888 Revenue Rises 25% To $94 Million In Q1 2012

UK gambling company 888 Holdings has released its Q1 results for 2012, revealing a 25% increase in revenue to $94 million from $75 million in the same period a year earlier.
888 operates several online gambling websites offering poker, bingo, casino games and sport real money which, as of March 31st, saw a 23% increase in registered customer accounts to 11.3 million.
Over the first quarter, Casino revenue was up 26% to $42 million, Poker was up 88% to $21 million, while Bingo was down 5% to $14 million. Commenting on 888’s solid results, company CEO Brian Mattingley, said:
“Our focused strategy has led to another excellent quarter, with ongoing strength in Poker driving March to the highest ever monthly revenues in the history of 888.”
CEO Brian Mattingley further commented that 888 will continue building market share through investment, and will be aiming to take advantage of the opportunities offered by newly liberalised gaming markets. 888 said it was also ready to launch a real-money offering in the US market, but warned:
“I’m very cautious on the US market. It will open. When it will open, nobody is sure. We want to concentrate more on territories where we know they are opening.”
However, these words didn’t ring well with investors hoping for better news on the American gambling market situation. As a result, the company’s share price fell 1.55% to £76.79, giving 888 a market capitalisation of £267.78m.
Going forward, 888 concluded: “Trading during the first three weeks of the second quarter continued to be strong, with average daily revenue 1% higher than Q1 2012, and 26% higher than Q1 2011. Although we expect to see a return to the historic seasonal pattern as we move through the quarter, given the strength of the business and our continued strategic focus we are confident of further progress during the year.”