888 Sees Boost From Poker
888.com, the publicly quoted, Gibraltar-based owner of Pacific Poker, has posted healthy third-quarter results, with poker earning net gaming revenue of $18.6 million, up from $15.7 million in the third quarter of 2006. The number of active players in casino and poker gaming was up to 168,105 between January and September this year from 132,995 in the same period last year.
The key performance indicators for the company include:
• Group net gaming revenue up 37 percent to $52.5 million (2006: $38.3 million)
• Net gaming revenue from casino and poker gaming up 24 percent to $47.6 million (2006: $38.3 million)
• Number of active customers in casino and poker gaming reached 209,811, an increase of 17 percent compared to 2006
As of Sept. 30, 2007, 888 had 4.4 million real-money registered member accounts in casino and poker, representing an increase of 32 percent since Sept. 30, 2006.
Commenting on this announcement, Chief Executive Officer Gigi Levi said: "We are very pleased with our results, which were achieved in what is typically the slowest quarter of the year. Net gaming revenue in the third quarter climbed 5 percent higher than the second quarter, with September being our best month since we withdrew from the U.S. Given the continued rollout of innovative product offering and our expansion in new geographic markets using innovative marketing, we are confident about our performance in 2007 and beyond."
Blue Square and 888 Team Up
888 recently announced that it has entered an agreement with Rank Group, Plc, owner of Blue Square, to develop a multinational sportsbook offering that complements 888's unified offering of casino, poker, bingo, and backgammon.
888 plans to launch across Europe in the first quarter of 2008, with localised sportsbook offerings being rolled out in several EU countries, including the UK , followed by a global rollout programme. 888 will cross-sell the sportsbook to its existing global customer base while leveraging its multichannel marketing engines to acquire new sportsbook customers.
Under the terms of the partnership, Blue Square will manage fixed-odds betting and sports content per region, working closely with 888's country managers on scope, timing, and form of the offering launch and life-cycle management. As part of the partnership, 888 will provide Blue Square with its payment processing platform as Blue Square takes its own sportsbook offering to new international markets.
Unpaid Bill Adds to Absolute Poker Woes
Around 100 newspapers were recently sent a statement by Publicity Guaranteed, a U.S. marketing firm claiming the company is owed $43,000 by Absolute Poker, according to a news report in
The New York Times.
Absolute Poker, based in Costa Rica, has been rocked recently by allegations of high-level, internal cheating at its online poker site.
The newspaper reports that Publicity Guaranteed charges clients for only each article it successfully pitches, and in 2005 and 2006, it got coverage regarding Absolute in more than 40 newspapers, including
USA Today and
The New York Times.
Absolute Poker paid a first installment of $37,000 but did not pay for the rest, according to the report.
The New York Times contacted Absolute Poker and spoke with executive Paul Leggett, who said he would call the reporter back, but never did.
The paper quoted Nat Kurok, a senior vice president at Publicity Guaranteed: "We're just saying we're someone else that got shortchanged by Absolute Poker, and this should be public knowledge."
World Poker Tour Revenues Down
Third-quarter 2007 revenues for World Poker Tour Enterprises were $4.4 million, compared to $5.9 million in the same period of 2006. The company said the decrease was mainly a result of fewer domestic television episodes delivered in the 2007 period.
The company recorded a net loss for the quarter of $2.2 million, or 11 cents per share, compared to net earnings of $2.7 million, or 13 cents per share, in the comparative 2006 period.
President and CEO of WPT Enterprises Steve Lipscomb said of the results, "The third quarter represented continued progress for WPT Enterprises. We reached exciting new milestones, including the addition of an online casino offering on our online gaming site, WorldPokerTour.com, and kicked off the inaugural season of the
WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour.
"Just a few weeks ago, we strengthened our management team with the hiring of Andy Goetsch and Rohin Malhotra. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2007 and into 2008, we are well-positioned and confident in our ability to successfully execute our strategic plan."
Domestic television license fee revenues fell to $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2007, from $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2006. The decline was primarily the result of not delivering any episodes of the
Professional Poker Tour (
PPT) television series in the 2007 period, versus the delivery of nine episodes of the
PPT in the third quarter of 2006.
