Sulake reports strong growth and profits for 2008
Helsinki, March 30, 2009 – Sulake Corporation, the parent company of Habbo, the
world ‘s largest virtual world for teenagers, broke all previous records with sales 20% up in
December 2008. As a result the company reached an annual revenue milestone of 50 million
Euros (74 million USD) leading to profit; 4.8 million Euros (7 million USD) of EBITDA and a
positive net result.
By year-end the Habbo community had also grown: 121 million Habbo characters had been
created and the number of returning visitors increased by over 40%. Traffic to the virtual world
also reached an all time high in December with over 11,5 million unique visitors.
Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake Corporation explains:
“Our success in 2008 was a realization of the hard work we have put into Habbo. Constant
site updates, usability improvements and a refresh of avatar clothing and accessories have all
contributed to boosting our user experience and numbers. More teens than ever are visiting Habbo
and they are staying longer.”
“We are confident that our Habbo business model, which is based primarily on user sales and
supported by advertising, is a clear strength in the current economic climate. We do see
opportunity to grow our advertising revenue with advertisers looking for targeted and cost
effective social media solutions. Furthermore, IRC-Galleria, our social networking service for
young adults, has continued to grow both in user and advertising revenue.”
In 2009 Sulake aims to continue driving growth and profitability. In addition, the company
plans to extend its product portfolio into new platforms and target audiences with the launch of a
new service later this year.
For more information, please contact:
Outi Henriksson, Chief Financial Officer, tel. +358 40 5455810
Juhani Lassila, Director PR & Communications, tel. +358 40 541 2365, press@sulake.com