Industry News
Raketech: Year-end Report 2018
FOURTH QUARTER 2018
- Revenues increased by 65.6% to EUR 7.6 million (EUR 4.6 million)
- Organic growth amounted to 50.2% (6.1%)
- Adjusted EBITDA increased by 122.1% to EUR 4.5 million (EUR 2.0million), corresponding to a margin of 59.3% (44.2%)
- Adjusted operating profit amounted to EUR 3.8 million (EUR 1.8 million), corresponding to a margin of 49.6% (39.9%)
- Profit for the period amounted to EUR 1.7 million (EUR 0.8 million).
- Earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.05 (EUR 0.03) before dilution
- NDCs (New Depositing Customers) increased by 141.4% to 35,948 (14,891)
FULL-YEAR 2018
- Revenues increased by 49.0% to EUR 25.6 million (EUR 17.1 million)
- Organic growth amounted to 29.9% (16.6%)
- Adjusted EBITDA increased by 48.9% to EUR 14.4 million (EUR 9.7 million), corresponding to a margin of 56.3% (56.4%)
- Adjusted operating profit amounted to EUR 12.7 million (EUR 9.0 million), corresponding to a margin of 49.7% (52.5%)
- Profit for the period amounted to EUR 4.6 million (EUR 5.8 million)
- Earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.15 (EUR 0.24) before dilution
- NDCs (New Depositing Customers) increased by 48.2% to 99,599 (67,193)
EVENTS DURING Q4 2018
- With an effective date of 3 October 2018, Raketech repaid EUR 15.5 million of the current loan facility.
- On 5 October 2018, Raketech launched Urheiluveikkaus.com as its flagship sports betting product for Finland.
- Raketech launched esportsguide.com on 16 November 2018, to target the global esports community.
- Raketech partnered with Trustly on 21 November 2018, to provide in-banner Pay N Play technology across Raketech’s product portfolio.
- On 7 December 2018, Raketech acquired a number of Norwegian affiliate assets within consumer finance, including the flagship product Norskkredit.no.
- Raketech entered into an agreement with Swedbank for a revolving credit facility of EUR 10 million on 20 December 2018.
- The Board of Directors proposes that no dividend is to be paid for the 2018 financial year as Raketech operates in a growing market.
- In order to capitalise on this and the ongoing consolidation in the market Raketech intends to prioritise growth activities which include further acquisitions.
CEO MICHAEL HOLMBERG COMMENTS THE QUARTER
“I am pleased to announce a strong end to 2018, which was a record-breaking year for Raketech. We strengthened both financially and strategically over the past twelve months, and our focus on creating organic growth has continued.
Revenues for the fourth quarter amounted to EUR 7.6 million, an increase of 66 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. The organic revenue growth amounted to 50 percent. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to EUR 4.5 million, corresponding to a margin of 59 percent. For the 2018 full year, revenue growth was 49 percent and the adjusted EBITDA margin amounted to 56 percent, well above our financial targets.
Our TV sports guides performed particularly well in the quarter and supported revenue growth. During 2018 we enhanced the guides with new features and dedicated sections for specific sporting events, which have turned out to be very popular among the users. We have also exhibited steady growth for our latest products targeting the UK and Germany, and see traffic increasing for recently launched Esportsguide.com which targets the growing global esports market. The latter is yet another example of scalability within our product strategy – entering new markets or verticals with existing platforms.
The regulation of the Swedish gaming market came into effect on 1 January 2019, and we put a big focus on activating a new Swedish compliance strategy at the end of 2018 to ensure our sites follow robust compliance criteria. With a clear compliance strategy executed, we can now focus resources on driving traffic to our new and existing regulated partners in Sweden with which we have established long-term deals. It is still early days and the operators and players are adapting to the new setting, but we believe the market will normalise over time and we see many opportunities ahead.
All in all, I am very proud of the progress and achievements made by the team in 2018, and look forward to the company’s continued growth journey in 2019.”
PRESENTATION FOR INVESTORS, ANALYSTS AND THE MEDIA
CEO Michael Holmberg and CFO Andreas Kovacs will present the report and answer questions in an audiocast at 9.00 a.m. CET on 21 February. The presentation will be held in English and can be followed online via https://tv.streamfabriken.com/raketech-q4-2018. To participate by phone, please dial +46 8 566 42 705 (SE) or +44 333 300 9034 (UK).
Industry News
Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal
With Bitblox introducing an entirely new breed of crypto-based price prediction games to the iGaming industry, we talked to CEO, Brandt Page, to discover how combining elements of both chance and skill with lightning-fast betting rounds has helped improve their cross-market appeal.
When Bitblox was first established, our core concept was relatively simple; we didn’t just want to provide players with a new twist on an existing format like slots or casino games, but instead sought to create an entirely new vertical that combined elements of chance and elements of skill.
One of the main drivers behind this decision was the fact that we wanted our releases to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and I think from the figures we’ve seen so far, we’ve already had some notable success on that front in terms of the players that are engaging with our games.
Funnily enough, I was recently talking to the Head of Marketing from one of the operators that we work with and they told me they were struggling to place our games optimally. Initially, they’d put them in with crash and instant win content, but they soon discovered a lot of their in-game traffic was coming from sports bettors. A move to the sports betting tab followed, but the exact same-thing happened with casino players, leading to the games eventually winding up on the front page.
As this was going on, our games were continuing to post solid numbers with the customers who bet on both sports and casino – and all of this engagement was coming without there being any additional promotion from us or the operator. So why was it that our games were performing so well across these different player segments? I believe there are a number of contributing factors.
First and foremost, having this hybrid model of games of chance and games of skill that I’ve already mentioned has placed us in a fairly unique position within the iGaming industry. On the one hand, the simple premise of our Bitcoin-based titles – coupled with their attractive designs and intuitive UI – makes them highly accessible to casino players who are just looking to have fun.
On the other, the fact that Bitblox games aren’t based on RNG and are instead pinned to the real-time movements of the Bitcoin market certainly resonates with a sports betting audience. As they have the ability to follow the charts and use this information to inform their decisions, they definitely feel they have more control over the outcome than if they were playing a traditional slot.
Another key aspect of our cross-market appeal is the fast-paced nature of all Bitblox releases. With casino players being accustomed to the quick wins and instant gratification of slots and crash games and sports bettors also showing a growing preference for in-play wagering, we’ve ensured each game round is resolved quickly and that there are multiple opportunities for betting.
When we first launched Up or Down?, which features one-minute betting rounds, we soon learned that even this timeframe is too long for some players. This resulted in us developing Up or Down? Turbo – a game which kept the same mechanics as its predecessor but reduced the betting window to 20 seconds – and this has gone on to become one of our most successful titles.
Keeping all this in mind, one of the things I’m most excited about is the upcoming release of our latest game, 3 in a Row, as I think this is a title that really ties everything I’ve talked about so far together. Designed to look like a slot machine, 3 in a Row challenges players to correctly predict how the Bitcoin price will move over three separate 20-second windows for even bigger payouts.
Intended to appeal to casual users and serious sports bettors alike, players can elect to either spin the reels for fun and select a random price sequence or use the bet builder feature to put together their own custom prediction. With the latter essentially functioning like an accumulator bet, players can select up to three possible combinations – i.e. Up/Up/Up, Up/Up/Down etc – and only one result needs to land for them to win, ensuring they stay engaged until the final seconds.
I believe that 3 in a Row can help build on the strong foundations we’ve laid down with casino and sports bettors and provide operators with another popular option that offers significant cross-market appeal. Based on what we’ve seen from previous Bitblox releases, the audience for titles that combine elements of chance and elements of skill is definitely out there – and I’m looking forward to our unique brand of crypto-based games being enjoyed by even more players in future.
Industry News
Gaming Corps to launch with lotteries in the USA via EQL games deal
In-demand content provider extends reach into largest iGaming market in the world with its full suite of games made available via iLottery aggregation platform
Gaming Corps, a publicly-listed game studio based in Sweden renowned for creating industry-leading games, has made its debut in the US market through a breakthrough agreement with leading lottery provider, EQL Games.
The distribution agreement will see Gaming Corps’ full suite of games made available to EQL Games’ powerful iLottery Aggregation Platform, developed to provide lottery operators across America with direct access to a portfolio of proprietary and third-party games.
Following the integration, EQL Games’ lottery operator partners will be offered proven Slots, Table Games, Multiplier Games, Mine Games and Plinko Games, as well as titles under Gaming Corps’ innovative and trademarked Smash4Cash™ series.
The deal and integration come at a time of growing demand among online lottery operators in the US for non-traditional content, a format that Gaming Corps has excelled in, especially with its Smash4Cash™ games, which have been a hit with players in global markets.
EQL’s aggregation platform has been developed to allow online lottery operators to quickly and easily access content from multiple game studios simultaneously through one integration and one commercial agreement.
Its iLottery Aggregation platform simplifies the process of adding new games to an online lottery brand across regulated states. In addition to the third-party content provided via its aggregator platform, EQL Games has a portfolio of in-house titles.
This includes games produced under licence with Team USA which were rolled out by several state lotteries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this year, with new titles being planned ahead of the Winter Games in Milan (2026) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (2028).
Juha Kauppinen, CEO of Gaming Corps, said: “The USA has always been somewhat of the holy grail for game developers like us, which has been further emphasised as markets in several states have become regulated. The potential in the American market is enormous, and the impact for us is a bit difficult to assess, but we have great hopes for the collaboration with EQL Games, which has an impressive platform towards U.S. lotteries.
“We believe it will have a significantly positive impact on our revenues. I would like to personally take the opportunity to thank EQL Games and Brad Cummings for the collaboration, and we are now working hard to complete the integration so that all our games will be offered to EQL’s customers via their platform.”
Brad Cummings, CEO of EQL Games, added: “Including Gaming Corps as a supplier to the EQL Games iLottery Aggregator is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer unique, high-quality content to state lotteries. Gaming Corps’ expertise in iGaming, along with their unique game portfolio, fits perfectly with our vision of enhancing the lottery experience through dynamic and engaging content.”
Industry News
Public Voting Starts for Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0
The highly anticipated Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0 has officially entered the public voting phase as submissions are closed.
More than 70 game providers have turned in over 160 submissions, including Tom Horn Gaming, Pragmatic Play and RubyPlay. Public voting involves enthusiasts casting their votes to pick the winner of the Game of Public Choice category.
The Public voting phase ends on December 1st 23:59 GMT+4.
Concurrent to public voting, the first phase of private voting also starts during which all participants who have submitted entries get the chance to vote for one favourite in each category. An international auditing company oversees this phase to eliminate duplicate votes and self-votes. This phase ends on November 19, 23:59 GMT+4.
The second phase of private voting will also take place with a jury of industry experts making their decisions based on the shortlist picked by participants during the first phase.
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