Dermot Smurfit gambling tech company stems losses

Game Account Network (GAN), a gambling technology provider run by Dermot Smurfit jnr, has reported a loss for the first half of 2017 of £2 million (€2.28 million), down from £2.3 million (€2.6 million) the previous year.

Group net revenue, meanwhile, grew slightly to £4.1 million (€4.6 million), a 6 per cent increase on the previous year, on the back of increased revenue share from its core markets, Italy and the US. Business-to-business net revenue also increased slightly while business-to-consumer revenue stayed stagnant.

The company says it has accelerated measures to reduce its cost base “without compromising product or customer delivery”, however administrative expenses on the whole increased by £100,000 (€114,000) in the six months to the end of June 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Cash balance for the group by the middle of the year stood at £3.3 million (€3.7 million), representing a slight increase over the six-month period. In that time, the group invested in its internet gaming system and says the cash increase is attributable to an unsecured convertible loan note issue which generated £2 million (€2.2 million) for the company.

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Positive

In terms of its outlook for the remainder of the year, GAN expects to experience growth in simulated gaming revenues in the latter part of this year as a result of the launch of five new casino operators in the first half. Further product development is also expected to generate revenues for the company’s new and existing operators.

“The Group generated positive clean EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] in H1 2017 following a substantial multi-year period of investment focused on the US land-based casino Industry. We anticipate this favourable EBITDA trend to continue throughout H2 2017,” said Dermot Smurfit, the company’s chief executive.

"The first half of 2017 saw continued growth in recurring revenues driven by the launch of five new clients of Simulated Gaming and strong growth in real money Regulated Gaming markets in the US and Europe.

Viable path

“As the numbers illustrate our Group has now moved into sustainable profitability at the clean EBITDA level. Growth prospects for Simulated Gaming and real money Regulated Gaming continue to offer the Company a viable path to creating significant incremental shareholder value,” he concluded.

The single biggest shareholder in the London-listed company is Michael Smurfit, who holds 15.5 per cent of shares. Dermot Smurfit jnr holds just over 13 per cent of the company, while Tony Smurfit, the chief executive of Smurfit Kappa, holds 7.7 per cent of shares.