888 Holdings Hits $262m Income For 2010
February 7, 2011 9:26 amU.K. online gaming business 888 has just released their fourth quarter 2010 results to December 31st, showing an 18% increase in revenue to $71m. Overall, the total operating income for the whole year was also up by 6% to $262m from $247m a year earlier.
Over the past year, the company now boast a 23% increase in the number of its registered customer accounts to 8.7 million across its casino, poker and sport betting services.
Within the B2C arm, poker experienced an impressive rise in its total operating income of 28% to $11 million compared to Q3 of 2010. Also, the number of poker customers leapt 74% to 201,000 over the same period.
Bingo, too, contributed significantly to the encouraging results with income more than quadrupling to $14.1 million. Wink Bingo was acquired by 888 in December 2009 and the success of its operation was boosted by the addition of six new games.
Commenting on the Q4 financial figures, Chief executive Gigi Levy said:
“We are very pleased with the results delivered during the last quarter of 2010, especially the record 18% quarterly sequential growth. Our marketing activities have driven record numbers of players to our sites, and growth was achieved across our business lines.”
CEO Gigi Levy also mentioned that 2011 had started well and that 888 Holdings were anticipating further growth throughout the coming year, all of which had the effect of pushing up its share price.
In early trading 888 shares were up 7.43% to 47p, giving the company a market value of around £160 million ($258 million).
As a whole, the better than anticipated Q4 revenue would seem to bode well for a prospective deal in the pipeline in which Ladbrokes would make a formal offer for 888.
“There is still interest on both sides in doing a deal. Every big deal has complexities,” said Levy. “Our current numbers only make us more appealing.”