Leisure & gaming in the post US era

Party steadies ship in the wake of US turbulence

PartyGaming’s trading update this week revealed it was gradually recovering from the shock of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

The company said revenues were stabilising and poker activity was getting back to satisfactory levels following its exit from the US market on 13 October. Party said it had “begun to see improvements in a number of its key performance indicators”.

Excluding sports betting, gross daily revenue in the last month up to 11 December averaged around US$921,000 (£470,000) with liquidity of around 52,000 active players per day. Gross daily poker revenues averaged US$721,000, having hit a low of US$637,000 after the Act. Casino revenues averaged around $199,000 per day while Gamebookers averaged US$65,000 daily gross win.

Party’s infrastructure was radically overhauled in the wake of the Act, with 945 jobs shed across the group. However, it added that margins, volumes and revenues were now growing again and that it was moving ahead with the development of its product base.

A merger or tie up with another egaming company in the next few months also seems likely as operators look to consolidate their position in the marketplace. Europe is now Party’s main market, making up around 80% of total new sign ups and 67% of gross daily revenue.