888 Holdings plc
14 September 2006

888 Holdings Public Limited Company

('888' or the 'Company')


Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2006





888, one of the world's most popular online gaming entertainment companies,
announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2006.


Financial Highlights


Profit before tax* up 88% to $48.0m (H1 2005: $25.6m)
Net Gaming Revenues ('NGR') up 32% to $163.5m (H1 2005: $123.7m)
Profit before tax* margin up to 29% (H1 2005: 21%)
Operating expenses % of NGR down to 25.6% (H1 2005: 28.0%)
Cost per acquisition** of US$165 (H1 2005: US$200)
Net cash generated from operating activities up 109% to $56.1m (H1 2005:
$26.8m)
Basic EPS* up 89% to 13.8c (H1 2005: 7.3c)
Interim dividend of 4.5c per share
Special dividend of 4.0c per share


* 2006 - excluding share benefit charges


** Excluding customers recruited on a revenue share basis.


Operational Highlights


Geographical expansion outside US - 48% of NGR from non-US territories
and 67% of new real money sign ups from non-US territories


Rapid growth in NGR in the UK up 61% and Continental Europe up 16%


Increased yields per member from Casino and Poker divisions


Continued technological innovation


Continued investment in the 888 brand through sports sponsorships
including two new football sponsorships with Sevilla FC and Toulouse FC in
addition to the World Snooker Championship and a third year with
Middlesbrough FC


Commenting, John Anderson, CEO of 888 said:


'These are excellent results and represent a record performance of profitable
growth. We have delivered on all our flotation goals.


Trading during the first 10 weeks of Q3 is in line with management expectations
and we are on track to achieve a satisfactory outcome for the full year.

As of 31 December 2006, I shall step down as CEO and take the role of
non-executive Director. The current COO, Gigi Levy will succeed me as CEO.
Gigi is an excellent, experienced individual who is more than capable of taking
on this challenge.

I am proud to have led 888, since 2000, through its formative years into the
success it is today. Over the past six years, 888 has been a pioneer in the
online gaming industry.'



An audio replay of the presentation to analysts will be available from the
investor relations section of 888's website (
http://www.888holdingsplc.com

Well done Maestro another winner..

StockMarketWire.com
"Dragonfish - the independent B2B division of online casino firm 888 - has signed an extension to its existing agreement with Costa Bingo.

Under the terms of the agreement, which will run for an additional period of three years until July 2013, Dragonfish will continue to provide Costa Bingo (www.costabingo.com) with a comprehensive, fully managed, bingo solution.

Costa Bingo will commit to a number of significant marketing projects.

Costa Bingo has been highly successful through utilising innovative marketing initiatives, most notably the Free Bingo concept helped the site become one of the busiest bingo sites in the UK market. "

lol mitzy

StockMarketWire.com
"Online gaming firm 888 is acquiring the Mytopia social games development studio from Real Dice Inc.

The assets acquired comprise a games development studio, numerous games, including 'Bingo Island 2', a real-time multiplayer mobile Poker application available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and J2ME handsets, a technology platform for hosting and operating real-time social games on social networks and a software licence for Particle Code, a cross-platform application development framework for mobile devices and tablets

The assets acquired will form the cornerstone of 888's social gaming and mobile strategy, offering a seamless experience across different platforms.

Social network and smartphone gaming applications will also be offered to Dragonfish B2B partners, allowing them to take advantage of this fast-growing area. During the year ended 31 December 2009 the assets subject of the acquisition generated an un-audited pro-forma loss of $0.1 million before tax.

The consideration consists of a base price and additional earn-out adjustments.

The base price of $18m will be paid as follows: $12m cash payment upon completion and an additional $6m payable in cash upon meeting certain milestones connected to the mobile and social networking games prior to 31 December 2011.

An additional earn out payment in cash will be made calculated on the basis of net profit for the calendar year 2011.

The total maximum consideration payable by 888 to the vendor is capped at $48m. "

StockMarketWire.com
888 has been awarded a licence to operate poker betting websites by Autoritde Rulation des Jeux En Ligne, the French gaming regulator.

Chief executive Gigi Levy said: "We are delighted to receive a licence to operate in France.

"We believe that the future of the online gaming industry is in regulated, legitimate and safe online gaming environments, and we have the right offering to obtain a significant market share in the newly regulated French market."

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming firm 888's independent B2B division, Dragonfish, has signed an agreement with Microgame for a comprehensive casino product to the Italian gaming market.

Dragonfish will provide a fully localised product with a broad range of games, both flash and download, including video slots, video poker, table games, branded games and a selection of Quickplay instant games such as virtual sport.

Microgame will integrate Dragonfish's flexible gaming platform, taking advantage of Dragonfish's leading casino games, lobby, and a selection of back office tools.

