The online gambling company, 888 Holdings Plc, has reported a large increase in profit for the first half of this year. The forty percent rise is due to the addition of new games, such as backgammon, that caused more gamblers to open accounts with the company.

888 added backgammon to their list of online gambling games to help boost their revenue from losses after the UIGEA was passed. The company also added a ladies bingo site and sports betting. The net income for 888 rose to almost $19 million from $13.5 million last year and the net gaming revenue rose thirty six percent to $131.5 million.

Richard Carter, an analyst at Numis Securities in London, stated: “Interim results are ahead of our expectations. We think the current valuation is too low and fails to recognize the group’s increasing product diversity”. Along with his statement, Carter recommended investors buy stock in the company. With shares up from 3.9 cents a share to 5.4 cents a share from last year, investors may be able to earn a pretty penny in the near future.

This year the stock for 888 has rose 2.6 percent and the company has a market value of 498 million pounds. PartyGaming Plc, a competitor, has seen a 26 percent drop in their stock this year. Gigi Levy, Chief Executive Officer of 888, stated in an interview: “It has been a good first half and we see indications that the second half will be even better.”

If Levy is correct, than investors should take Numis’s advice and buy stock of the Company. If 888 continues to see the same amount of success in the next half of the year as they did the first half, stock should continue to rise and investors will indeed make a profit.


- 2008-08-29