PartyGaming’s Q2 trading in line though World Cup hitting poker revenues

In a pre-close statement, PartyGaming (LON:PRTY) said it is trading in-line with its own expectations, despite the adverse impact of the World Cup - as poker players leave their virtual tables in favour of the football. The online gaming specialist reported a 28% increase in year-on-year revenue in Q2, although this represents a 2% decline on the first quarter.

"We are pleased with the relatively robust performance of our business compared to many other consumer facing businesses in what remains a challenging economic environment”, PartyGaming chief executive Jim Ryan commented.

“Overall the group has performed in-line with expectations even though the adverse impact of the World Cup on our non-sports betting verticals was slightly greater than expected." 
"Despite the challenges presented by the prevailing macroeconomic and competitive environments we are on track with the execution of our stated strategy. As governments around the world look to adopt regulatory frameworks ... we remain confident about the group's prospects", Ryan added.

For the current financial year, PartyGaming now reports its financial results in euros. The company acknowledged that in US dollars, total revenues would be down between 6% and 7% quarter-on-quarter and it would have been up by approximately 17% year-on-year.

PartyGaming highlighted that its strong year-on-year growth was primarily due to the acquisitions of Cashcade and the World Poker Tour, as well as the continued strong growth in casino games. However overall, the company stated that: “Poker has been particularly tough with the number of daily average players expected to fall by between 8% and 9% versus the first quarter, coupled with lower yields due to reduced frequency of play on the back of both seasonality and the World Cup.” 

PartyGaming expects Q2 poker revenue to be down between 11% and 13% quarter-on-quarter (down between 15% and 17% in US$).