Financial Reports for first half of 2009

The “big boys” of Europe’s online gaming industry are publishing results for the first half of the financial year. 888 Holdings Plc have just released their figures and so too have Victor Chandler. PartyGaming are releasing their results at 9.30am tomorrow (28th August) and one would have thought that they would be coming out smelling of roses the most, as they seem to have been showing the most growth as a company over the last year, with regards to long-term initiatives.

888 Holdings Plc have held their hands up to some poor results for the first half of 2009 in comparison to 2008. According to their statistics released today, the following are the financial figures obtained over the first half of 2009 held up against the first half of 2008s.

Revenue 2008 $135.4 million v’s Revenue 2009 $117.9 million

Operating Profit 2008 $19.1 million v’s Operating Profit 2009 $9.6 million

Pretax Profit 2008 $26.3 million v’s Pretax Profit 2009 $14.9 million

Net Profit attributable to shareholders 2008 $18.9 million v’s Net Profit attributable to shareholders 2009 $8 million

Dividends are to be awarded to shareholders at a rate of $0.01 per share for the first half of the year and at a rate of $0.036 payable on 8th October. The CEO of 888 Holdings Plc attributes the poor first half of 2009 to the global economic recession and predicts a “broadly flat 3rd quarter and growth in the 4th quarter”. By midday 27th August however, the LSE’s AIM shares in the company had fallen by 7.5%.

Victor Chandler Holdings, currently based out in Gibraltar, but soon to move to the Isle of Man, have slightly better news to report. Shares in Gaming Victor Chandler Holdings rose by 5.2% in the first half of the year. Whilst they report that the margins and the sports book revenues have risen, they note a fall in the casino revenues.

PartyGaming are providing their Interim Results for 2009 on a live audio webcast tomorrow morning.

Tags: 888, gaming industry finance reports, partygaming