We weren’t sure that it could happen, but alongside PartyGaming’s end of year financial reports comes their intentions to grow the company even more in 2010. It’s final balance sheet for 2009 may look a little worse for wear with net losses of $26.5m despite generating a staggering $132.2m in revenue in the final quarter of last year, but don’t be fooled – PartyGaming are looking to get even bigger!
The gaming giant, which runs online bingo brands including Party Bingo and – thanks to a well publicised takeover of Cashcade last year – Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo and Cheeky Bingo is clearly looking to go stellar when it comes to online gaming over the next year, hoping for further growth across it’s recently padded portfolio of online bingo brands as well as expansion into new markets and new B2B deals – including a possible merger with fellow gaming giant Bwin, which would give the American run PartyGaming a massive advantage when it comes to cracking the all important European market.
Despite a loss overall, the company had posted 17% quarter-on-quarter growth for poker, casinos, bingo and sports betting in that period. PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan reported that he believes PartyGaming is well-positioned for 2010 and it seems that the buyout of Cashcade in 2009 was no small move, allowing the formerly US focused PartyGaming to set it’s sites on Europe via the hugely popular Cashcade brands such as Foxy Bingo. Specifically, Ryan has singled out growth opportunities in Denmark, France, Italy and potentially Spain.
In an interview with broadcaster Cantos, Jim Ryan noted 2009 as a tactical year for PartyGaming, saying: “PartyGaming’s performance was resilient, but not immune. In 2009 we focused on operations and improving our operations. In doing so we actually returned the business to growth. If you look at our 4th quarter all four product verticals grew, and grew dramatically.”
And it seems that this year, most industry eyes will be on PartyGaming again, as it looks set to finalise a consolidation with Bwin, which would give many elements of the business a huge advantage over their competitors. Perhaps most affected would be 888 Holdings, which like PartyGaming has a wide span of interests across the egaming world beyond online bingo. With 888 Holdings posting strong results and enjoying continued success thanks to it’s recent buyout of Posh Bingo and Wink Bingo, it seems that 2010 looks set to be a year of massive competition with big winners and as such, big losers.
