Good year end for Gaming VC

Steve Barlow, CEO of the German-focused gambling firm Gaming VC Corp released year-end results in line with management expectations this week, adding that the group was delivering a 2 percent average revenue growth per month.

Pre-tax profit came in at GBP 12.8 million on turnover that rose to Euro 40.4 million.

Gaming VC operates primarily in German speaking countries. It does not accept wagers from US customers, which means that it is safe from any prohibitive US legislation on the industry that might come about, Barlow said. "These results demonstrate Gaming VC's ability to deliver strong increases in revenues as seen by the achievement of at least 2 percent per month revenue growth since October 2005. German speaking markets show continued strong growth and new technology has enabled greater customer differentiation and targeting."

Gaming group VC operates the Boss Media powered Casino Club and Casino Club Poker in 7 European languages.

Average daily revenues for the first quarter 2006 were Euro 113 000, with new registrations at 14 700 in the same quarter. Average revenues per player were Euro 60 a month throughout.

One of the group's key objectives continues to be expansion in Europe. In Spain, additional marketing spend has been allocated to drive the customer numbers needed to achieve critical mass. Spain was selected as the first test market for a new casino as it was identified as a market that had no contentious legislation for internet gaming, an appropriate level of internet infrastructure and no current dominant market leader in the online gaming sector. An initial broad media campaign to heighten customer awareness of the Casino Club brand was launched in September 2005.

Since then, visits to the Spanish site in September and October 2005 were over 9 000 per day, with online channels showing good leads. However, the conversion of leads to paid play was significantly slower than expected. Subsequent analysis identified areas of web navigation and Spanish support services as contributing factors. These issues have now been addressed with both site and customer support improvements. Phase two of the Spanish marketing campaign, which entails a low additional cost, went live in March 2006.

Since February 2006, Gaming VC has soft launched a second new casino in Russia in conjunction with experienced local business people who have significant internet and marketing experience. The new site (www.casino-club.ru) offers the usual suite of casino games in both Euros and Roubles.

The group has been active in the booming online poker segment, too. Casino Club's online poker room completed a soft-launch in August 2005, and underwent beta-level testing during the European summer holidays. A marketing programme to promote the new product began in September 2005, including promotion in Casino Club magazine to the existing German customer base, a direct marketing campaign to new prospects and inclusion in the rollout of the Spanish marketing campaign.

Poker is already accounting for about 4 percent of daily revenues.