Month: September 2021

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it was confirmed that the purchase price combines cash and newly issued shares.

The deal includes 27 of Spigo’s casino games and eight customer integrations, including two with Danske Spil’s Spillehørnet and Tivoli Casino B2C brands.

The agreement also covers Spigo’s Denmark-certified platform Spigo Station and Spigo SDK, a technical solution for accelerated game development.

Lady Luck Games expects the transaction to complete before the end of September.

“This is a strategic acquisition for the company; it will give us important revenues, open up new revenue opportunities and improve our profitability,” Lady Luck Games co-founder and chief executive Mads Jørgensen said.

“We are adding casino games with a strong track record and several years of continuous growth to our already strong product portfolio, together with an important technical aggregation platform.

Spigo’s founder and majority owner, Kasper Kau, will now take on a new director of business development role, alongside Spigo’s three experienced game developers.

Kau said:  “We have been looking for a partner for a long time to take Spigo to the next level and now we have finally found the perfect match. We felt that Lady Luck Games respected our history while sharing a long-term vision.

“We are convinced that this will give us the right conditions to develop Spigo further and see great potential synergies where Lady Luck Games’ slots will add value for our existing customers while strengthening our commercial position.”

This revenue was 16.2% less than the amount made in the first half of 2020, which was itself down 54.7% from 2019.

Codere’s financial restructuring plan was announced in April this year and saw Codere’s allow creditors to take control of the parent business of the operator to keep the company sustainable. This deal – which followed a 2020 refinancing agreement – was then approved in May.

Breaking down the revenue by location, a total of €149.0m came from Latin American operations, with the biggest contribution coming from Mexico at €63.3m. This was a 1.7% rise year-on-year. Argentina came in second, bringing in €41.4m, a decline of 36.1%. The remaining €44.3m was generated from Panama, Uruguay and Colombia operations.

European operations made up €77.3m of the total, down by 31.4%. Italy brought in €12.1m, a significant drop of 81.9% year-on-year. This was attributed to the effects of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which caused Italy’s gaming facilities to remain closed until June 2021. Spain generated €65.2m, up by 41.9%.

However, despite the closure of many operations, operating expenses amounted to €244.8m, up by 16.6% in comparison to H1 2020.

Most of this total was comprised of personnel costs, which amounted to €78.4m. Gaming and other taxes came to €71.3m, while costs of goods sold totaled at €17.1m. Rental costs amounted to €3.7m, while the remaining expenses were categorised as “other” and came to €74.2m.

Further expenses, at €85.4m total, continued to affect the operator’s income. Much of this came from depreciation and amortisation expenses, which came to €69.0m. Non-recurring items and impairment charges cost €19.7m and €16.2m respectively. The remaining €2.5m comprised of gains and losses on asset disposals and provisions in trade transactions.

This left the operating loss at €85.4m. Continued costs, including interest expense at €79.5m, affected the total further. In total, earnings before income taxes came to a loss of €169.4m.

In considering the income taxes and interests, which came to €1.4m total, the full net loss for H1 amounted to €168.7m, an increase of 5.0% year-on-year.

In May, it was announced that Codere had struggled financially in its Q1 results, as revenue plunged by 54.3%.

Codere’s online division, meanwhile, is set to spin off of the main company, with the new publicly listed company to be traded on the US Nasdaq stock market.

When compared to pre-pandemic 2019 however, revenue figures are down significantly from MOP24.26bn. August 2021’s revenue figure is also down by almost half from the previous month, when the total was MOP8.44bn.

Revenue for the year to date currently stands at MOP61.91bn for 2021, compared to MOP198.22bn in 2019.

This news comes as Macau has made changes to its Covid-19 guidelines for people entering the country, relaxing its testing rules.

If a person enters Macau from Mainland China without having been abroad in the previous 14 days, they must produce a negative result from a Covid test issued within the previous seven days. The time frame for a negative test had previously been 48 hours rather than seven days.

