Online gambling group releases year end report

The publicly listed online gambling group 888 Holdings plc has released its annual financial report for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Financial highlights include:

* Revenue increased 26 percent to US$331.1 million (2010: US$262.1 million)

* B2C Revenue increased 28 percent to US$284.2 million (2010: US$221.7 million)

* B2B Revenue increased 16 percent to US$46.9 million (2010: US$40.4 million)

* EBITDA increased 94 percent to US$55.6 million (2010: US$28.6 million)

* EBITDA margin increase to 17 percent (2010: 11 percent)

* On 31 December 2011, 888 had 10.6 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 22 percent since 31 December 2010.

Operational highlights reported by management included:

* Appointment of Brian Mattingley as interim CEO

* Implementation of a refocused strategy – maximising revenues and expanding profit margins

* The successful launch of Poker 6; and the recent launch of Casino 50

* Successful launch in Italy

* Agreement with Caesars International Enterainment in the US – the first strand in a US-focused online strategy.

Breaking the numbers down, revenue sources looked like this:

* Casino up at $148 million (FY 2010: $116.9 million)
* Poker up at $60.6 million (FY 2010: $38.4 million)
* Bingo up at $54 million (FY 2010: $50.1 million)
* Emerging offering up at $21.6 million (FY 2010: $16.2 million)

Current trading has started out well in 2012; the first quarter of the year saw average daily revenues more than 2 percent above the strong Q4 2011 results, and average daily new customer recruitment is more than 15 percent up on Q4 2011.

Chief executive officer Brian Mattingley commented:

“I am delighted and proud to have officially taken the helm at 888. 2011 has been a phenomenal year for us, refocusing on our core product offer, and the success of our Poker 6 platform has delivered exceptional growth across all key metrics.

“We are more than ready to take advantage of liberalisation in the industry. We have a unique position in the US allowing the launch of a real money offering immediately once either federal or state based regulation is finalised and upon licensing by gaming authorities.

“The promising start of 2012 demonstrates healthy growth over and above the strong Q4 2011 and underpins our strategy and expectations for 2012.”