bwin.party gears up for regulatory changes

Online gaming firm bwin.party digital entertainment revealed a robust set of full year earnings and believes it is well placed to take advantage of regulatory and technological shifts in its industry.

The group, which was spun out of a merger between Bwin and PartyGaming last year, said clean EBITDA from continuing operations rose 3% to €199.3m for the year ended 31 December 2011 after synergies fed through quicker than expected. Actual total revenue for the period surged 93% to €691.1 due to the merger.

Synergies rose ahead of target in 2011 to €23.3m, including €5m related to discontinued operations. bwin said its integration plans are on-track to deliver €40m of synergies in 2012 and €65m in 2013

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The Gibraltar-based company said current trading has been robust with average gross daily revenue up 2% compared to the previous quarter to €2.93m.

Commenting on the results Co-CEOs Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger said, "We are well-placed to capitalise on the regulatory, technological and competitive shifts that continue to transform our industry at a rapid pace."

"We have secured strong business partners in the US ahead of any regulation there and have also applied for a license in Spain which is expected to regulate in the second quarter of this year. In Germany, we have applied for a gaming license in Schleswig-Holstein, the only EU-compliant licensing regime available."

A final dividend of 1.56p per share has been recommended, making a total full year dividend of 3.12p following no payment in 2010.

cj