02.05.2010
888, the operator of online bingo favourites such as 888 Ladies & Wink Bingo and software providers other big names in online gaming such as, Think Bingo, Foxy Bingo, Cheeky Bingo to name but a few have released second quarter results with a statement that they are “disappointing”.
The statement from the London stock exchange; “Q2 trading, has, to date been disappointing in poker, casino & bingo. During the first 25 days of the Q2, average daily revenue was approximately 13% below the average for the previous Quarter.”
A portion of this can simply be boiled down to seasonal slowdowns which are expected for the period, but analysts say the drop is also likely to be down due to poor operating performance.
888 has recently been battling against increased competition from the market, both in it casino and poker brands, but also in its B2B offering where Playtech & Party Gaming have slowly but surely emerged as fierce competitors.
It is also apparent that 888's Dragonfish revenues are dominated by the Cashcade sites; Foxy Bingo and Cheeky Bingo. Recently, 888 signed a deal extension of 2 years with Cashcade.
CEO Gigi Levy has said: “While Quarter 1 saw improvement YoY, B2C trading remains challenging across the product range which is partly influenced by the seasonal patterns…Dragonfish continues to win new deals, most notably via the recently regulated Italian market with bwin Italia and Gioco Digitale. However, revenue from new deals is yet to acquire significant volume. We believe the right steps are being taken to counter the challenges and the board remains confident in 888's strategy.”
While the 888 share price fell from .98p to .80p during lunchtime trading on Wednesday prior to results being announced, 888 is now capitalised at £280m.
