10/21 Financial updates - Party and Empire

[Sniper]

Party...

PartyGaming (PRTY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was a bright spot after a positive update [nL21265410].

The gaming company, whose volatile shares have halved since it warned in September its rapid growth was moderating, closed up 10.3 percent after it said it was comfortable with analysts' 2005 revenue forecasts and expected a seasonal pick-up as winter approaches.

"At the current share price, we find the scale of the opportunity for PartyGaming to fix its problems and deliver growth too compelling to ignore," Citigroup analysts said as they told investors to buy the stock.

Empire...

Online poker operator, Empire, has issued a profit warning, announcing that full-year net profit for 2005 will be around 10 per cent below analysts' predictions.

The warning comes just days after online giant PartyGaming announced it was distancing itself from third party 'skin' websites which direct traffic to the business.

In a statement, Empire said it had experienced a sharp slowdown in poker revenues since PartyGaming called an end to the partnership and shifted all of PartyPoker.com players to a new operating platform.