Record Q1 Announced By 888-Ladbrokes

888 Holding’s outgoing CEO Gigi Levy informed its shareholders that it had a record quarter for Q1 2011 and increased its revenue by 6% compared to the previous three months. Levy also confirmed today that the possible Ladbrokes merger is definitely on the cards.

Levy in one of his last results calls as CEO of 888 Holdings, who announced his resignation, said the first quarter of 2011 had been a “fantastic quarter both in terms of revenue for the internet casino and the amount of new players signed up” and said the Ladbrokes is still on track.

“We’re progressing with the Ladbrokes deal,” he told the media. “We have double checked the wording for the RNS, after writing it deftly we read it and said ‘not having it is exactly the same’.”

Our group’s revenue rose by 9% year-on-year and by 6% in comparison to the last quarter of 2010 from US$69m to $75m. 888 Holdings’ B2C revenue increased 9% year-on-year from $59m to $64m and jumped by 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. These figures are according to the growth experienced in casino and poker, while its B2B revenue rose 5% year-on-year from $10m to $11m but dropped by 3% in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2010. Levy said B2B revenues dropped significantly as a result of Italy’s regulatory delays.

Since it purchased Wink Bingo 888 had to restructure its repayment plan for our top performing business it acquired in 2009, according to a company statement there was “no change” to the earn out payment and that it “stayed on course” to pay its outstanding debts. On 31^st March the group said it had $59m in cash and cash equivalents.

At present active casino and internet poker players stand at 302,000, this figure has gone up by 39% on the first quarter since 2010, a company statement said, the reason for this it launched a successful new customer recruitment scheme and marketing initiatives”. Unfortunately, its quarterly profits per active player in casino and poker dropped significantly in comparison to 2010’s the previous quarter. Quarterly revenue for every active casino player stands at US$258, a 39% drop compared to Q1 2010 and 3% increase compared to Q4 2010, whilst quarterly profits for every active poker player was US$51, a 26% drop compared to Q1 2010 and 3% compared to Q4 2010.

Since the 31^st of May 2011, 888 had an incredible 9.2 million casino, poker and sports real money registered player accounts, a very satisfying 21% increase if compared to the same period last year.

“The excellent financial released today and the growing strength in current trading shows that this internet casino is definitely on the upward trend and it’s beginning to taste the fruits of its efforts.

“Levy said, “Trading at the start of Q2 remains competitive, as we enter the not so profitable summer period, we anticipate that 2011 trading will follow seasonal patterns.”

“My timing to step down could not have been better; I’m leaving this internet casino whilst it’s stable and very profitable. I would like to thank the board and shareholders of 888 Holdings for their continued support whilst I was CEO and a special note of thanks to all its employees and managers who worked with me 24/7. This is a great group of people and most certainly the best I ever worked with, I’ve also learned a great deal in the process,” Levy concluded.