Month: May 2021

Revenue for the three months to 31 March came to KRW163.9bn (£103.5m/€120.3m/$146.4m), of which KRW121.3bn came from mobile gaming, and KRW42.6bn from PC games. 

DoubleDown Interactive contributed KRW107.7bn of the total, an 18.7% improvement from the first quarter of 2020. This broke down to KRW104.0bn from its flagship product, DoubleDown Casino, with KRW2.9bn coming from DoubleDown Fort Knox, and KRW0.6bn from DoubleDown Classic.

The operator announced in March that it was to resurrect plans to list DoubleDown on New York’s Nasdaq exchange. It had previously planned to spin off the business, which was acquired from International Game Technology in 2017, last year. 

However those plans were later shelved, with DoubleU claiming that the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic had dampened investor enthusiasm for the float. It has now filed its 20-F registration form, which is to be reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Once the securities regulator has approved its registration, DoubleU will determine a timescale and pricing for the public offering.  

DoubleU Games, meanwhile, generated a further KRW56.2bn in revenue, up 20.3% year-on-year. 

This comprised KRW52.9bn from DoubleU Casino, with KRW3.1bn from Take5 Slots and KRW0.2bn from DoubleU Bingo.

Turning to operating costs, total outgoings for the quarter grew 14.7% to KRW113.6bn. Platform fees to the likes of Apple and Facebook were the largest expense at KRW48.9bn, or 29.8% of revenue, while marketing costs jumped 38.8% to KRW30.4bn. 

Personnel costs grew only marginally, to KRW16.3bn, while royalty payments (KRW3.4bn) and other expenses (KRW4.5bn) both declined. This left earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of KRW60.5bn, up 21.5% year-on-year. 

Once depreciation and amortisation charges of KRW10.1bn were factored in, DoubleU’s operating profit was up 31.0% at KRW50.3bn. 

After KRW3.5bn in non-operating income, comprising interest and foreign exchange gains, offset by KRW0.6bn in non-operating outgoings, pre-tax profit came to KRW53.2bn, a 29.4% rise from the prior year. 

This was reduced by taxes of KRW13.5bn for a Q1 net profit of KRW39.7bn, a 23.3% increase from the first quarter of 2020. 

Total revenue came to $377.4m, an increase of 4.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Paysafe credited this to growth across its eCash platform, which grew 63.3% in revenue year on year.

Paysafe’s Integrated Processing and Digital Wallet software revenue dropped by 4.9% and 12.5% respectively, while $7.3m of revenue was canceled out through intersegment eliminations.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Total revenue for the three months to March 31 amounted to $1.02bn, up from $814m in the same period last year across its two divisions – global gaming and global lottery.

IGT put this increase down to year-on-year growth in its global lottery segment, where revenue was up 48.3% to $749m. Revenue from operating facilities and management contracts in the lottery business jumped 53.1% to $695m, while other revenue climbed 25.8% to $83m.

Global same-store sales were up by 32.4% overall, with North American and rest of world lottery sales increasing 27.8% and Italy sales 52.2%.

In contrast, global gaming revenue was down 14.2% year-on-year to $266m, as IGT saw a decline in revenue from both gaming services and product sales.

In the gaming service segment, revenue was 4.9% lower at $157m, with terminal revenue down 15.1% to $90m, though systems, software and other revenue increased 11.7% to $86m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

FanDuel remained on top in terms of revenue, though its lead over nearest competitor DraftKings by less than $100,000.

Although the market opened on March 9, 2020, the market was severely limited by in-person venues shutting and sporting suspensions as a result of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, before many operators had launched.

As a result, revenue and handle came to more than 600 and more than 6,000 times the previous year’s totals, respectively.

Read the full story on iGB North America

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue was also down by 25.8%. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) came in at KRW98.3bn, however KRW12.9bn of this was in ‘High1 Point’ loyalty bonus funds, leaving actual casino revenue of KRW85.4bn, down 57.3% year-on-year.

Of the total GGR, KRW38.0bn was earnt from mass table games, KRW27.8bn from the operator’s membership club and KRW32.6bn from slot machines.

The operator had a total of 87,217 visitors during the period, down 79.9% year-on-year, and 28.8% lower than Q4 2020’s visitor numbers. The number of foreign players was down 93.7% year-on-year, from 5,406 to just 340. Players spent a total of KRW417.2bn, down 58.8%.

Non-gaming revenue came to a total of KRW12.0bn, down 66.6% from KRW36.0bn in Q1 2020. Of this figure, the operator’s hotel operations brought in the most, at KRW5.7bn, followed by its ski resort at KRW3.2bn, and condo sales of KRW2.7bn.

Sales from the operator’s golf and water park operations, slot machine production and subsidiaries made up the remainder of non-gaming revenue for the period.

After costs of sales of KRW131.9bn, the operator made a gross loss of KRW34.5bn on its revenue, down from a KRW78.0bn gross profit in Q1 2020. After selling, general and administrative costs of KRW25.1bn, down 90.5%, its operating loss came to KRW59.62bn.

