Latest Zynga results a bit like the Curate’s egg

The San Francisco-based social gaming developer and operator Zynga reported results on Wednesday that were a bit like the Curate’s egg – good in parts.

The company reported less than stellar fourth quarter results but a more encouraging full year performance, highlighting:

* Q4 revenue down 3 percent y-o-y at $186 million, with game revenue 4 percent lower at $129.5 million, and advertising 2 percent down at$56.3m;

* Net fourth quarter loss of $46.9 million;

* For the full year, revenue rose just under 11 percent year-on-year to $764.7 million, with game revenue taking a 10 percent y-o-y upward trend to $590.7 million, and advertising bringing in a 14 percent improvement in revenue to $174 million.

* However the FY numbers still show a net loss of $117.8 million, albeit considerable reduced from the $226 million decline that Zynga suffered in the preceding year.

* In-game sales remained flat at $182 million in Q4 and $700 million over the full year for the year, although Zynga’s continued switch to a mobile focus was rewarded with a 35 percent rise over the full year at the expense of traditional web numbers, which declines 32 percent. Mobile delivered 73 percent of all bookings in the fourth quarter, a 13 percent y-o-y increase.

* Daily active users were 24 percent lower, and monthly active users were similarly down 30 percent in Q4, which will be of concern to Management, although spend per daily average user were 30 percent up year-on-year, and there was a 7 percent improvement in conversion rates;

* Slots were the star performers in the company’s social gaming offering, recording an impressive 78 percent year-on-year rise in the fourth quarter to reach record levels for the company;

* Poker fared less well but there was a 15 percent improvement in mobile activity and the vertical continued to contribute to the bottom line.

* Social casino operations feature prominently in Zynga’s forward planning, with forty percent of the new titles scheduled for this year in this category. These include Spin It Rich, Willy Wonka Slots, True Vegas and Vegas Diamond Slots;

Zynga took the opportunity of its quarterly results release to announce nthe acquisition of California-based free-to-play game developer Zindagi Games for an undisclosed sum.

Zindagi is currently operating games like Yummy Gummy and Crazy Kitchen, matching games that would easily fit into Zynga’s catalogue of “casual” offerings.

The acquisition fits within the core verticals frame delineated last year by Zynga boss Mark Pincus – racing, invest and express, action strategy, social casino and casual.

While Zindagi is currently best known for creating “casual” match-3 games, it has a history of contributing to a variety of projects, including work with Sony to develop the PlayStation Move motion controller and PlayStation Move games like Sports Champions and Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest.

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