Probability registers record deposits
Mobile gaming specialist sees share price soar on the back of record player deposits and wagering in the third quarter.
Probability has reported record player deposits and wagering and a 30% increase in net gaming revenues for the third quarter.
The AIM-listed mobile gambling services specialist said that its unaudited net gaming revenue for the third quarter to 31 December 2010 was £1.5m, an increase of 20% on the previous quarter to 30 September 2010 (£1.23m unaudited), while its net gaming revenue in the quarter to 31 December last year was 30% higher than the same period in 2009.
“The strong growth in customer deposits and activity which started in the second quarter of this financial year has accelerated into the third quarter, with December 2010 setting records for both player deposits and wagering activity,” a statement to the stock exchange said this morning.
Player deposits in the quarter to 31 December 2010 were 35% higher than in the previous quarter to 30 September 2010. The statement added that players using iPhone and Android devices accounted for 27% of deposits in December last year. Both these services launched in August.
The company acquired 48,102 new players in the recent quarter, compared to 39,190 in the previous quarter, an increase of 22% quarter-on-quarter.
The strongest weather correlation found was that the days with the worst snow during December had, on average, 15% more wagering activity than days without snow.
Charles Cohen, CEO of Probability, said an internal analysis of trading data, supported by anecdotal information from customers, suggested that adverse weather conditions benefitted the company in Q3 last year. Specifically, snowy days were found to be the busiest in the period.
“This was a record quarter for Probability. It seems that the snow helped, and our hunch is that customers were turning to their mobiles for entertainment when they found themselves stuck at home or elsewhere,” he said.
“What matters to us are the underlying trends which show that this business is on the right side of powerful technological and behavioral changes as people increasingly direct their attention to smartphones and tablets. The best demonstration of this is the rapid takeup of our services on the iPhone. These users are now approaching 30% of our business, from a standing start in August. We have had great success in managing the upgrade path for players who buy an iPhone or Android device and want to take their gambling account with them.
“We are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this trend, particularly as we will be operating from a lower cost base than before once we transfer our operations to Gibraltar from Alderney, and are able to explore opportunities in Italy and elsewhere from there. This is going to be a very exciting period for us,” Cohen added.