Online gambling and social gaming operator Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) reported yet another strong quarterly revenue performance but it wasn’t enough to prevent profits falling by nearly three-quarters.

On Thursday, CIE’s parent Caesars Acquisition Company (CACQ) reported revenue of $643.6m in the three months ending March 31, up 13.6% from the same period last year, while adjusted earnings rose 31.5% to $194.6m.

But operating income fell 43.4% to $116m and net income fell 74.4% to $37m due to the change in the fair value of “contingently issuable non-voting membership units.” Absent these recalculations, CACQ says operating income would have risen $28.7m.

The units in question were issued to Caesars Entertainment Corporation (CEC), from which CACQ was – illegally, by most accounts – spun off prior to the bankruptcy of CEC’s main unit, and were required based on CIE having exceeded certain earnings targets. So, sorry CIE shareholders, but CEC’s hedge fund bosses get paid first. As usual.