Online gambling operator 888 Holdings finished out 2013 on an up note, reporting revenue up 10% in Q4 and up 7% for the year as a whole. The final quarter of 2013 was an eventful one for the Gibraltar-licensed 888 as the company launched online gambling operations in both Delaware and New Jersey, making 888 the only firm operational in all three US states that have passed intrastate online gambling legislation. 888 has declined to explicitly break out its US earnings into a separate column, but Panmure Gordeon analyst Simon French called the firm “well positioned to capitalize on further state regulation,” even if “evidence of profitable progress in the US is limited.”
For the quarter, revenue came in at $107m, with the bulk ($93m) coming via 888’s B2C operations. Casino revenue rose 15% to $51m, poker rose 2% to $25m, but bingo fell 4% to $11m, a victim of the “competitive UK environment,” although the vertical was up 7% over Q3. 888’s ‘emerging’ revenue – which includes its Kambi Sports Solutions-powered sportsbook – rose 2% to $6m. The number of active customers rose 16% to 602k, the bulk of which came via poker, which rose 21% to 472k. Quarterly revenue per active customer was up 13% for casino, but down 16% in poker. 888’s B2B arm Dragonfish reported a 22% gain in revenue to $14m.
For the year as a whole, 888 reported revenue of $401m. B2C casino brought in $190m (+15%), poker contributed $94m (+7%), while bingo fell 16% to $44m and the emerging offering fell 2% to $24m. Dragonfish saw full-year revenue rise 5% to $48m. Looking ahead, 888 says 2014 has started strongly, with trading in the first 27 days of January up 3% over the same period last year. 888 is currently sitting on $123m in cash and equivalents vs. $55m in liabilities.
SKY BET ENJOYS MOBILE BOOST
Alderney-licensed Sky Betting and Gaming reported revenue up 27% in its fiscal H1, topping £84m in the six months ending Dec. 31. Operating profits at the BSkyB subsidiary were up 25% to £25m as unique user ranks grew 15%. Managing director Richard Flint told eGaming Review that the company’s introduction of seamless login for its mobile apps “has certainly worked” in boosting cross-sell between the Sky Bet and Sky Vegas verticals. Flint also said the November revamp of its Sky Poker software has “led to year-on-year growth which we haven’t had for a couple of years” and Flint expected “even stronger growth” when Sky’s new HTML5 software is adapted for tablet and mobile use.
