888 Holdings plc
01 November 2005
1 November 2005
888 Holdings Public Limited Company
('888' or the 'Company')
Q3 KPIs and Trading Update
888, one of the world's most popular online gaming companies today provides the
following trading update for the third quarter of 2005 and cumulative results
for the nine months ended 30 September 2005.
Key financials for the three months ended 30 September 2005:
* Net Gaming Revenue rose to US$70 million, an increase of 56% above Q3 2004.
* Net Gaming Revenue from casino increased to US$40.5 million, an increase of
18.3% above Q3 2004.
* Net Gaming Revenue from poker rose to US$29.5 million, an increase of 178%
above Q3 2004.
Key KPIs:
* Number of active* members increased to 316,553, up 118% on Q3 2004
- Casino active members - 88,301 a 73% increase on Q3 2004
- Poker active members - 228,252, a 143% increase on Q3 2004.
* Monthly poker rake (rake from ring games plus tournament fees) in September
2005 was 135% higher than September 2004 and 44% higher than January 2005.
* In Q3 2005, quarterly net gaming revenue per active casino member at $458
compared to $463 in Q2 2005, remained relatively stable as expected for this
seasonally quieter time of year. In poker we continue to experience strong
performance with quarterly net gaming revenue per active member up 19% from
$109 in Q2 2005 to $129 in Q3 2005.
Key cumulative financials for the nine months ended 30 September 2005:
- Net Gaming Revenue during the first 9 months of 2005 rose to US$194 million,
an increase of 51% above the same period in 2004.
- Net Gaming Revenue from casino during the first 9 months of 2005 rose to
US$120.4 million, an increase of 16% above the same period in 2004.
- Net Gaming Revenue from poker during the first 9 months of 2005 rose to
US$73.4 million, an increase of 204% above the same period in 2004.
As stated at flotation, 888 believes its leading position in the global online
gaming market provides a strong platform from which it can continue its
expansion into new geographic markets and product verticals. 888 will target new
markets by leveraging the member acquisition, member development and data mining
techniques used to develop its existing businesses.
Trading Outlook
Trading for the first four weeks of the final quarter has been strong across the
businesses with a continued significant increase in poker rake from ring games,
as well as a further increase in new real money member sign-ups.
Commenting on the announcement, John Anderson, CEO, said:
'Our performance for this three month period has been particularly pleasing
given that historically, trading for the casino segment in July and August is
the weakest for the year.
The results for October are encouraging and the business continues to perform in
line with our expectations in both poker and casino. We are confident that the
888 business model is strongly positioned to take advantage of the continued
growth in the worldwide online gaming market.'
Contacts and enquiries
888
John Anderson Chief Executive Officer +350 49800
Aviad Kobrine Chief Financial Officer +350 49800
Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial
Ann-Marie Wilkinson +44 (0)20 7861 3232
Nick Lambert
Geoff Callow
Notes to Editors
888.com is the most popular online casino and poker operator. It is h
eadquartered and licensed in Gibraltar with further offices in Tel Aviv, Antigua
and London. It has over 20 million registered member accounts in over 150
countries worldwide and customer support is available in 11 languages - 24 hours
a day, seven days a week.
In October 2005 888's shares were admitted to the main market of the London
Stock Exchange with an initial market capitalisation of £590 million.
888.com offers traditional casino products such as blackjack, roulette, craps,
baccarat, keno, slot machines, video, and a variety of poker games. Its main
poker offering is provided through the Pacific Poker brand which offers ring
games and tournaments.
Other offerings include the Betmate betting exchange (for non US members only),
other skill games such as checkers, backgammon and arcade games (888.tv) as well
as free poker school and other casino games through 888.info
The Group has its own R&D arm that is based in Israel and develops proprietary
software for exclusive use by 888.com. This enables the Group to continually
evolve and develop the software and systems to give customers a state of the art
gaming experience. It also provides a full back office management system that is
owned and controlled directly by 888. This ensures the company is not reliant on
third parties for its software.
888 has been at the forefront of moves to ensure that the industry is subject to
a high level of regulation. It was instrumental in the foundation of the
eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) initiative. This
has established a set of best practice regulations and enforces them through a
combination of independent monitoring and inspection. Through the establishment
of eCOGRA, 888 has helped to create a regulatory framework that delivers safe,
honest and player-sensitive online gambling.
--------------------------
* An active member refers to an individual member who had made a game-related
balance movement in a real money account in the relevant quarter.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
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