PartyGaming revenue up 15%

Continuing clean EBITDA was up 7% to US$ 138 million from US$ 130 million which the group said was slightly ahead of market expectations.

Profit before tax from continuing operations fell to US$ 61 million from US$ 79 million. Continuing clean EPS was 13.5c, down from 14.9c.

Net cash flow from continuing operations was unchanged at US$ 119 million with net cash at the yearend rising to US$ 217 million from US$ 158 million

The group said its merger with bwin was on track for completion, with new shares in bwin.party digital entertainment, expected to begin trading on March 31.

The increase in revenue was driven by a full year's contribution from online bingo operator Cashcade, acquired in July 2009, and a strong performance in casino and sports betting.

Poker was down at US$ 173 million from the previous UA$ 189 million. Casino rose to US$ 208 million from US$ 188 million, Bingo to US$ 70 million from US$ 32 million and Sports Betting to US4 29 million from US$ 18 million.

PartyGaming said this helped to mitigate the impact of a challenging economic environment and an unlevel playing field in poker 'caused by the continued acceptance of US-based players by certain operators'.

CEO Jim Ryan said the group was confident of delivering cost and revenue synergies identified from the bwin merger, with the full US$ 76 million a year being delivered by 2013.

Shares were up 2.3p at 177.3p.