PartyGaming PLC, the company behind the popular online poker site PartyPoker.com, recorded an increase in revenue of 32% over the fourth quarter of 2009, surpassing the expectations of many stock analysts and leading to a 3.2% rise in share price.
PartyGaming is based on the island of Gibraltar and its shares trade on the London Stock Exchange. The company reported that their revenues totaled US$132.2 million in the fourth quarter, up more than US$30 million from the same period last year, mostly attributable to higher activity levels at the site’s simulated table games and online slot machines.
One of the leading contributors to the revenue boost was attributable to a single player. According to the company’s director of finance, Martin Weigold, a player who hit a US$5 million jackpot put US$2 million of his winnings back on the tables over the course of several weeks. Another factor was PartyGaming’s acquisition of the bingo site Cashcade Ltd. and an agreement with Danish-controlled Danske Spil A/S.
Although most financial experts agree that the company will not maintain this high rate of revenue growth, PartyGaming executives have stated that they expect for revenue and profit rates to grow by at least ten percent per quarter during 2010. Since 1 January, PartyGaming shares have already increased nearly ten percent, giving the company a market capitalization value of almost US$2 billion.
PartyGaming is also the largest online gaming company in terms of the product of its share price and the number of outstanding shares. The company is widely known for PartyPoker.com, the site that was one of the leaders in the online poker boom of the early 2000s. After former US President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, PartyPoker no longer served US-based customers and the stock plummeted from the lost revenues.






