compared to Q1 2011
• Revenue B2C Casino US$36 million (Q2 2010: US$27 million), an increase of 34 percent
• Revenue B2C Poker US$13 million (Q2 2010: US$8 million), a marked increase of 58 percent due to the success of the Poker 6 platform
• Revenue B2B US$12 million (Q2 2010: US$10 million), an increase of 28 percent year-on-year and an 11 percent increase compared to Q1 2011
• Group revenue in H1 2011 at US$154 million (H1 2010: US$130 million), an increase of 18 percent
• Number of active customers B2C Casino and Poker at 342,000 (Q2 2010: 167,000), a 105 percent increase compared to Q2 2010 driven by both Casino and Poker
• Number of active customers B2C Casino at 159,000, an increase of 134 percent compared to Q2 2010
• Number of active customers B2C Poker at 231,000, an increase of 90 percent compared to Q2 2010
• Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino and Poker customer was US$141, a 32 percent decrease compared to Q2 2010
• Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino customer was US$223, a 43 percent decrease compared to Q2 2010, a result of significant expansion in new customer recruitment coupled with a significant, but slower, revenue increase
• Quarterly revenue B2C per active Poker customer was US$55 a 17 percent decrease compared to Q2 2010
• As at 30 June 2011, 888 had 9.6 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 21 percent since 30 June 2010
• Revenue B2C Bingo at US$13 million (Q2 2010: US$13 million), an increase of 6 percent
• Strong current trading continues into the third quarter, Management reports.
Operational highlights during the quarter included:
• Successful launch in Italy of 888.it and a B2B partner following certification of 888 products with the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), the Italian regulatory authority
• Further improvements to award-winning Poker platform, including the introduction of Pokercam and team play
Brian Mattingley, 888.com's deputy chairman said: “This quarter has seen strong performance in B2C for 888 especially in Poker and Casino. We have been focused as ever on our goals – further bolstering our B2C performance and leveraging our industry-leading offerings, while maintaining our Dragonfish brand presence and B2B deal pipeline.
"Whilst the excellent figures reported today give the Board confidence of future growth, H2 will be impacted by our need to invest in regulating markets as these open up for us. However, despite the second half including the seasonally weaker summer trading period, and after taking account of the increased cost of investment we are confident, given the strength of current trading, that the Company will report a financial performance for the full year to 31 December 2011 marginally ahead of current market expectations.”
Dragonfish B2B performance improved, with revenues of US$12 million (Q2 2010: US$10 million), an increase of 28 percent.
The company also gave H1 stats for the six months ended 30 June 2011:
• Total Operating Income up 18 percent to US$154 million (H1 2010: US$130 million)
• Total Operating Income B2C up 18 percent to US$131 million (H1 2010: US$110 million)
• Total Operating Income B2C Casino up 16 percent to US$69 million (H1 2010: US$59 million)
• Total Operating Income B2C Poker up 22 percent to US$24 million (H1 2010: US$20 million)
• Total Operating Income B2C Bingo up 17 percent to US$28 million (H1 2010: US$24 million)
• Total Operating Income B2C Emerging Offering up 28 percent to US$10 million (H1 2010: US$8 million)
Dragonfish:
• Total Operating Income B2B up 16 percent to US$23 million (H1 2010: US$20 million)
Management reported that the strong trading during Q2 has continued into July led by poker.
"Whilst the historical seasonally quiet period is beginning to impact activity levels, daily average revenue during the first 19 days of July is 27 per cent higher than Q3 2010 and is at an almost the same level as Q2 2011," a spokesman revealed.
In addition, during the same period daily average deposits increased by 10 percent and daily average poker new customer recruitment increased by more than 75 percent compared to Q2 2011.
As at 15th July 2011 the 888 group had US$64 million of cash and cash equivalents and US$40 million liabilities to customers.
