Good Fourth Quarter & Year For Cryptologic
Published: Thursday, February 16, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
GOOD FOURTH QUARTER AND YEAR FOR ONLINE GAMBLING SOFTWARE PROVIDER CRYPTOLOGIC
Fourth quarter: revenue up 40 percent, earnings up 54 percent, poker fees up 92 percent, casino fees up 20 percent
Pioneer gambling software developer and turnkey casino provider CryptoLogic Inc., announced solid financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2005 this week.
Record revenue and earnings, and healthy operating cash flow reflected a disciplined strategy and strong growth in the major casino and poker segments of the global online gaming market.
"For CryptoLogic, 2005 marked a decade of innovation and consistent performance," said Lewis Rose, CryptoLogic's President and CEO. "It was a milestone year of delivering the world's most innovative games to some of the world's most trusted gaming and entertainment brands. The results speak for themselves - we achieved all-time highs in revenue and earnings. CryptoLogic is among the industry growth leaders in both the Internet casino and Internet poker markets."
Revenue for the three months ended December 31 was well up at US$25.1 million (2004: US$17.9 million) with a similar rise over the year 2005 of US$86.3 million (2004: $63.7 million) Earnings were US$5.8 million and $20.5 million respectively.
Other highlights included:
* Online poker fees derived from the company's WagerLogic licensing subsidiary rose 92 percent to $7.9 million over Q4 2004, up 13 percent sequentially over Q3 2005. Poker software fees accounted for 32 percent of Q4 2005 revenue, and grew 126 percent to $27 million in fiscal 2005 over that achieved in 2004;
* The launch of a new Greek-language Internet poker site for William Hill - the UK's largest sports bookmaker - marked the first multi-language version of CryptoLogic-developed poker software;
* Internet casino revenue rose 20 percent to $15.5 million compared with Q4 2004, up 23 percent sequentially over Q3 2005. Fees from casino software represented 62 percent of total Q4 2005 revenue, and rose 11 percent to $53 million in fiscal 2005 over 2004's totals.
* Geographic diversification remained on track with licensees' revenue from international markets exceeding 65 percent of total revenue, up from over 60 percent in 2004;
* In 2005, CryptoLogic repurchased and cancelled 509,700 shares at an approximate average price of US$18.05 per share ($9.2 million) under its Normal Course Issuer Bids; and
CryptoLogic delivered both record revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005. The first and fourth quarters are typically the strongest periods for Internet gaming as players tend to spend more time indoors during the winter and fall seasons.
Revenue rose 40 percent to US$25.1 million (Q4 2004: $17.9 million) and earnings for Q4 2005 rose 54 percent to $5.8 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2005, CryptoLogic's revenue increased by 35 percent to US$86.3 million (2004: $63.7 million). Earnings for the full year improved by 50 percent to US$20.5 million.
Fourth quarter revenue reflected strong organic growth from existing customers in both Internet casino and poker. The immediate popularity of the company's new Bejeweled and Marvel-themed casino games, coupled with increasing player volumes and growth in popularity of the company's Internet poker licensees have contributed to record top line performance in these core game segments.
CryptoLogic's US$12.5 million investment program to enhance its software and systems, launched in Q3 2004, is now complete, and as a result, the company remains at the forefront of bringing the latest product innovation and entertainment concepts to its Internet gaming software, as evidenced by significant revenue growth and industry awards.
