The second quarter results from Empire Online operations were released
this week, showing a slowdown in new customer signups that could be
worrying.
Empire shrugged it off with the comment that it was a seasonal drop
in player recruitment figures that operators usually experience. although
it admitted that it had been "more pronounced” this year.
Part of the slowdown may be that Empire has shifted its client acquisition
away from the US - most of its players were recruited from outside
the US and the Fifa World Cup had had a more detrimental effect on
its sign-up rates than it expected.
The company claims it is “financially strong with considerable
cash resources of more than US$260 million (GBP140.5 million)”.
It added that it was always looking at suitable acquisition targets
but had “been hindered by unreasonably high valuations expected
by vendors and the uncertainty surrounding the US regulatory environment”.
Trading highlights included total net gaming revenue for the quarter
of US$18.3 million, compared with US$21.1 million in Q1 2006 and US$25.3
million in Q2 2005. Over 60 percent of new real money players were
driven from outside the US, compared with 50 percent in Q1. The number
of new real money players across all gaming platforms rose by 29 928
in Q2 2006, from 44 217 in Q1 2006 and 42 772 in Q2 2005.