On Friday, the publicly traded online gaming company PartyGaming PLC announced their fourth quarter 2008 Key Performance Indicators, which were lower compared to the fourth quarter of the year previous but overall showed the company with a profit for the entirety of 2008.
For the period ending on December 31st, 2008, PartyGaming earned profits of $100.4 million, a drop of about 18% against the $122.4 million that the company made in the same time period during 2007. Overall for the year, PartyGaming was able to show a profit in earning $472.9 million, or a 3% increase over 2007’s earnings of $457.8 million.
Citing the worldwide financial downturn, continued unbalanced competition against U. S. facing poker rooms and currency exchange rates as some of the factors behind the fourth quarter decline, Jim Ryan, the Chief Executive Officer of PartyGaming, still was confident of the company’s continued growth for the upcoming year. In a statement during the announcement of PartyGaming’s performance, Ryan stated, “We continue to make solid progress in the execution of our strategy. The relaunch of PartyPoker has gone well, as has our new VIP and loyalty program, with player numbers up eight percent over the previous quarter. Our business to business strategy is also progressing well.”
“Trading conditions have remained tough with an unlevel playing field in poker and the appreciation of the U. S. dollar against other currencies continuing to impact top line performance. However, currency movements had a corresponding benefit on our costs and, consequently, we anticipate Clean EBITDA for the full year to be slightly ahead of market expectations,” Ryan said.
When it comes to the discussions between the company and the U. S. Department of Justice, Ryan continued to be optimistic that there will be a satisfactory conclusion to those negotiations. “Our discussions with the U. S. Department of Justice continue to progress in line with our expectations and the execution of our strategic plan, together with tight control over our cost base, means we look forward to making further progress to consolidate our position as the world’s leading listed online gaming company,” Ryan confidently said.
During the announcement of PartyGaming’s fourth quarter KPI’s, Ryan also announced a new agreement with a Spanish gaming company that will expand their global footprint. The three year agreement between PartyGaming and the Barcelona based CIRSA Gaming Corporation, S.A. will allow PartyGaming to work alongside CIRSA in the exploration and development of Internet gaming opportunities in Latin America and other Spanish speaking countries.
CIRSA is a thirty year old company that has a tremendous base in the traditional “brick and mortar” gaming industry. The company has 13,000 employees and activities in more than seventy countries. CIRSA owns and operates bingo halls, casinos and amusement arcades around the world and has market leadership in the gaming arena in Spain, where it has 57 bingo clubs, four casinos and 139 amusement arcades. It has also established a strong presence in Latin and South America.
Ryan was enthused about the possibilities for PartyGaming to expand further into the worldwide gaming arena through the association with CIRSA. “Our agreement with CIRSA is part of our stated strategy to develop a strong business-to-business operation through alliances with leading companies around the world. We believe the combination of CIRSA’s assets with our online gaming expertise will create a major opportunity for both companies, especially throughout the Spanish speaking world,” Ryan commented.
