82% year-on-year increase in Q1 net revenue for Caesars Interactive

82% year-on-year increase in Q1 net revenue for CIE driven by social and mobile gaming and Pacific Interactive’s acquisition

Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) posted a 82% year-on-year increase in Q1 net revenues to $124.2m, driven by social and mobile gaming and Pacific Interactive’s acquisition in February of this year.

The leading operator’s in social gaming registered revenues of $124.2m in Q1 2014, a figure boosted by the acquisition of Pacific Interactive during the first semester, which boosted the number of players accessing Caesar’s mobile and social platforms. Average daily users were up 10% to 5.7m over the period. According to Mitch Garber, Caesars Interactive Entertainment’s CEO, the company intends to continue being “aggressively acquisitive in the social and mobile space” after acquiring four social gaming studios, including Buffalo Studios and Playtika.

Revenues were also driven by the success of Caesars’ WSOP.com real money poker platform in Nevada where CIE is the leading operator, and its casino and online poker websites in New Jersey, which claim around 30% market share, a step behind leader Borgata. “Certainly we are going to be able to decrease our marketing expense without having the launch expense associated on a going forward basis. But there is still a lot a work to be done to get all of the people in New Jersey who could be and should be customers to know this activity exists”, Mitch Garber added.

The company said it will now focus on adding game content and new games features to its social media and real money platforms and increasing its distribution platforms, which includes the launch of a mobile application for its Caesars Casino website in New Jersey. “I am almost certain that we will see multiple states regulating online gaming, but it is a question of time and timing. I feel good about California, we feel pretty good about Pennsylvania, potentially New York, so lobbying efforts won’t subside,” he said.

Source: eGRMagazine