Sulake Sees Best Quarter Ever With Revenue Up 25 Percent To $20 Million

Habbo Hotel creator Sulake Corporation reported its best quarterly financial results in the company's history, as its revenue for the first quarter of 2010 jumped up to $20 million, more than 25 percent compared to the same period last year. Sulake says its strong revenue growth during the January to March 2010 span, combined with its operating model improvements and cost savings in the fourth quarter of 2009, helped significantly increase its profits. The developer expects its revenue growth for the year to continue at its current rate, and believes it will maintain healthy profitability and positive cash flow. In 2009, Sulake's revenue was $60 million, which it points out is approximately on par with its numbers for 2008 despite last year's difficult economic conditions, Habbo Hotel's technology transition from Shockwave client technology to Flash, and operating model improvements from restructuring costs. "Habbo Hotel's solid growth this quarter has been a result of our continual new and relevant features, exciting campaigns and monetization improvements to the Habbo virtual goods economy," says Sulake CEO Timo Soininen. "Better Habbo user experience has also led to increased viral recommendations and a larger user base." He adds, "Additionally, our activities and presence on social networking sites like Facebook, and other new acquisition partnerships have contributed to our growth. Also, the global online advertising market recovery resulted in solid growth in our ad sales business." The Helsinki-based company attributes the record quarter to its 10 years of experience with "continual service improvements, attentive community nurturing, inventive virtual goods and multiple international micropayments", which it says is now paying off in its teen-targeted virtual world.