PartyGaming profit up
INTERNET gambling firm PartyGaming posted a 14 per cent rise in first-half profit and said it had traded in line with internal hopes in its second-half so far.
The merger deal with Austria’s bwin, announced last week, will create a $3.3bn (£2.1bn) online gaming business positioned to profit from deregulation of the lucrative United States market.
The deal is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2011.
PartyGaming made underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 48.1m euros (£39.9bn) in the six months to 30 June – up from 42.3m euros in the same period last year.
Revenue increased 30 per cent to 181.2m euros with strong performances from casino, bingo and sports betting, offsetting a poker outcome impacted by the soccer World Cup.
Chief Executive Jim Ryan said: “Whilst the macroeconomic and competitive environments remain challenging, we remain confident about the group’s prospects for the rest of the year and beyond.”