Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7768K

888 Holdings plc

21 July 2011

 



888 Holdings Public Limited Company

("888" or "the Group")

Interim Management Statement
Q2 2011 Key Performance Indicators and Trading Update*

888, one of the world's most popular online gaming entertainment and solutions providers, is pleased to provide the following trading update for the second quarter of 2011.

Financial Highlights

·      Group revenue US$79 million (Q2 2010: US$61 million), an increase of 29% year-on-year and a 4% increase compared to the strong Q1 2011 driven primarily by strong Casino and Poker performance

·    Revenue B2C US$66 million (Q2 2010: US$52 million), an increase of 29% year-on-year and a 3% increase compared to Q1 2011

·      Revenue B2C Casino US$36 million (Q2 2010: US$27 million), an increase of 34%

·      Revenue B2C Poker US$13 million (Q2 2010: US$8 million), an increase of 58% due to the success of the Poker 6 platform

·      Revenue B2B US$12 million (Q2 2010: US$10 million), an increase of 28% year-on-year and an 11% increase compared to Q1 2011  

·      Group revenue in H1 2011 at US$154 million (H1 2010: US$130 million), an increase of 18%

·      Number of active customers B2C Casino and Poker at 342,000 (Q2 2010: 167,000), a 105% increase compared to Q2 2010 driven by both Casino and Poker

·      As at 30 June 2011, 888 had 9.6 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 21% since 30 June 2010

·      Strong current trading continues into the third quarter

Operational Highlights

·      Successful launch in Italy of 888.it and a B2B partner following certification of 888 products with the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), the Italian regulatory authority

·      Further improvements to award-winning Poker platform, including the introduction of Pokercam and team play

* All percentages in this release are calculated without rounding

Commenting on today's announcement Brian Mattingley, Deputy Chairman said:

"This quarter has seen strong performance in B2C for 888 especially in Poker and Casino. We have been focused as ever on our goals - further bolstering our B2C performance and leveraging our industry-leading offerings, while maintaining our Dragonfish brand presence and B2B deal pipeline.

Whilst the excellent figures reported today give the Board confidence of future growth, H2 will be impacted by our need to invest in regulating markets as these open up for us. However, despite the second half including the seasonally weaker summer trading period, and after taking account of the increased cost of investment we are confident, given the strength of current trading, that the Company will report a financial performance for the full year to 31 December 2011 marginally ahead of current market expectations."

Key Performance Indicators

Second Quarter 2011

Group

·      Revenue US$79 million (Q2 2010: US$61million), an increase of 29%

·      As at 30 June 2011, 888 had 9.6 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 21% since 30 June 2010

B2C

·      Revenue B2C at US$66 million (Q2 2010: US$52 million), an increase of 29%

·      Revenue B2C Casino at US$36 million (Q2 2010: US$27 million), an increase of 34%

·      Revenue B2C Poker at US$13 million (Q2 2010: US$8 million), an increase of 58%

·      Revenue B2C Bingo at US$13 million (Q2 2010: US$13 million), an increase of 6%

·      Revenue B2C Emerging Offering at US$5 million (Q2 2010: US$4 million), an increase of 9%

·      Number of active customers B2C Casino and Poker at 342,000, an increase of 105% compared to Q2 2010

·      Number of active customers B2C Casino at 159,000, an increase of 134% compared to Q2 2010

·      Number of active customers B2C Poker at 231,000, an increase of 90% compared to Q2 2010

·      Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino and Poker customer was US$141, a 32% decrease compared to Q2 2010

·      Quarterly revenue B2C per active Casino customer was US$223, a 43% decrease compared to Q2 2010, a result of significant expansion in new customer recruitment coupled with a significant, but slower, revenue increase

·      Quarterly revenue B2C per active Poker customer was US$55 a 17% decrease compared to Q2 2010

Dragonfish

·      Revenue  B2B at US$12 million (Q2 2010: US$10 million), an increase of 28%

Six months ended 30 June 2011

·      Total Operating Income up 18% to US$154 million (H1 2010: US$130 million)

B2C

·      Total Operating Income B2C up 18% to US$131 million (H1 2010: US$110 million)

