Operator News
Austria – Novomatic set to post revenues of more than €4bn
By Phil - 28 February 2017
Novomatic is set to post combined revenues of more than €4bn for fiscal year 2016 with revenue growth was mainly achieved in the core markets of Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy.
In 2017, the technology group will focus on expanding its market position, particularly in South America, the US, Australia and Asia. The acquisition of a majority stake in the Australian company Ainsworth Game Technology offers an important lever for the development of these markets. Novomatic and Ainsworth have been working together to complete this merger since receiving approval of the minority shareholders in June 2016.
Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann said: “In this short time, we have already made significant progress and begun the strategic planning process for our joint future after Novomatic becomes Ainsworth’s majority shareholder.”
In February, Ainsworth will appoint Mr. Neumann as Non-Executive Member of the Board. Both companies are currently in the process of obtaining the approval of various gaming authorities required for the completion of the acquisition.
Novomatic is also very pleased with its development as a technology supplier. The company recently entered into a five-year contract with the Greek lottery company OPAP. As of February 2017, the Sazka Group, a Czech consortium that also holds a share in Casinos Austria AG, is OPAP’s majority shareholder with a stake of 33 per cent). With revenues of more than €1.4bn in 2015, OPAP is the leading gaming company in Greece and Europe’s fifth largest lottery operator. Starting in 2018, Novomatic will be providing its innovative and secure Omni-channel platform for all OPAP lottery games.
The British competition authority CMA (Competition Markets Authority) recently gave the green light for the acquisition of the English company Talarius. With this acquisition, Novomatic is now the largest operator in the segment of adult gaming centers in the UK.
According to Mr. Neumann, preliminary calculations indicate that in fiscal year 2016, Gumpoldskirchen-based Novomatic AG was able to outpace the previous year’s record results by another 10 per cent to reach a total of approximately €2.3bn. The combined Group revenues, including the two Swiss sister holding companies Gryphon Invest AG and ACE Casino Holding AG, is expected to increase to €4.4bn. The Novomatic Group had 28,974 employees worldwide at the end of 2016, an increase of approximately 15 per cent over the previous year.