Rules for Hong Kong and Taiwan remain the same, while visitors from anywhere else remain prohibited.

Previous Covid-induced travel restrictions imposed on those entering Macau from Mainland China were lifted back in February.

The investigation revealed that Daub Alderney, which part of the Stride Group, acquired by Rank Group in October 2019, did not have appropriate measures in place to detect or prevent problem gambling in a series of incidents that took place between January 2019 and March 2020.
In one instance, a Daub Alderney customer lost £45,410 in a four month period while displaying signs of problem gambling behaviour, including using four separate payment cards in one day and reversing £133,873 in withdrawals.

Another occasion saw Daub Alderney send just two safer gambling reminders and one pop-up to a customer who had spent £40,500.

It was also found that Daub Alderney had ineffective policies for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing.

Examples included issues with source of funds evidence, such as Daub Alderney not asking for this evidence from a customer that had deposited £41,500, and only asked for evidence of funds from a different customer after they had deposited £50,000.
In addition, Daub Alderney was issued with a formal warning.

“This case was the result of planned compliance activity and every operator out there should be aware that we will continue to take firm action against those who fail to raise standards,” said Helen Venn, executive director of the Gambling Commission.

“The licensee’s culpability, and the requisite penalty reflecting that culpability, cannot be affected by the fact that its shares have now passed from one set of investors to another,” said Venn, emphasizing that the failures took place before Rank Group took control of Daub Alderney in October 2019.

“The Licensee does not escape or mitigate the consequences of its actions because its shares are sold.”

The Commission said the decision is subject to appeal.

Daub Alderney had previously received a £7.1m fine in 2018 when a corporate evaluation found that “appropriate risk assessment was not in place”.

The measure, titled the the “California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act”, would allow for legal online sports betting, which it claims would “generate billions of dollars in revenue” to go towards fighting homelessness and increasing mental health support.

It is backed by seven leading operators: Bally’s, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, Penn National Gaming and Wynn Interactive.

As the measure would necessitate an amendment to the state constitution, it would require signatures from 8% of the number of people who voted in the last election for governor before it was filed. This total is set at 997,139 for the current election cycle.

If the required number of signatures are obtained, the measure would appear as a referendum in the November 2022 ballot. 

Read the full story on iGB North America

Grand Rush, Jackpot Jill, Koala Royal, National Casino and Juicy Stakes had, according to ACMA, been operating in breach of Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

ACMA investigated each of the sites after receiving a number of complaints. 

“The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, its unlikely to have important customer protections,” ACMA said. “This means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money.”

ACMA began making blocking requests in November of 2019 after it was granted a number of new enforcement powers. To date, 295 gambling sites deemed to be operating illegally in Australia have been blocked.

More than 140 unlicensed services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.

“Website blocking provides a valuable opportunity to alert the public to illegal gambling services through the messaging that appears when there is an attempt to access the site,” ACMA added.

The latest round of requests comes after ACMA last month issued its first blocking orders against seven affiliate gambling advertising websites.

ISPs were requested to block access to Aussie Casino Hex, Australia OK Casinos, Aussie Online Pokies, Pokies, Australian Casino Club, Australian Gambling and True Blue Casinos.

Revenue for the six months to 30 June amounted to $528.4m (£384.4m/€447.9m), up 39.4% from $379.1m in the corresponding period last year.

B2C revenue was up 40.9% year-on-year to $509.1m, with double-digit growth across all major regulated markets. B2C gaming revenue increased by 35.2% to $428.8m and B2C betting revenue 82.3% to $80.3m. 

888 also saw B2B revenue climb 8.3% from $17.8m in 2020 to $19.3m this year, with the operator putting this down to good progress within its bingo network.

Revenue generated in regulated and taxed markets in the first half represented 75% of total revenue in the period, up from 73%. This, the operator said, was in line with 888’s strategic focus.

