888 Show Complete Recovery with 2007 FY Profits

2008 April 08, Jonny Vincent

The UK's second-largest online gaming company, 888 Holdings, delivered its 2007 financial scorecard today, which shows the group has almost fully recovered after voluntarily withdrawing from the US market in 2006.

888 Holdings, operators of flagship brands 888 Casino and Pacific Poker, withdrew from the US market after the UIGEA was signed into law late-2006.

The decision proved to be an expensive one, as overall profit fell 54% in 2007 to $34.2 million (2006: $74.5 million). More importantly however, pretax profits from continuing operations (non-US facing operations) were more than doubled as the company moved its focus into Europe and Asia.

Discounting US figures, 888's Net Gaming Revenue increased by 36% in 2007 to $213.4 million, which included a 33% rise in online casino Net Gaming Revenue to $118 million and an 18% increase in online poker Net Gaming Revenue to $81 million.

2007 was a busy year for 888 Holdings, as it sought to consolidate its position as one of Europe's leading online gaming companies, with a number of acquisitions as well as the announcement of a few key strategic partnerships with the likes of Rileys Snooker Halls in the UK and Tower Torneos in South America.

"2007 was a year of transformation for 888, in which we had to restructure our business," said chief executive Gigi Levy.

"We have now successfully completed the restructuring and repositioning of the business and have delivered record results for the year, both in terms of revenue and profit," he added.

888 is not completely out of the woods yet, as talks are still ongoing with the US Department of Justice over 888's activity in the US prior to the signing of the UIGEA.

"It is too early to assess any particular outcome of these discussions," the group said today.

888's share price (LSE: 888) is holding steady at 150p (at time of writing).