Gambling software firm CryptoLogic's Q1 profit jumps

MARIA BABBAGE TORONTO (CP) - CryptoLogic Inc., a software developer for Internet gambling, said Wednesday its earnings jumped $1 million US in the first quarter but it won't be getting into the wireless-device or Asian markets anytime soon. Instead, the company will continue to focus on the more established online casino and poker markets, which it credited Wednesday for first-quarter revenue growth to $20.3 million US from $15.2 million in 2004. CryptoLogic's first-quarter earnings jumped to $4.8 million, from $3.8 million US a year earlier, as revenue rose 33 per cent. Earnings for the quarter ended March 31 amounted to 34 cents a share, diluted, compared with 28 cents per share a year ago, the Toronto-based company (TSX:CRY) reported Wednesday. While mobile and interactive TV markets seem "very romantic," CryptoLogic CEO Lewis Rose said he remains skeptical. "We have developed four games for wireless ourselves, but we are not convinced that the economic model justifies the capital expenditure," he told analysts in a conference call. "As far as wireless is concerned, there are a number of intermediaries who would want their slice of the pie. And so our view, at this point - given the takeup, given the technology challenges, given the user or player experience and given the revenue model - we're not convinced that right now is the time for us." In April, the British government enacted a law to regulate online gambling in the country for the first time, a move Rose cited as evidence of the "growing acceptance that this industry is here to stay." During the quarter, the company also dropped two clients who, combined, accounted for less than one per cent of CryptoLogic's revenue, Rose said, leaving the company with nine core licensees. © The Canadian Press, 2005