Daniel Stewart remains 'highly bullish' about the prospects for 888 Holdings after the online gaming firm issued an upbeat fourth quarter trading statement.

888's fourth quarter revenue of $67.9m was well ahead of the broker's $64.3m forecast, driven by the group's core casino business to consumer (B2C) offering, where revenue of $33.4m in the fourth quarter was much better than the $30.8m the broker had pencilled in for the division.

'Overall, revenue for FY09 [full year 2009] came in at $246.7m, ahead of our $243.1m estimate and marginally above consensus. The group has indicated that EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] for FY09 should be in line with consensus (our estimate is $45.0m, a touch above consensus at $44.4m).,' investment analyst James Hollins notes.

The broker has retained its 145p price target and 'buy' recommendation on the back of the revenue outperformance and the possibility of more earnings accretive acquisitions to come.

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