New Directors for PartyGaming

PartyGaming has announced the appointment of four new non-executive directors to the board as the company continues to struggle in the post-UIGEA climate.

PartyGaming (Party Casino and Party Poker) is releasing a pre-close trading update tomorrow, the final report card for what has really been a horror year for the once kings of the industry. Devastated by the UIGEA late last year, PartyGaming has seemingly spent much of 2007 frantically trying to hold the fort.

While most online gaming companies hit by the UGIEA have fully, or partly recovered, PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) continues to flounder, with its share price still hovering below 30p, down from 175p at its peak and 105p just before the decision was made to withdraw from the US following the signing of the UIGEA.

In the midst of all this, CEO Mitch Garber added to the uncertainty with two large share sales of his own, further undermining investor confidence. PartyGaming will be looking to reclaim their spot at the head of the industry in 2008 and beyond, but they will need to navigate through a concerning negotiation process with the US DoJ over their activities in the US prior to UIGEA.

It's been a quiet year on the news front for PartyGaming, which seems content to merely tread water as their competitors push ahead with new signings and into new markets.

Playtech (LSE: PTEC) was another gaming company hit heavily by the UIGEA – with value slashed by almost 50%. Since then, they have stunned the market with their performance, merging and consolidating and signing new partnerships in Asia, crashing through 400p mid-way through this year and currently trading at 379p.

Gigamedia (NASDAQ: GIGM) was largely unaffected by the UIGEA having decided to target primarily the European market, but their performance this year has been impressive, almost doubling in value to $18 per share as they push strongly into the Asian market.

888 Holdings (LSE: 888) shares dropped 50p after UIGEA but have almost fully recovered this year, currently trading at 131p (at time of writing).

Can PartyGaming join in the recovery in 2008? Judging by the lack of news from the PartyGaming press department and the CEO's propensity to offload his own PRTY holdings, I'm not sure even they believe they can make it back.

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