The operator made a non-operating financial income of KRW22.1bn, up 86.7% year-on-year, while financial expenses were down 98.5% to just KRW400m.

After other expenses of KRW19.3bn, the business was left with a negative income before tax of KRW55.73bn. It then received a corporate tax benefit of KRW14.8bn which saw it make a net loss of KRW40.90bn, compared to a KRW156.12bn net loss in Q1 2020.

The operator made a total loss of KRW275.86bn in 2020, after closures of its resorts were repeatedly extended as a result of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Colorado launched its legal sports betting market on May 1, 2020, with players in the state able to wager both online and in-person at retail sportsbooks.

The market endured a tough start with players limited to online betting online in the first few months of regulation due to novel coronavirus (covid-19) restrictions. A lack of sports events as a result of Covid-enforced cancellations and postponements also stunted early progress.

However, as major sports returned in August, the market saw consistent month-on-month growth through to January 2021, which was incidentally the month in which wagering was at its highest as players spent $326.9m on sports betting.

Wagering dipped in February to $266.5m, but recovered in March to $301.0m, while early figures published by the Colorado Division of Gaming show a handle of $245.3m for April.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the three months to March 31 amounted to $42.2m (£29.9m/€34.7m), up from $30.9m in Q1 of last year, during which Full House was forced to close all of its land-bad gambling facilities in line with local novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

Full House’s casinos closed from mid-March 2020 as US states sought to slow the spread of Covid-19. However, these facilities are now open again – though some at limited capacity – allowing revenue to rise in Q1 of the current year.

Casino revenue climbed 54.3% year-on-year to $32.1m, while hotel revenue also edged up 10.0% to $2.2m. Food and beverage revenue was 12.9% down at $6.1m, but Full House saw the fastest growth within its other operations, including online and mobile sports, with revenue up 63.6% to $1.8m.

Breaking down revenue performance by state, Full House’s Silver Slipper Casino and Hotel in Mississippi saw revenue increase 48.1% to $22.4m, while revenue at the Rising Star Casino Resort in Indiana also climbed 18.5% to $8.6m.

In Colorado, revenue from Bronco Billy’s Casino also increased 18.5% year-on-year to $5.9m, while in Nevada, revenue from the Grand Lodge and Stockman’s casino properties was up 41.9% to $4.4m.

Turning to Full House’s contracted sports wagering segment, which consists of its on-site and online sports wagering skins in Colorado and Indiana, revenue jumped 150.0% from $400,000 in Q1 of 2020 to $1.0m this year. This reflected a full quarter of operations of three of Full House’s six permitted sports wagering skin, compared to just one in Q1 of 2020.

Full House commenced operations with its fourth and fifth sports wagering skins in April this year, with the operator anticipating the launch of its sixth skin in the coming months. When all six skins are in operation, it expects to generate at least $7m per year in revenue.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The licence allows Enteractive to offer its services in the US for the first time, including its customer relationship management, which focuses on casino players and sports bettors, as well as its (Re)Activation cloud platform technology which facilitates the ability to call players internationally.

Enteractive’s (Re)Activation platform also acts as a protective measure against irresponsible gambling.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Mystery Map symbols guide them to great wins by converting into the same symbol and triggering Respins. Once the reels start spinning, Mystery Maps walk the plank, shifting to the left with each spin until they fall off the game screen. The Respins continue until the very last Mystery Map Symbol is present on the reels, bringing our pirates the potential of hefty loot.

You can play a demo of this slot here!

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Game Type:	Video Slot
Go Live Date (expected):	19th May
Game special features:	Treasure Hunt Expanding Mystery Free Spins, Mystery Map Re-Spins, Feature Buy (non-UK)
Number of paylines:	243-7776
Number of reels:	5×3
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	96.17%
Variance/volatility:	High
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	Yes
Number of free spins awarded?:	8
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	N/A
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	N/A
Number of jackpot tiers?:	N/A
Auto-play function?:	Yes

The agreement was worth €950m (£817.2m/$1.16bn), with €725m paid at closing. A further €100m is due on 31 December this year, while the other €125m is payable on 30 September next year.

The sale, agreed in December, includes 100% of the share capital of both the Lottomatica Videolot Rete S.p.A. and Lottomatica Scommesse businesses.

IGT said it will use proceeds from the sale to pay transaction expenses and reduce debt.

“The transaction enables IGT to monetise its leadership positions in the Italian B2C gaming machine, sports betting, and digital spaces at an attractive multiple to comparable Italian transactions, providing us with enhanced financial flexibility,” IGT chief Marco Sala said at the time of the initial announcement.

Completion of the deal comes after Apollo last week submitted a revised proposal worth AU$4.00bn to acquire Tabcorp’s wagering and media business and gaming services segment.

Apollo also put forward an alternative proposal, to acquire only the wagering and media business of the Australian operator only for $3.50bn. 

Both offers are being assessed by the Tabcorp board.