B2C drives 888 earnings guidance upgrade

Online gaming firm 888 has raised full year earnings guidance after a strong third quarter and a good start to the fourth.

"The final quarter [Q4] has started positively with average daily revenues more than 7% ahead of the strong Q4 2011. A disciplined approach to our costs, and our analytics driven marketing spend proving highly efficient, means we now expect our EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] for the full year to be significantly ahead of current market expectations," revealed Brian Mattingley, 888's Chief Executive Officer.

Revenue in the third quarter totalled $92m, up 7% from $86m in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

The Business to Consumer (B2C) division saw revenues rise 8% to $80m from $74m the year before. Dragonfish, the group's Business to Business (B2B) unit saw revenue slide 2% year-on-year to $12m.

The fourth quarter has got off to a flyer with average daily revenues in the first two weeks of the period more than 7% higher than the corresponding fortnight in 2011. The period has also seen an increase in first time depositors, bets and deposits, although Bingo remains challenging.

As at October 12th, the group had $81m of cash and cash equivalents, and $46m of liabilities to customers.

JH