Revenues Fall Again For PartyGaming

Gibraltar-based PartyGaming has releases its financial results for the first quarter of 2009 showing a 22 percent drop in revenues to $100.1 million, its fourth consecutive quarter of decline.

PartyGaming recently finalised a non-prosecution agreement with authorities in the US and stated that it expects to report a related charge to discontinued operations of between $100 and $105 million when it releases its six-month results later in the year.

The firm behind popular online poker domain PartyPoker.com stated that revenues from its poker operations fell 33 percent for the first quarter of 2009 to $53.6 million while average daily poker revenues dropped one percent quarter-on-quarter. It reported that this was due to foreign exchange movements and competitive pressures from US-facing sites.

In addition, revenues from bingo fell 16 percent to one million dollars with average daily bingo revenues down 27 percent versus the previous period primarily due to the conclusion of Bingo Night Live in the final quarter of 2008.

However, the news was not all bad for PartyGaming as total average daily revenues rose two percent versus the previous quarter due to growth from its casino and sportsbetting activities. While revenues from its casino activities decreased three percent to $40.9 million, average daily revenues increased five percent quarter-on-quarter due to growth in both bet volume and hold. Likewise, revenues from its sportsbetting offerings dropped four percent to $4.5 million but average daily revenues rose 19 percent quarter-on-quarter following an increase in bet volume and gross win margins.

“Total net revenues grew by two percent on a daily basis to $1,111,800 versus the previous quarter despite continued competitive pressures in poker, further strengthening of the US dollar and a weak macroeconomic environment all continuing to impact performance,” said Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer for PartyGaming.

“We are maintaining our market share in poker and our business-to-business strategy continues to build with the addition of Intralot, one of the world’s largest providers of lottery services to governments, to our Italian poker network, which is expected to launch later this quarter as part of a long-term global agreement.

“While the business environment remains challenging, our strong poker sign-ups together with the addition of 60 new games to our casino by the end of the first half, further business-to-business deals in the pipeline and our strong control of costs, mean we are well-placed to capitalise on our great products, great brands and strong cashflow.

“Having successfully resolved our discussions with the US authorities, we are actively reviewing consolidation opportunities that, if concluded successfully, are expected to provide new and additional sources of growth.”