16th Apr 2015 08:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - GameAccount Network PLC shares fell to an all-time low Thursday morning after it swung to a pretax loss in 2014 as revenue was hit by a delay in securing a system sale and as it invested in rolling out its simulated gaming product in the US and other international markets.
The maker of online gaming systems and content reported a pretax loss of GBP2.6 million for 2014, compared with a profit of GBP1.6 million in 2013, as revenue declined to GBP7.5 million from GBP12.3 million.
It had secured a major system sale worth GBP6.9 million in gross income in 2013, but struggled to repeat the performance last year and hence the big drop in revenue.
Excluding system sales, revenue rose to GBP6.5 million from GBP5.4 million, as game and platform development fees rose to GBP2.9 million from GBP1.8 million and its business-to-business and other revenues rose to GBP2.9 million from GBP2.6 million. The latter is made up of European and US content distribution business revenue and simulated gaming revenue from its two operational casinos in the US market.
"Following a transformational year in 2013, GameAccount has continued to position its business to capture growth in online gaming markets, particularly in the US. 2014 saw the launch of key products across our offering, in particular Simulated Gaming, together with a number of significant commercial and strategic developments," Chief Executive Dermot Smurfit said, adding that the company's performance so far in 2015 has met its expectations.
Smurfit said real-money internet gaming in New Jersey and the pace of regulation in the US market has been slower than expects, but it remains confident about the prospects for real-money gaming in the years ahead. It also thinks its Simulated Gaming product will "substantially" compensate for the slow pace of the real-money market in 2015.
"Furthermore, the State of Pennsylvania appears to be in the process of regulating Internet gaming with a number of legislative bills under active consideration. GameAccount Network has been selected as the exclusive platform for both Simulated Gaming and regulated real-money Internet gaming by Parx Casino, the leading casino operator in Pennsylvania, and is positioned in 2016 for substantial growth in regulated real-money Internet gaming in Pennsylvania should suitable legislation be enacted in 2015," the CEO added.
The company launched its simulated gaming product in the US in 2014 and signed three new casino clients. It has singed up two more clients for the product so far in 2015 as well as launching for Parx Casino as well as in Australia for a consortium of clubs.
Still, its shares were down 11.6% at 38.00 pence Thursday morning, making it one of the worst-performing stocks in the AIM All-Share index. The company listed in 2013, and after peaking at over 180 pence in early 2014, the stock has been in a steady decline, reaching an all-time low of 35.00p earlier Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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