9th Apr 2015 09:38
LONDON (Alliance News) - NetPlay TV PLC Thursday reported a huge drop in pretax profit in 2014 which it blamed on the amortisation, impairment and reorganisation of intangible assets, but said its performance so far in 2015 is encouraging as it looks to reduce costs and extend its portfolio.
The interactive gaming company reported a drop in pretax profit for the year ended December 31 to GBP93,000 from GBP4.2 million the year before. It booked a GBP1.5 million cost relating to amortisation of intangible assets, GBP798,000 relating to reorganisation of intangible assets, and an impairment charge of GBP869,000 in respect of domain names in bingo assets acquired in 2008 which were held on its balance sheet.
It also incurred a share based payments credit of GBP54,000 due to the movement in its share price, and revenue for the year declined to GBP27.4 million from GBP28.5 million in 2013.
However, the company will pay a total dividend of 0.55 pence per share, a 10% increase on the 0.50p paid last year, as a result of increasing the final dividend to 0.33p from 0.32p.
It also said that it has seen a 19% increase in new depositing players to 75,687 from 63,832 in 2013, and an increase in active depositing players to 101,532 from 84,833.
NetPlay had said on Wednesday that it has signed an extension of its agreement with Channel 5 until 2018, continuing its pre-midnight advertising and post mid-night teleshopping airtime, and covering new brands and show formats to further strengthen its product offering and brand awareness.
"The recently announced Channel 5 deal clearly illustrates our strong focus on TV as a marketing strategy and the fact it remains our key USP. In addition we have addressed and implemented a successful marketing review that is yielding good results," Chief Executive Bjarke Larsen said in a statement Thursday.
The group added that the introduction of point-of-consumption tax in the UK created challenging market conditions, but that it terminated inefficient marketing contracts to reduce marketing spend and the average cost of acquiring new depositing players, while increasing the average revenue per active depositing player.
It also plans to release 30 new games titles across its web and mobile sites while enhancing its current casino product offerings in the year ahead. The mobile sportsbook will be launched in the summer followed by the roll out of the rebranded Vernons sports website.
"Whilst the full environmental impact of the point of consumption duty on the industry is yet to be seen, we are confident with our post-POC operational strategy and believe the group is in a strong position for opportunistic mergers and acquisitions. We look forward to the year ahead with confidence and to creating long term value for our shareholders," Larsen said.
Shares in NetPlay were trading down 5.2% at 9.13 pence Thursday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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