Empire Online Profit Triples Amid Internet Poker Boom

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005

Bloomberg -- Empire Online Ltd., an online poker company that directs users to Web sites such as PartyPoker.com, said first-half profit almost tripled as more people started playing games such as Texas Hold'em and Omaha on the Internet.

Net income jumped to $21.2 million from $8.6 million a year earlier as gaming sales advanced to $42 million from $17.3 million, the Tortola, British Virgin Islands-based company said today in a statement. The number of active players -- those who played for real money in the last 90 days, according to Empire Online -- rose to 126,507 from 51,367.

Empire Online, whose shares have risen 32 percent since the company sold stock in an initial public offering last month, is benefiting as more people play poker on line. The size of the online poker market has increased from $90 million in 2002 to $1 billion in 2004, according to Christensen Capital Advisors.

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