Nektan considering US investment offers
Nektan revealed today (Wednesday) that it is reviewing offers to invest in its US business, with a tier-one operator partnership set to go live “shortly” in the country as a “pipeline of upcoming opportunities” come to fruition in the post-PASPA era.
Nektan confirmed the news in a trading update for the first quarter of the 2019 financial year, with a 64.6% year-on-year rise in net gaming revenue to a record £6.4m (€7.2m/$8.3m) in the three months through to the end of June underlining “stronger-than-expected growth”.
“The board continues to review its options in the US, which include expressions of interest to invest directly into the US business unit, with the objective of reducing the cash burden on Nektan within the next two quarters,” the company said.
The company added that in the first quarter Nektan completed back-end integration, white label customisation and regulatory approval with a “major tier-one operator” ahead of an in-venue launch.
Nektan interim CEO Gary Shaw (pictured) added: “Our North America division is making progress and is due to go live shortly with a tier-one operator. We are positioned to take advantage of the opening up of the sector in the United States with a pipeline of upcoming opportunities.”
Cash wagering jumped 40.7% year-on-year to £178.3m even though first-time depositors dropped by 2.9% to 38,981. Nektan put this decline down to a focus on “maximising player lifetime values”, which it said will boost profitability moving forward.
Nektan now has over 700 games on its platform, up 40% on the final quarter of the 2018 financial year, and delivered this content to a record 143 global casino brands in the first quarter.
In addition, the company has integrated Metric Gaming’s full-service Race and Sports betting platform into its own Evolve platform ready for roll-out in the US. This comes as a result of the partnership between the two companies agreed in May.
The company also noted that as a result of it growing content and client bases, it expects to become “EBITDA break-even in Europe” by the end of the 2019 financial year.