GAN chief looks to the future after 2015 losses
Dermot Smurfit, chief executive of GAN, has said that although the firm suffered a financial setback during the 12 months to December 31, 2015, he is optimistic about its prospects for growth in 2016 and beyond.
Full-year net revenue amounted to £6 million (€7.7 million/$8.8 million), a drop of 20% on the £7.5 million posted in the previous year.
Gross income was down by 1% from £26.1 million to £25.8 million, while clean earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation plummeted 112% from a loss of £1.4 million to a negative of £3 million.
Elsewhere, loss before tax increased from £2.6 million to £5.6 million, with loss per share also expanding from £0.05 to £0.09.
Net assets at the end of the year fell from £15.2 million to £10.2 million, with cash and cash equivalents also down from £10.8 million to £3.8 million.
However, despite the losses, Smurfit was keen to look to the future, highlighting 2015 as a “period of investment” for the company and stating that performance to date this year is in line with expectations.
“Following a transformational year in 2013, GAN has continued to position its business to capture growth in emerging online gaming markets in the US,” Smurfit said.
“2015 saw significant progress with Simulated Gaming, together with a number of significant commercial and strategic developments.
“Throughout 2015 Simulated Gaming proved its ability to support the core on-property gaming business of US casino clients, lending impetus to new client signings as GAN’s increasing body of evidence provided compelling rebuttal against US casino operators’ natural concerns relating to cannibalisation of existing land-based business.
“Our investment in the business continues and we have grown our team and expanded our technical expertise, US infrastructure and gaming content portfolio throughout 2015.
“We remain confident in our prospects for 2016 and beyond.
“For 2016, we anticipate significantly increased market share in New Jersey’s Regulated Gaming market with the Borgata, subject to certain contractual conditions being met.
“In Simulated Gaming, we forecast material growth from the launches of the Borgata, Isle of Capri, Jack Entertainment and two undisclosed but material casino clients located in the Northeast and Southwest regions of the US.”
Meanwhile, GAN has entered into a partnership with a yet-to-be-disclosed Native American casino operator in the Southwest US.
Under the agreement, which remains subject to regulatory approval, GAN will provide the client with its Simulated Gaming social gaming solution.
GAN said the new client is the largest multi-property operation to have agreed a deal to date and will launch the solution during the second half of the year.
The unidentified client has given a material multi-million-dollar commitment to the digital marketing of Simulated Gaming and will target players in its patron database, as well as driving new player acquisition through the platform.
GAN also said that its GameSTACK internet gaming platform will be installed on-property this summer, which will enable the client to conduct real-money online gaming on-site at a future date and subject to regulatory consent.
Smurfit said: ”This is a landmark deal for GAN which reinforces the commercial appeal of our unique patented Simulated Gaming model to major US casino operators.
“We are truly privileged to bring online one of the largest Native American casino operators in the US.
“Furthermore, with the client’s multi-million dollar digital marketing commitment combined with GAN’s expert market services team, we believe the client will quickly secure significant social casino market share in the Southwest US region served by their land-based gaming enterprise.”
GAN added that the identity of the client will be revealed upon the deal securing relevant regulatory approval.
Related article: GAN confirms 10th US client for Simulated Gaming