888.com, the publicly quoted owner of Pacific Poker, saw revenue, numbers, and net revenue per poker player decline in 2008 with the slump most dramatic between Oct. and Dec.
Net gaming revenue from poker fell 6 percent to $76 million in 2008 from $81 in 2007 while figures for the fourth quarter to end Dec. 2008 showed more dramatic drops.
Net gaming revenue for poker during this period fell 25 percent to $16 million from $21 million in the same period of 2007 while the number of active customers dropped 7 percent to 18,557.
Net gaming revenue per active poker customer fell 19 percent to $101 compared to the Oct. to Dec. period of 2007.
This was despite the company’s poker client being release in 11 new languages including Japanese, Greek, Russian and eastern European languages.
However, it was not all doom and gloom for the Israeli-based operator with total operating income across all businesses up 21 percent to US$263 million from $217 million for the full year. Casino continued to perform well, with revenue growing 13 percent for the year to $134 million.
The share price of 888 Holdings Plc was up 3.25p to 101.25p at 8:40 am today while analysts Daniel Steward & Co. issued a buy note on the strength of a "strong statement".