In terms of geographical performance, the UK remained 888’s core market with $222.6m of all revenue in H1, up 56.4% on last year and representing 42.0% of all revenue generated in H1.

Revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), excluding the UK and Italy, also climbed 9.4% to $165.8m, or 31.0% of overall revenue for the period, while Italy revenue was up by 81.6% to $67.9m, representing 13.0% of total revenue.

888’s operations in the US and Americas jumped 60.3% to $65.1, or 12.0% of all revenue in H1, but rest of world revenue slipped 5.4% to €7.0m, accounting for the other 1.0% of total revenue for the period.

Gaming taxes and duties were 44.4% higher at $100.5m and other costs related to sales climbed 28.8% to $75.5m, leaving a gross profit of $352.5m, up 40.4% year-on-year.

Marketing expenses increased 70.7% to $170.9m, while operating costs for H1 excluding amortisation, depreciation and share benefit charges edged up 4.2% to $84.1m. This meant adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 38.9% to $97.4m.

After accounting for $18.1m in amortisation and depreciation costs, as well as $11.6m in exceptional item spend and $5.7m of share benefit charges, operating profit was $62.0m, up 14.7% year-on-year.

888 also noted $4.1m in finance expenses, which left a pre-tax profit of $57.9, up 13.8% on last year. After paying $7.2m in tax, 888 ended the half with a profit of $50.7m, an increase of 11.4% on last year.

“The strong momentum from 2020 continued into the first half of 2021, with growth driven primarily by regulated markets, where we believe ongoing market share gains continue to reflect our product-leadership strategy, highly effective data-driven marketing, and our excellent content,” 888 chief executive Itai Pazner said.

“We made significant strategic progress in the first half, securing a long-term strategic partnership with Sports Illustrated to strengthen our position in the US. 

“We also continued to execute our product leadership plan, delivering further improvements in the usability and quality of products across sports and gaming, all the while maintaining our persistent focus on delivering our safer gambling priorities.

“The board remains confident that, with 888’s advanced technology, products and diversification across markets, the group remains well positioned to deliver further strategic progress during 2021 and beyond.”

At the time of launching this year’s survey, we published an article listing some of the industry’s high-fliers of the past year to get people thinking about who they might like to nominate.

This week we caught up with some of the women who made last year’s list to find out what they’ve been up to since, and also get their tips on who they think should feature on this year’s list.

The most substantial changes to the careers of last year’s Most Influential Women were related to M&A and corporate restructuring within the industry.

The buyout of NetEnt by Evolution saw Lara Falzon leave her role as operational CFO of NetEnt and CFO of Red Tiger, however she was quickly snapped up Bragg Gaming Group, which announced Falzon had been appointed to its board of directors in February.

In Australia, the splitting up of Tabcorp’s business into media and wagering and lotteries and keno has seen Sue van der Merwe named CEO designate of the latter, with the demerger due to be completed by June 2022.

The other significant change in last year’s field relates to Susan Hensel. After more than 15 years at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Hensel left the regulator in May to set up her own gaming advisory service, Hensel Grad PC, alongside former colleague Joseph Grad.

According to Hensel: “My partner and I are focused on assisting companies in navigating US regulatory schemes, with a focus on international companies that are not yet in the US, as well as start-ups and those offering emerging products.”

New horizons

One of the first companies to benefit from the firm’s expertise is Colossus Bets, with the deal having come about thanks to Colossus Bets’ Eva Karagianni-Goel being included on last year’s list alongside Hensel.

“This is one introduction we entirely owe to our mutual inclusion on the list,” says Karagianni-Goel.

“With the US market increasingly opening up for business for sports betting products like ours, my biggest focus/challenge at the moment is to take the Colossus proposition across the Atlantic with everything that entails, especially licensing and strategic partnerships.”

Forging partnerships is an area that has also been front and centre of mind for Slane Advisory founder Sara Slane over the past year.