This decrease in revenue was partially offset by the delivery of three episodes of season five of the
WPT television series in the third quarter of 2007, versus the delivery of one episode of season five of the
WPT in the 2006 period.
As of Sept. 30, 2007, the company had no debt, and total cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable securities of approximately $34.9 million.
For the fourth quarter of 2007, revenues are expected to be in the range of $4.0 million-$4.5 million. Additionally, the company expects:
• to deliver five episodes of season six of the
WPT television series to
GSN in the fourth quarter of 2007.
• lower gross margins for domestic television as a result of the terms of the season six agreement.
• to recognise PartyGaming sponsorship revenues as episodes are aired during the fourth quarter of 2007.
• moderate progress in online gaming in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter of 2008, the company will launch an aggressive marketing and promotions campaign.
The Party Ain't Over
PartyGaming, owner of the one-time largest online poker site in the world, PartyPoker, recently published its third-quarter results for 2007. The headline metrics showed:
• Group revenue up 24 percent to $115.7 million (2006: $93.3 million), and up 5 percent versus the previous quarter
• Poker revenue down 3 percent to $74.8 million (2006: $76.9 million), and up 3 percent versus the previous quarter
• Casino revenue up 158 percent to $36.7 million (2006: $14.2 million), and up 3 percent versus the previous quarter
• Sports-betting revenue up 91 percent to $4.2 million (2006: $2.2 million), and up 100 percent versus the previous quarter
Total poker revenue was $74.8 million, with average net daily revenue increasing by 2 percent against the previous quarter, to $813,200. The company said, "This performance reflects a full-period benefit of the operational changes introduced during the second quarter of 2007 that helped to deliver a 10-percent increase in yield per active player day versus the previous quarter to $13.20.
"As noted previously, the year-on-year drop in yield per active player day reflects the migration, since October 2006, of a number of high-value players to competitor sites that continue to accept players from the U.S. In terms of overall player numbers, since the end of August 2007, PartyPoker's market share has remained relatively steady at around 12 percent."
Commenting on the third-quarter key performance indicators, Mitch Garber, CEO, said, "We are continuing to execute our stated business strategy, and this is reflected by our solid financial performance in the year to date. The formation of business alliances with companies such as ITV is an important step toward achieving our full potential, and we remain confident about the Group's prospects for the full year and beyond."
Swedish Poker Divides and Conquers
Swedish gaming monopoly Svenska Spel looks set to face competition after the largest party in ruling coalition government in the country voted at its annual convention to abolish its right to monopoly (see Scandinavian News).
At the same time, Svenska Spel saw profits leap 19 percent to SEK1.4 billion ($215 million) in the first nine months of 2007 on the back of strong demand for online gaming, including poker.
The number of active poker players in this period was 110,000. It raked SEK283 million (€31.0 million), which represented growth of 140 percent over the same period in 2006.
Svenska Spel controls 35 percent of the Swedish market.
Overall, between January and September 2007, Swedes gambled SEK15.5 billion (€1.7 billion).
Unibet in French/Dutch Legal Wrangle
Petter Nylander, CEO for Swedish-listed gaming company Unibet, remains at the center of a Pan-European web of legal intrigue after he was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on the back of a French-issued warrant.
The arrest has provoked strong reactions from both the political and gaming spheres. Thompson Financial reported that European Commission spokesman Oliver Drewes said, "It could very well be that somebody has been arrested who is innocent."
The Financial Times reported that the French government appears embarrassed by the arrest, quoting a Parisian budget ministry spokeswoman as saying, "It is not a matter between the state and Unibet. Française des Jeux and PMU will be told to drop their complaint."
Under French law, French lottery provider Francaise des Jeux and its horse-betting counterpart PMU have a monopoly on betting in the country, but this is being challenged by the European Union. The 2007 European Court of Justice's verdict "Placanica" confirmed that criminal proceedings brought against legitimate operators based in other EU member states are in contradiction with the EU Treaty.
One week earlier, France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said that the country was ready to open the market up to international competition.
Nylander was subsequently released on €200,000 bail and returned to his family, friends, and colleagues, citing the debate in France on gambling as "hypocrisy."
A week later, the French government and the EU agreed to hold talks, with a view to opening up the French market ahead of the French presidency of the EU next June.
