Casino games boost for PartyGaming

Online gaming site PartyGaming has banked a 24% rise in revenues after its casino games tempted more punters to part with their cash.

The company, which also owns the PartyPoker website, said third-quarter casino revenues had more than doubled to 36.7 million US dollars (£17.9m) as players were lured away from blackjack to more profitable games such as roulette.

The performance more than offset a 3% fall in poker revenues, as the firm faced tough comparisons with last year when the sector was rocked by a US ban on internet gaming.

PartyGaming posted overall third-quarter takings of 115.7 million US dollars (£56.5 million) with casino player numbers 70% ahead of the same period last year.

PartyGaming has bolstered its casino business following the acquisition of websites from Empire Online and Intercontinental Online Gaming for 66.6 million US dollars (£33.1m) earlier this year.

Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Andrew Lee said the performance of the casino business was "particularly impressive".

Across the group, new player sign-ups were down 14% on last year during the third quarter, although this is a traditionally quieter period for gaming firms due to holidays and the quarter follows a strong recruitment campaign in the first half of 2007.

But PartyGaming said it had already seen a 9% pick-up in daily revenues in the first three weeks of October, with casino up 10%, and poker increasing by 4%. New player sign-ups have averaged more than 1,300 a day, with 65,000 active players.

Meanwhile, the company's sports betting business also doubled revenues after suffering a disappointing run of results in the second quarter, and will benefit from an expansion of the operation by the end of the year.

The company's shares were up almost 4% following the update as chief executive Mitch Garber said the company was confident over the group's prospects "for the full-year and beyond".
The Press Association

News Added: 26 October, 2007

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