2nd Nov 2015 16:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Gfinity PLC on Monday reported a wider pretax loss in its last financial year, despite a rise in revenue, and said it has raised GBP1 million through a share placing.
Shares in Gfinity were trading down 14% at 21.00 pence on Monday afternoon.
The eSports business said its pretax loss in the year ended June 30 widened to GBP3.6 million from GBP0.9 the year before, as it made further investments into the business including the launch of the Gfinity arena, increases in staffing, sales and marketing.
Revenue, however, grew to GBP560,828 from GBP213,450, which it said resulted from a mix of sponsorship agreements, fees from game publishers, premium subscriptions and ticket sales.
Gfinity said it expects to launch its online retail offering in the final quarter of 2015, and anticipates signing further sponsorship deals next year.
"The sector continues to develop rapidly and offers exciting opportunities. Our ability to take advantage of these will depend on our funding and speed of revenue development through sponsorship and other forms of monetisation. We remain confident in our prospects and have launched a further round of funding to ensure that we have the short term resources to take advantage of these opportunities," Chief Executive Neville Upton said in a statement.
Separately, Gfinity said it would raise GBP1 million through the placing of 5.3 million shares at no less than 19 pence each. The placing will be conducted through an accelerated bookbuild process with Arden Partners PLC acting as bookrunner.
Later Monday, Gfinity confirmed it had raised the GBP1.0 million through the issuance of 5.3 million shares, which represents 6.3% of the enlarged share capital of the company.
The proceeds will be used to improve the features and functionality of Gfinity TV, develop a mobile app, to stage and broadcast the 2016 Gfinity Championship series, and for sales and marketing purposes.
Through the placing, Chief Executive Neville Upton bought 131,579 shares to increase his total holding to 14.7 million shares, representing a 17.7% stake in the company. Chairman Tony Vollyer purchased 131,579 shares to up his stake to over 1.0 million shares, a 1.24% stake.
Euroblue Investments Ltd bought 263,158 shares to give it a total holding of 11.2 million shares, or a 13.53% stake in the company.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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