Bwin.party Digital, the world's largest listed online gaming company, reported a rise in earnings in its maiden set of results and said it was well-placed to take advantage of regulatory and technological shifts in the gaming industry.
The company, which was formed by the merger of Austria's Bwin and PartyGaming last year, reported a 3 per cent rise in clean Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) to €199.3 million in 2011.
The Gibraltar-based firm said synergies coming through faster than expected had offset increased gaming duties in regulated markets, pushing earnings up to just shy of consensus analyst estimates of €202 million provided by Bwin.party.
"We expect to gain competitive advantage this year from additional scale and improved flexibility that will flow from the integration and migration of our main products to a single technology platform," co-chief executives Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger said in a statement.
Bwin.party said pro forma total revenue inched up to €816 million, compared to €814 million in 2010, despite the closures of its French casino and the World Cup football tournament in 2010.
The firm said current trading was robust with average gross average daily revenue 2 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2011 at €2.93 million.
"We have secured strong business partners in the United States ahead of any regulation there and have also applied for a license in Spain which is expected to regulate in the second quarter of this year," Mr Ryan and Mr Teufelberger said.
The company has also applied for a licence in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany.
The firm said it will add more casino games, improve poker and bingo offerings, and prepare for the UEFA Euro 2012 soccer competition and the London 2012 Olympics.
Bwin.party will pay a final dividend of 1.56 pence per share, making a total of 3.12 pence per share for the year.
Reuters