A good first quarter for 888

Online gambling group 888 Holdings plc issued its first quarter 2013 results and its interim management statement Tuesday, reporting another successful quarter and promising business prospects.

Q1 2013 Key Performance Indicators to the three months ended 31 March 2013 were:

* Group revenue reached a record US$103 million (Q1 2012: US$94 million), an increase of 9 percent year-on-year

* Revenue B2C of US$92 million (Q1 2012: US$83 million), an increase of 10 percent year-on-year

* Revenue B2C Casino US$48 million (Q1 2013: US$42 million), an increase of 13 percent year-on-year boosted by the launch of slots in Italy

* Revenue B2C Poker US$24 million (Q1 2012: US$21 million), an increase of 15 percent year-on-year driven by successful winter marketing campaigns

* Revenue B2C Emerging Offering US$8 million (Q1 2012: US$6 million), an increase of 27 percent year-on-year driven by stronger sport betting margins

* Number of active customers B2C Casino and Poker at 634,000 (Q1 2012: 566,000), a 12 percent increase year-on-year

* As at 31 March 2013, 888 had 13.8 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 23 percent since 31 March 2012

Brian Mattingley, CEO of the 888 group, said:

“These are a fantastic set of results across all key metrics. Our excellent product offering, supported by our constantly innovative marketing and CRM capabilities, has helped us to deliver consistent growth and has positioned us well to take advantage of positive regulatory developments.”

Breaking the results down, performance looked like this:

B2C

* Revenue B2C at US$92 million (Q1 2012: US$83 million), an increase of 10 percent

* Revenue B2C Casino at US$48 million (Q1 2012: US$42 million), an increase of 13 percent

* Revenue B2C Poker at US$24 million (Q1 2012: US$21 million), an increase of 15 percent

* Revenue B2C Bingo at US$12 million (Q1 2012: US$14 million), a decrease of 12 percent

* Revenue B2C Emerging Offering at US$8 million (Q1 2012: US$6 million), an increase of 27 percent

* Number of active customers B2C Casino and Poker at 634,000, an increase of 12 percent compared to Q1 2012

* Number of active customers B2C Casino at 236,000, an increase of 3 percent compared to Q1 2012

* Number of active customers B2C Poker at 474,000, an increase of 17 percent compared to Q1 2012

* Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino and Poker customer was US$113, a 1 percent increase compared to Q1 2012

* Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino customer was US$202, a 9 percent increase compared to Q1 2012

* Quarterly revenue B2C per active Poker customer was US$52 a 1 percent decrease compared to Q1 2012

Dragonfish B2B performance:

* Revenue B2B at US$11 million (Q1 2012: US$11 million), flat year-on-year

Management reported on current trading trends, revealing that the second quarter 2013 has started in line with expectations where trading reflects the historical seasonal pattern.

Daily average revenue during the first 20 days of April was more than 3 percent above April 2012, and performance continues to be led by core online casino and poker products, with increases in customer deposits, bets and first time depositors.

As at 19th April 2013 the 888 group had US$89 million of cash and cash equivalents and US$50 million liabilities to customers.