·      Total Operating Income B2C Casino up 16% to US$69 million (H1 2010: US$59 million)

·      Total Operating Income B2C Poker up 22% to US$24 million (H1 2010: US$20 million)

·      Total Operating Income B2C Bingo up 17% to US$28 million (H1 2010: US$24 million)

·      Total Operating Income B2C Emerging Offering up 28% to US$10 million (H1 2010: US$8 million)

Dragonfish

·      Total Operating Income B2B up 16% to US$23 million (H1 2010: US$20 million)

Current Trading

The strong trading during Q2 has continued into July led by poker. Whilst the historical seasonally quiet period is beginning to impact activity levels, daily average revenue during the first 19 days of July is 27 per cent higher than Q3 2010 and is at an almost the same level as Q2 2011*.

In addition, during the same period daily average deposits increased by 10 percent and daily average poker new customer recruitment increased by more than 75 per cent compared to Q2 2011.

* Excluding unusual casino wins of approximately US$0.5m.

Material Events, Transactions and Financial Position

There have been no material events, transactions or changes in the financial position of 888 since the year end other than as announced and set out above.

As at 15^th July 2011 the Group had US$64 million of cash and cash equivalents and US$40 million liabilities to customers.

Analyst and Investor Conference Call

There will be an analyst and investor conference call at 10:30am (BST) today.

Dial-in number:	[phone]
Passcode:	6949982
Replay number:	[phone]
Replay passcode:	6949982

Half-Yearly Results

888 will announce its half-yearly results for the six months ended 30 June 2011 on Wednesday 31^st August 2011.

Contacts and enquiries

888
Brian Mattingley, Deputy Chairman	[phone]
Aviad Kobrine, Chief Financial Officer	[phone]
M:Communications
Ann-marie Wilkinson/Andrew Benbow	[phone]

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty since they relate to future events and circumstances. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect 888's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by law or by the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority, 888 undertakes no obligation publicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.

Appendix

US$m*	2009				2010				2011
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2
B2C Revenue
Casino	26.7	29.2	29.4	33.4	32.8	26.5	26.6	31.0	33.4	35.6
Poker	13.7	12.5	12.5	12.9	11.6	8.0	8.2	10.6	11.3	12.7
Bingo	2.4	2.7	2.8	2.8	10.9	12.6	12.5	14.1	14.2	13.3
Emerging Offering	2.4	4.0	3.5	4.5	3.5	4.4	3.9	4.4	5.4	4.8
Total  Revenue B2C	45.1	48.4	48.2	53.6	58.8	51.6	51.2	60.1	64.4	66.4
B2C KPI
Revenue Casino US$m	26.7	29.2	29.4	33.4	32.8	26.5	26.6	31.0	33.4	35.6
Active Players Casino (000)	62.1	66.5	62.4	67.9	76.9	68.1	73.4	123.8	129.5	159.2
Revenue Casino per active player US$	$ 429	$  439	$  471	$  493	$  426	$  390	$  362	$  250	$  258	$ 223
Revenue Poker US$m	13.7	12.5	12.5	12.9	11.6	8.0	8.2	10.6	11.3	12.7
Active Players Poker (000)	133.1	142.4	133.8	131.9	167.9	121.5	115.3	200.9	221.9	231.3
Revenue Poker per active player US$	$ 103	$   88	$   93	$   98	$  69	$  66	$  71	$   53	$  51	$ 55
Revenue Casino & Poker US$m	40.4	41.8	41.8	46.3	44.4	34.6	34.8	41.6	44.7	48.2
Active  Players Casino & Poker (000)	167.7	179.7	168.5	172.7	217.8	167.2	165.3	283.0	302.3	342.0
Revenue Casino & Poker per active player US$	$ 241	$  232	$  248	$  268	$  204	$  207	$  211	$  147	$  148	$ 141
B2B Revenue
Revenue B2B	11.9	12.4	12.7	14.3	10.4	9.5	9.3	11.3	10.9	12.1
Revenue	57.0	60.9	60.9	67.9	69.2	61.0	60.6	71.3	75.3	78.5

*Rounded

 

END

 

 

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