Mattingley: 888 bingo business to be overhauled
Bingo business set for restructuring while mobile seen as growth opportunity with Italy and Spain launches planned
888 is to overhaul its bingo business in order to arrest the double-digit revenue declines seen in the vertical since the start of the year, chief executive Brian Mattingley has told eGaming Review this morning.
Mattingley said 888 has completed a complete strategic review of its bingo business, which saw a 14% quarter-on-quarter drop in revenues pushing H1 revenues down 18% year-on-year to $22m.
Those results came on the back of a marginal uplift of 3% in year-on-year bingo revenues reported in the first 20 days of April 2013 after which the CEO claimed 888 has “turned a corner” in the vertical.
The bingo business will be restructured to act like the operator’s poker and casino verticals, while investment in marketing will also increase significantly, Mattingley said.
“We are hopeful of arresting the decline in bingo but I’m not sure that will be this year,” he said. “Bingo is a very tough market with a plethora of new skins launching every week and the whole industry is seeing a squeeze of its revenues.
“But we’re doing everything we can to put it in line with the rest of the business. There’s a big investment to come and we’re testing marketing strategies right now.”
The operator also plans to capitalise on growing mobile figures, which represented 18% total UK revenues in H1 2013 compared to 3% in H2 2012.
Bets made on mobile devices accounted for 18% of total UK revenue across casino, sportsbook and poker, up from just 3% in the second half of 2012.
Mattingley cited improvements in payment provisions and app quality for the increase, and added that further app launches in Spain and Italy were in the pipeline. He added 888 has earmarked an early 2014 launch date for online poker in Italy.
“We’re invested very heavily into mobile technology and we see this as being one market which will be of significant growth for us,” he said.
“Using the UK as a proxy where we have some good mobile products we have had phenomenal growth and we are in the top four providers of [mobile sports betting].”
“And the first action for bingo will be to launch a good quality mobile product with good quality side games. That will be an exciting opportunity “ the investment we made in the second half of 2012 is starting to pay dividends.”