888’s Dragonfish in South African Deal

GIBRALTAR – Online gaming operator 888 Holdings recently announced that its B2B unit, Dragonfish, has signed a strategic agreement with South Africa-based Phumela Gold Enterprises (PGE), a pari-mutuel horseracing and tote betting company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dragonfish will be providing PGE with a comprehensive sportsbook and after regulations in online gambling are clearer in the African nation, it will also supply PGE’s casino, poker and bingo games.

The agreement will also allow 888 to distribute horseracing pools and live racing streaming from tracks of which PGE has exclusive distribution rights. The pools and live streaming will be made available to all 888 licensees and on the 888.com websites.

Dragonfish will also be servicing PGE with e-payments service and back-end software that will allow the South African firm to integrate into 888’s shared wallet, cashier, and support systems.

According to PGE CEO Rian Du Plessis:

“As a recognised world leader in harnessing the latest technology to globalise horseracing, we are very happy to sign with a partner that can provide us with market-leading technology to expand our offering worldwide. Working with Dragonfish going forward will help us to diversify our online offering and build on our current success.”

In response, Dragonfish Managing Director Gabi Campos said:

“Horseracing is the largest secotr in worldwide sports betting and we are delighted to work with a global leader in this area. Phumela has a huge user-base in South Africa and this deal will ensure that it has the best tools available with which to provide its customers with a cutting-edge online gaming offering.”

MGM Mirages Pays Up, CityCenter Avoids Bankruptcy

Partner Dubai World Temporarily Happy

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MGM Mirage made a $200 million funding payment last Friday and this helped the $9.1 billion CityCenter development project avoid bankruptcy and allowed construction work on what is billed as the most expensive commercial development in US history.

The payment, approved by MGM’s senior lenders, allowed the discussion of a potential Chapter 11 reorganization to be deferred at least for another month. The payment included $100 million that was due to be paid by Dubai World, MGM Mirage’s joint venture partner in the CityCenter project.

In addition, the payment allowed construction work to continue, keeping thousands of residents of Nevada employed.

In a statement made by MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Jim Murren:

“We are doing our utmost to see that this project continues, keeping thousands of Nevadans employed. We will continue to make every effort to see that CityCenter is completed and becomes an even greater economic driver for the region.”

The CityCenter projects currently employes about 8,500 construction workers and when fully opened hopes to provide over 10,000 jobs.

Murren further added that MGM Mirage is continuing to negotiate options with its partner, Dubai World and the project’s lenders and other entities to ensure funding for the continued work on CityCenter is secured. MGM Mirage and Dubai World still need about $1.2 billion to complete CityCenter which was initially budgeted at $7.5 billion.

Dubai World, which recently filed a lawsuit against MGM Mirage on grounds of mismanagement and cost overruns on the CityCenter project, called the payment made by its partner “a sign of good faith and showed MGM Mirage’s commitment to the project.”

In a statement released, Dubai World said:

“The funding injection gives the CityCenter board more time to work through restructuring options. It is an acceptable, albeit temporary, solution to the liquidity issues that MGM Mirage is facing. Dubai World looks forward to working with MGM during this process and to completing the project to the benefit of all parties.”

Moneybookers Profits Up 88% in 2008

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Online payment provider Moneybookers Limited revealed that its revenues upped 88% as it released its financial results for 2008.

Moneybookers revealed that the significant growth was brought about by the rise in the number of users of the online payment service as well as the success of its merchant network.

For 2008, Moneybookers reported revenues of €34.5 million, up 88% from €18.4 million in 2007. Its earnings also rose 108% to €18.7 while transaction volumes were pegged at €2.37, a 63% increase. The firm’s total number of account holders grew 61% and now stands at 6.3 million.

The increase in number of users was spurred by the massive daily account sign-ups of around 10,000 and Moneybookers also revealed that the total number of merchants offering the Moneybookers payment option numbered 35,000 worldwide.

Moneybookers Co-CEO Nikolai Riesenkampff said:

“Despite uncertain economic conditions, we believe that we can continue significantly to outgrow both the market and our competition in 2009. Excellent opportunities exist for us to help maintain our growth momentum over the year. We are confident that we will be able to capitalise on these and take full advantage of our leading position.”

Fellow Co-CEO Martin Ott also commented on the results:

“As one of Europe’s fastest growing and most profitable Internet companies, we have more than doubled our profits every year becoming, as a result, the largest and fastest growing eWallet after PayPal. 2008 has continued this story with growth across all areas of the business and some excellent new partnerships with the likes of Ricardo, MTV Networks Germany and Thomas Cook. This year has started extremely well, building on this success, with the launch of Moneybookers USA and the integration as a payment option on eBay.com.”

Online Gaming Powers Paddy Power Growth in 2008

DUBLIN, IRELAND – The 2008 Preliminary results for Paddy Power have been released and it was revealed that 2008’s profit growth was generated by its online business segment.

Paddy Power CEO Patrick Kennedy announced:

“We have grown earnings per share by 10 percent in 2008 despite the challenging environment. Our online operations performed particularly strongly with a 48 percent increase in operating profit in constant currency.”

Kennedy also said that second half results for 2008 also demonstrated the success of Paddy’s strategy of  “geographic and channel expansion” as its online operating profit accounted for over 70% of Group profitability “and profits from UK customers almost half of Group profitability.” Online operating profit grew 34% to €42.8 million.

Paddy Power’s preliminary results also highlighted market share growth of its retail in Irish territories despite reduced operating profits and less than favorable sporting results as well as ongoing investments including the opening of 15 shops, acquisition of eight shops in Northern Ireland, and the push of newer online businesses and products.

The company also reported a strong cash balance of €77 million at the end of December after €54 million were returned to shareholders.

Kennedy remained optimistic that Paddy Power will fare well this year:

“The Group faces a number of headwinds again in 2009, as has already been reflected in consensus expectations. In that context, the year has got off to a satisfactory start and we remain confident of the Group’s prospects.”

Ivobank Extends European Coverage

LONDON – In order to service more people with their online banking and transaction needs, Ivobank has announced recently that it is opening its services to more European countries.

Initially launched in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland and Canada a couple of months back, the online banking service is now offering its services to France, Italy and Germany, expanding its European coverage.

Ivobank Managing Director Timothy Sawyer commented:

“More businesses and people are now choosing to bank online, make payments and transfer money on the Internet. Following our successful launch in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Canada, we are looking forward to opening up our rapid payments service to more customers across Europe and plan to introduce our service to even more European countries shortly.”

Customers availing of the Ivobank service in the new territories will also be able to access the Ivobank Virtual Card — a virtual debit card — to use for their online purposes where MasterCard is accepted.