The integration provides Microgame partners with the ability to manage their user interface, cashier, ePayment processing and customer support services.

Deutsche Bank believes something may happen here.
"Upgrading to Buy from Hold on rising sector M&A interest.
A headline 17x FY11E PER is undoubtedly full, in our view, given the groups near term trading uncertainty, strategic questions on what the group should do with its sub-scale poker offering, and three profit downgrades in under three months. However, as we believe M&A is likely to increase over the coming quarters after last weeks Party/Bwin merger, we believe investors will increasingly look through headline valuation metrics. Under an M&A scenario, we believe the shares have significant upside potential and are thus upgrading to Buy from Hold."

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming firm 888 Holdings said today total operating income was up 10.5% to $130m in the half-year to end-June, compared to $118m the prior year period.

EBITDA was down 39% to $13m (H1 2009: $21m), impacted by marketing and R&D spend.

Total Operating Income B2C was up 18% to $110m (H1 2009: US$94m).

Total Operating Income B2B was down 18% to $20m (H1 2009: $24m).

Total Operating Income B2B on a pro-forma basis was up 9% to $27m (H1 2009: $24m).

Total Operating Income B2C Bingo was up 363% to $24m (H1 2009: $5m).

Real money registered customer accounts were up 22% to 7.9m (H1 2009: 6.4m).

888 said its cost reduction programme has been implemented and is expected to reduce overheads in H2 2010 by approximately $5m-$6m.

Gigi Levy, CEO, commented: 'Our business experienced a difficult first half against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment, with trading impacted by a number of factors including general online poker weakness, adverse F/X movements and, in relation to Poker and Casino in Q2, the FIFA World Cup. A cost reduction programme has been implemented to help mitigate against this impact, the benefit of which will be seen in H2. A reorganisation of the technology and product divisions and a re-focusing of certain aspects of the business is also underway to better position the business for the future.

'Despite the economic environment, we committed additional research and development spend to innovative new products and increased marketing spend, which has generated some increase in revenues and a rise in real money registered accounts. However, this important investment for future growth has impacted H1 EBITDA.

'Trading in August has been significantly stronger than in July, with a double digit daily revenue increase especially in casino and poker. Boosted by the release of the new platform, Poker has seen an increase of more than 15% in revenue in August.

'In order to continue investing for future growth, and to support potential acquisitions, the board has decided not to declare an interim dividend at this time and finalise the full year dividend when the full year results are available.'

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group 888 Holdings will announce its Q3 key performance indicators on 3rd November 2010.

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming company, 888 reports operating income flat during the 3rd quarter of 2010 at $61m. For the year to date, total operating income is $191m, an increase of 7% over the same period last year.

As at 30 September 2010, 888 had 8.2 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 21% since 30 September 2009.

Total B2C operating income during the 3rd quarter was $51m, which represents a 6% increase on the same period last year, but is at the same level as Q2 2010.

Casino income was 9% lower than last year at $27m and Poker income was 34% lower than last year at $8m, but 3% higher than Q2 2010.

Bingo income rose 344% over the same period last year to $13m.

Total Operating Income B2B during the first nine months of the year at US$29 million, an increase of 6% on a pro-forma basis.

For the final quarter, the Group says trading during October was stronger than the third quarter across all business lines.

Average daily revenue increased by approximately 6%, led by poker showing a more than 16% increase. This revenue increase was driven by higher deposit levels and more active players, with a significant increase in new customer recruitment of over 20%.

Overall, current trading remains in line with the Board's expectations and the Board expects the trading performance for the current financial year to be in line with consensus forecasts.

Fresh rumours have surfaced that Caesars Entertainment may be about to bid for 888.

i have never ever bought into this sector, as i really cannot understand why the average joe would want to chance his puny arm against the professional poker sharks who assuredly lurk awaiting an easy dinner

here's the answer .... Ladbroke's new offer is pitched at about 70 pence a share, the Sunday Telegraph said.

those that are in must be rubbing their hands in glee - and a large measure of relief

Ladbrokes??? Where do they fit into the picture?
Also, these bid rumours have being the rounds for a while now, so they may just be speculative rubbish.

Reuters report on bid talks

as expected, sp jumped a lump this morning to 60, but that doesn't leave much meat for anyone wanting to get in now

What's happening to 888 today?

A couple of things. Rumour of Ladbrokes pulling out of a bid and also an article in the Daily Mail suggesting that HMG may curb advertising by foreign gambling companies in the U.k. in order to try and reduce the incidence of compulsive gambling.

So 888 may go back to 40p then...

All depends on the bid, imo. Lots of press speculation, but nothing definite yet.