888, the world’s largest online casino, today released its Q3 key performance indicators and trading update and revealed an overall rise in net gaming revenue to US$70m, an increase of 56% compared with Q3 2004.
For the three months ended 30 September 2005, net gaming revenue from the casino business increased 18% compared with Q3 2004 to US$40.5m, while net gaming revenue from poker rose 178% compared with Q3 2004 to US$29.5m.
Commenting on the results, 888 chief executive John Anderson, 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.”
Cumulative results for the nine month period ending 30 September 2005 revealed an overall rise to US$194m, an increase of 51% compared with the same period in 2004.
Net gaming revenue from the casino business increased 16% to US$120.4m for the first nine months of 2005, a 16% increase on the same period in 2004, while net gaming revenue from poker rose to US$73.4m for the nine month period to September 2005, a 204% increase compared with the same period in 2004.
When asked for the reasons behind the good results during what is usually the calmest time of the year for operators, Anderson said high traffic levels, combined with 888’s customer retention and acquisition strategies, played a significant part in creating the strong revenues.
He added that the figures were also borne out in October: “The results for October are encouraging and the business continues to perform in line with our expectations in both poker and casino.”
Anderson said that overall he was satisfied with his company’s third quarter results and he expects the current growth rate to be replicated in 888’s year-end results and beyond.
