Supplier News
Sweden – Soaring revenues fuel games development at Net Ent
By Phil - 17 July 2013
Online games developer Net Entertainment saw revenues for the second quarter increase by 12.6 per cent to SEK148.7m (€17m) in a quarter that saw six license agreements with new customers were signed, two new customers’ online casinos launched.
Operating profit at the Stockholm-based developer amounted to SEK38.7m (€4.5m).
Net Entertainment’s CEO, Per Eriksson, said: “Again, Net Entertainment showed double digit growth in the second quarter despite the low season that normally starts in May. We have a solid sales pipeline in Great Britain as well as in other parts of Europe and overall our position is strong on the market and I look forward to the second half of 2013.”
Agreements were signed with Lottomatica, one of the largest operators in Italy, whilst three agreements were signed with existing customers for delivery of Live Casino. Four customers launched Live Casino in the second quarter, four agreements were signed with existing customers for delivery of mobile games and 12 customers launched mobile games in the second quarter.
Mr. Eriksson, added: “The second quarter showed a solid development for Net Entertainment. We launched several new games and despite the seasonal effect that normally occurs during the months May-August the game volumes remained at a relatively stable level compared to the previous quarter. Compared to last year the game transactions increased by 34 per cent. Revenue growth was 13 per cent (17 per cent in euros) during the second quarter compared to the same period last previous year and the operating margin amounted to 26 per cent.”
Mobile games continued to show good growth and during the quarter four new agreements were signed. To date 34 customers have launched mobile games. “The launch of the Live Casino product is moving forward, albeit at a somewhat slower pace than expected, primarily due to certain operators that are waiting to fully market the product until blackjack is live,” Mr. Eriksson added. “We signed three new agreements for Live Casino during the quarter with a total of 19 agreements signed to date, of which eight are launched.”
The company is in the final phase of developing a unique game within Live Casino, Common Draw Blackjack. In traditional blackjack each table can have a maximum of seven people playing simultaneously which has made the operators experience a shortage in blackjack tables within live casino. In addition, traditional blackjack is not scalable. Common Draw Blackjack is a unique solution developed by Net Entertainment where the number of players is unlimited while still receiving the same good experience as for traditional blackjack. The launch of Common Draw Blackjack is expected to take place during the third quarter followed by standard blackjack which also is an important part in Net Entertainment’s Live Casino portfolio.
Mr. Eriksson informed: “Net Entertainment has continued to invest in the company’s platform and internal systems to make development and distribution processes more efficient. These projects are proceeding as planned. We are following the developments in the US and are currently investigating potential American partnerships. Overall our position is strong on the market and I look forward to the second half of 2013.”