“I’m proud of having achieved successful partnerships for my clients and sports betting operators in a variety of jurisdictions where sports betting has begun.

“The growth of sports betting in the US, which may not have been as accelerated without the pandemic, has presented tremendous opportunities.”

Lotteries is another area that has seen accelerated growth during the pandemic, according to van der Merwe. “In the first half of FY21 we saw a 39% increase in revenue from instant scratch-its tickets, our instant lottery game that is only available in retail outlets. In fact, maintaining the supply of instant scratch-its was one of the biggest product challenges we faced during this time.

“In response to this, we worked even more closely with our international ticket printers to secure production capacity and invested in air freight to expedite delivery when required.”

However, she says the biggest challenge posed by the pandemic was on the company’s “ways of working and the wellbeing of our people”, a view echoed by Kindred’s Maris Catania.

Forging a path

While still in the same role as head of responsible gaming and research, Catania’s remit has expanded to include more projects with experts by experience, research projects and work to minimise gambling harm on a social level.

“Kindred starting to publish the revenue coming from harm has been quite a great accomplishment,” she says. “We have started more collaborations with universities such as sponsoring more PhDs on the topic and also a research fund to help students in doing research.”

She adds that her inclusion in last year’s Most Influential Women has led to more connections with others in the field. “From a professional level, it did create some conversations and people reaching out to do more collaborations on the topic.”

Similarly, Hensel says: “I was amazed by how many people called to congratulate me. I also have had the opportunity to meet several of the women on the list and that has definitely enhanced my network of top quality gaming professionals.”

Van der Merwe adds: “I was honoured to be recognised, and it was a great reminder of how fortunate we are to have this connected and supportive global industry in gaming.”

For Cristina Romero at Loyra Abogados, her inclusion on the list “was an honour and it helped us raise our profile”.    

Hot tips

Given three of the women on last year’s list had been tipped as strong candidates by the previous year’s Most Influential Women, we again asked last year’s winners who they thought deserved to make the cut this year.

Van der Merwe says Rebecca Hargrove, president of the World Lottery Association and president and CEO of Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, is a worthy contender.

“Rebecca is the first ever female WLA president and is also founding chair of the Woman’s Initiative in Lottery Leadership, a programme designed to support the advancement of women into top positions of lottery management, leadership and responsibility.

“I have great respect for Rebecca’s immense experience and strong leadership in the lottery industry and am proud to regard her as both a friend and colleague.”

Slane champions her former American Gaming Association colleague Elizabeth Cronan, who last year moved to GeoGuard, where she is now VP of government relations. “In the last year, under the mentorship of GeoComply chair and co-founder Anna Sainsbury, she has advanced responsible gaming efforts as a trustee of Conscious Gaming,” says Slane.

“The growth in mobile sports betting and online gaming wouldn’t be possible without the consumer protections that Elizabeth and the GeoComply, Conscious Gaming teams and partners provide.”

Hensel puts forward Jennifer Roberts, general counsel at WynnBet, while Romera nominates fellow partner at Loyra Patricia Lalanda.

Catania is also keen to see her colleagues recognised, nominating responsible gaming managers Daria Magdoiu and Esther Scheepers, as well as group deputy general counsel Liv Biesemans.

Karagianni-Goel says she’d like to see someone from the academic sphere on this year’s list. “I think it is important/timely for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, given the regulatory backlash we are facing in the UK, there has never been a better time to turn to impartial research to separate fact from myth and inform sound policies; and on the other hand, we have in the US the making of the biggest regulated gaming market and an opportunity to ‘design’ laws and policies that strike the right balances from the start.”

She therefore nominates Brett Abarbanel, director of research at the International Gaming Institute at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, saying: “She’s often present at industry events sharing insights on a range of gaming topics and, on a more personal note, she was very supportive/helpful to me when I reached out for help to identify relevant literature for my own industry education.”

Nominate someone for iGB’s Most Influential Women 2021 here.