PartyGaming Plc
21 October 2005
21 October 2005
PartyGaming Plc
('PartyGaming' or the 'Company' and, together with its subsidiaries, the
'Group')
Third Quarter Key Performance Indicators and Trading Update
Highlights
• Group revenues in Q3 up 32% to $220.0 million (2004 : $166.1 million)
• Total active player days up 53% to 12.2 million (2004 : 8.0 million)
• Very encouraging results from recent launch of new platform
• Strong current trading with uplift in both poker and casino
• Group remains comfortable with market expectations for 2005
Commenting on today's announcement, Richard Segal, Chief Executive, said:
'Revenues for the third quarter were in line with consensus expectations and I
am pleased to report that, since the end of the third quarter, there has been a
material uplift in performance across all of the Group's activities.
'Moving PartyPoker.com on to a stand-alone platform, with increased customer
functionality, has contributed to an encouraging increase in poker revenue.
Further, the initial response to cross-selling our casino games to
PartyPoker.com customers has been much stronger than anticipated. Accordingly,
the Group remains comfortable with consensus forecasts for revenue and EBITDA
before share option and IPO costs for the current financial year.
'We remain on target to launch a fully integrated, Party-branded platform
featuring a shared purse and the first of our new games in the first half of
2006. We remain confident about the Group's prospects.'
Poker - Key Performance Indicators
Three months to 30 September 2005 2004
Active Player Days 12,037,464 7,838,774
Daily average players 130,842 85,204
Yield per Active Player Day $16.6 $18.9
New real money sign-ups 209,372 183,065
Unique active players during the period 671,750 412,804
Unique active players in September 443,307 298,622
Average daily rake $2,167,619 $1,611,575
Nine months to 30 September 2005 2004
Active Player Days 34,381,147 18,893,086
Daily average players 125,938 68,953
Yield per Active Player Day $17.4 $19.1
New real money sign-ups 610,040 414,839
Unique active players during the period 1,077,240 560,671
Unique active players in September 443,307 298,622
Average daily rake $2,185,542 $1,316,152
During the period, poker revenues (including skins) were up by 38% compared with
the previous year to $209.1m and up by 4% compared with the second quarter.
Substantial numbers of new real money players continued to be recruited to
PartyPoker.com with over 209,000 new players added during the quarter (2004 :
183,000). While active player days increased by 54% compared with 2004 and by
6% versus the second quarter to 12.0 million, yield per active player day fell
to $16.6, resulting in average daily rake in the period of $2.2million (2004 :
$1.6million).
On 8 October 2005 the Group announced that as part of its strategy to launch an
integrated systems platform, PartyPoker.com had been separated from the original
poker system and re-launched on its own platform with a number of new features
including Blackjack and Side Bets as well as a new poker school. Following the
launch of the new platform and introduction of these new products, trading has
been very encouraging.
Customer acquisition and retention continue to be core areas of focus. While
the poker market remains competitive, the Group has been successful in reducing
customer acquisition costs compared with the first half of the year.
Casino - Key Performance Indicators
Three months to 30 September 2005 2004
Active Player Days 184,881 170,806
Daily average players 2,010 1,857
Yield per Active Player Day $59.2 $82.1
New real money sign-ups 19,991 13,073
Unique active players during the period 30,743 25,813
Unique active players in September 14,302 11,843
Average daily revenue $119,033 $152,517
Nine months to 30 September 2005 2004
Active Player Days 517,959 496,436
Daily average players 1,897 1,812
Yield per Active Player Day $70.3 $76.7
New real money sign-ups 54,480 43,242
Unique active players during the period 63,275 56,653
Unique active players in September 14,302 11,843
Average daily revenue $133,270 $138,992
Casino revenues were $11.0 million in the period which was $2.1 million below
that achieved in the previous quarter. Despite an increase in new sign-ups to
almost 20,000 in the period, which boosted the overall level of active player
days by 12% compared with the second quarter, lower activity levels by some high
value players at StarluckCasino.com reduced the yield per active player day to
$59.2.
Current Trading
Since the end of September there has been a marked improvement in poker and
casino. Launching the new platform and introducing new features for
PartyPoker.com has had a significant and positive impact and, since the launch,
daily gross poker revenue (excluding skins) has increased by 10% versus the
average for the third quarter. Moreover, the initial response from customers to
playing casino games using their PartyPoker.com account has been very positive.
The Group remains comfortable with consensus forecasts for revenue and EBITDA
before share option and IPO costs for the current financial year.
Contacts:
PartyGaming Plc +44 (0)20 7337 0100
Peter Reynolds, Director of Investor Relations
John Shepherd, Director of Corporate Communications
Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113
Edward Bridges / Juliet Clarke
Conference call
Friday 21 October 2005
For analysts and investors there will be an opportunity to put questions to
Richard Segal, Chief Executive, and Martin Weigold, Group Finance Director, by
way of a conference call. The details of the call are as follows:
9.20 am Please call +44(0) 20 7162 0125 (UK) or +1 866 803 8344 (US)
Password: PartyGaming
9.30 am Conference call starts
A recording of the conference call will be available for a period of seven days
from 21 October 2005. To access the recording please dial one of the following
replay telephone numbers:
Replay no: +44(0) 20 7031 4064 (available for 1 week) (UK)
Replay passcode: 679344
US Replay no: +1 954 334 0342 (available for 1 week) (US)
Replay passcode: 679344
All times are BST.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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