Results from three major gambling businesses released this week show that the industry is – for some businesses, largely those based online – in very healthy shape.
Gamesys has announced a 75% increase in its revenues; slots developer Pragmatic Play has moved its games into a major UK bingo network, and international developer Greentube has moved into a new European market in Poland.
Gamesys runs online gaming brands, and its sites include Vera&John, InterCasino, Virgin Games and Virgin Casino, and Rainbow Riches Casino, its most recent launch. Their sites are available around the world.
For 2020 the company announced revenue of over $1 billion at £727.7m for the year, a 75% increase from the 2019 period.
Other accounting measures were also hugely encouraging, with adjusted net income up 86% year-on-year and adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) also up 75% year-on-year at £206.2m.
The company was also attracting more players, with the number of average monthly players per month up by 21%. In 2020 712,334 were active on the company’s sites each month, with real money revenue from those players averaging out at £82.
“We are pleased to announce another strong set of results, particularly against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted so many across the world,” said Gamesys Group chair Neil Goulden.
Bingo Winners
Elsewhere, the slot developer Pragmatic Play has signed a stronger deal with Broadway Gaming, which run one of the biggest bingo networks in the UK.
Pragmatic Play games will now be available on all five Broadway Gaming bingo sites. Pragmatic Play already supplied bingo games to the company, but now Broadway players can spin slots too.
The bingo market is an interesting anomaly in the gambling world. The game has a long off-line history that has seen it stereotypically linked to women players. Online, bingo sites have always had a much stronger community feel than other gambling sites.
Slots on bingo sites are most often made available as “side games” that can be played while players play bingo or wait for the next set of balls to drop.
Broadway Gaming boss, David Butler, said: “We’ve already got a strong working relationship with Pragmatic Play after taking the supplier’s successful bingo offering, and it made sense for us to extend our product range to include slots.”
World Domination
There is an international expansion on the agenda at Greentube (aka Novomatic Interactive) with a new deal to supply their games in Poland.
Greentube games will now be on offer at Totalizator Sportowy casino, Total Casino.
Greentube is said to be considering more international expansion in the near future. The company launched in Denmark and Mexico in 2020 and is likely to look for momentum from expansion into Germany and Holland to boost its RGS platform in late 2021.
Totalizator Sportowy is owned by the Polish government and is the only legal casino site in Poland. Unsurprisingly, it is doing well, with a 55% revenue growth in 2020.
While the industry in the UK is under some pressure these figures and announcements show that slots are proving popular everywhere they are to be found.
