In the fight for online poker supremacy, it seems that the bruised and battered Empire Online may prevail just yet. Empire Online seems to have achieved the impossible by demonstrating strong figures in today's Q4 2005 trading update. Empire's stellar performance comes despite harsh odds posed by competitor/former partner PartyGaming late in the third quarter when the latter cut Empire and other “skin" sites off of its main poker platform. Despite expectations, Empire Online's net revenues for the fourth quarter surpassed those of the previous quarter. Empire reported $22.5 million in net gaming revenue, slightly more than last quarter's $22.0 million.

Strategically speaking, Empire Online acted wisely in branching out to other sites with its acquisition of Club Dice Casino and Noble Poker earlier last year. During Q4 2005, Empire Online stepped up its marketing campaigns for the new sites, a move that seemed to have paid off. Indeed, the number of new players registering at all Empire Online sites other than Empire Poker increased by 32,419 during the quarter, constituting growth of 23% compared to the previous quarter. When including Empire Poker in the equation, a 6% growth in the number of new player sign-ups was documented, further demonstrating that the newer online poker and casino platforms were to thank for this performance.

Regarding the company's Q4 results, Empire Online CEO Noam Lanir said, “I am delighted in the performance of our new platforms, which demonstrate the strength of our marketing skills and builds on strategic acquisitions we made in Q3 2005. It is too early to tell how full year results at Empire Poker will turn out, but the company has built a solid, fast growing business, that will deliver strong and sustainable growth in the future."

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Tuesday, 24 January 2006