Online Casino Software Company Playtech Release Bumper Results

2007-11-08
Jonny Vincent

Online casino software provider Playtech released their Q3 2007 results overnight, thrilling investors with their highest ever monthly revenues which resulted in the share price rocketing up almost 10% to 381p.

In Playtech's own words, the company had an "outstanding" quarter culminating in record revenues in October after the Playtech board followed PartyGaming's lead in withdrawing from the US following the UIGEA last year. The results below exclude contributions from the US.

The publicly listed company reported Q3 2007 revenue of $26.9 million, representing an increase of 81% on the $14.9 million earned in Q3 2006.

The strong increase in revenues were largely thanks

to the rapidly growing popularity of iPokerNetwork (Playtech's online poker network), with poker revenue up 266% to $7.5 million.

Casino revenue also grew strongly, up 51% to $19.2 million.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer was rightfully pleased to present investors with a glowing report card:
"We are delighted with this quarter's record breaking figures, which clearly demonstrate the growing strength and presence of Playtech within the global gaming sector. The Company continues to focus on adding successful and high profile licensees, such as Bet365, and also on growing its market share in Europe and Asia. We are continuing to focus on these growth markets, in particular Asia, which showed a 14 percent increase in revenues from licensees on the second quarter of 2007. We expect to see further growth and are confident of meeting our expectations for 2007 and beyond."

London analysts quickly joined in the party, with Numis analyst Richard Carter predicting a 550-600p price target for Playtech if the company can capitalize on their move into the Asian market.

Playtech was formed in 1999 by Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi, who floated his company on the AIM early in 2006 for around £550 million at a floatation price of 257p. Along with other internet gambling stocks like PartyGaming and 888 Ltd, Playtech (AIM: PTEC) was hit hard when US President George Bush signed the UIGEA into law in October last year. But the company has fought back strongly in 2007 and is now trading at 381p (at time of writing).

Editor Note: You can play on a Playtech-powered online casino by simply clicking on one of the following links: