GameAccount expands in Australia

GameAccount Network plc (GAN) has entered into a Simulated Gaming partnership with a consortium of six land-based Australian community clubs following comprehensive discussions with Australian regulators.

The names of the “major” operators remains under embargo prior to commercial launch which it expects to take place during the first quarter of 2015, GAN said in a statement,.

While real-money internet gaming is prohibited in Australia, GAN estimates A$1 Billion is lost annually to the Australian public playing at offshore operators.

Under the terms of this agreement, GAN has deployed its GameSTACK Internet Gaming System to deliver simulated gaming nationwide across the six operators’ community club brands.  An upgrade to real-money internet gaming will be effected on the passage of any relevant legislation.

Club patrons at the unnamed land-based operations will be able to access free-to-play and pay-to-play internet offers linked to their local club brand via desktop and mobile.

Dermot Smurfit, chief executive officer of GameAccount Network said the consortium of six clubs has worked closely with its domestic regulators to ensure the offer complies with State and Federal laws.

“Simulated Gaming™ has been proven to increase visitation to US casinos and we anticipate the same dynamic in Australia. This pioneering group of clubs will benefit from increased visitation from existing and new patrons and hope to reverse the migration of their patrons to offshore real money Internet gaming websites,” Smurfit said.

In related news, GAN released its results for the six months ended 30 June 2014.

The company reported net revenues of GBP 4.2 million (2013: GBP 9.1 million), a decrease of more than 50 percent, but reports an increase of 34 percent in underlying revenues when excluding system sales that lifted revenue during the comparative period in 2013.

Other key performance indicators include:

–                 Clean EBITDA loss of GBP 0.4 million (2013: Earnings of GBP 5.9 million).

–                 Loss before tax of GBP 0.9 million (2013: Profit before tax of GBP 4.9 million).

–                 Loss per share of GBP 0.02 (2013 EPS GBP 0.16).

–                 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period of GBP 14.0 million (2013: GBP 2.2 million).

–                 Net Assets as of June 30, 2014 of GBP 16.9 million (2013: GBP 5.8 million).

“The first half of 2014 has continued the period of investment for GameAccount, and, performance to date is in line with our expectations,” Smurfit said.

“Our first half revenue from gaming system sales was down year-on-year however we are actively engaging with multiple potential system buyers and we remain confident in our ability to continue to deliver on sales of our gaming system to casino equipment manufacturers although the timing of such sales remains uncertain.”

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