During the first quarter of 2014, the Mr Green Casino company continued to grow substantially, both in terms of sales and earnings, according to its Q1-2014 posting Friday.
Management claims that the enterprise significantly outperformed the market, resulting in the company continuing to capture market share.
The online casino group’s total revenue amounted to SEK 154.6 million, an increase of 42 percent compared with the year-earlier period of Q1-2013. Earnings (EBITDA) amounted to SEK 37 million, up 50.7 percent from the year-earlier period.
Highlights from the quarterly are:
* Revenue (Game win): SEK 154.2 (108.9) million
* EBITDA: SEK 37.0 (24.6) million
* Earnings per share before dilution: SEK 0.65 (0.51), and after dilution: SEK 0.65 (0.51)
* Active customers at 72 503 (68 611)
* Dividend of SEK 1.30 a share – SEK 46.6 million in all.
Since the end of quarter 1 the company, using subsidiary Green Gaming Group, has acquired Social Holdings Ltd (Spin Tower Casino) and DSRPTV Gaming Ventures Ltd (Garbo.com).
CEO Michael Pawlo reported on the quarter, comparing his company’s growth with that in the global i-gaming market, where growth of 9 percent has been predicted for 2014.
Pawlo revealed that the Nordic region continues to provide most of Mr Green’s business at 54.5 percent, but that activity elsewhere in Europe is now up at 45.1 percent.
“We are becoming increasingly international, and dependence on individual markets is decreasing,” he said, noting that Mr Green has continued its expansion outside the Nordic region.
Pawlo noted the expansion into mobile gambling by the company, revealing that Mr Green’s mobile casino now accounts for 20.3 percent of the total game win.
“Our mobile focus is now beginning to gain real momentum. We released a new version of the mobile casino for smart phones and tablets during the autumn and we note increased efficiency in the platform. Investments in the mobile platform are significant and will continue to be substantial throughout 2014,” Pawlo said.
“Since Mr Green & Co is an investment company in the i-gaming sector, we plan to broaden our portfolio of gaming companies when we identify operations that stand out and have the potential to generate the same rate of growth as the online casino Mr Green,” Pawlo continued.
Turning to active users, Pawlo said that the number had dropped during the first quarter of 2014 because management adjusted bonus campaigns and reduced the number of free gaming spins.
“This has led to us having higher quality in the player base, which is also clearly reflected in earnings,” he said. Efficiency in marketing and the share of marketing in relation to the game win has now returned to normal levels (40.3 percent) for investments in new countries, where awareness needs to be created.
Ending on a positive note, Pawlo reported that the buoyant trend continued in April with a very solid growth rate, although this may decline slightly with the arrival of spring weather.
“Our assessment is that Mr Green’s strategy of continuing investments in product development, especially for mobile utilization, and expansion into new countries create favorable conditions to continue to significantly outgrow the market,” he said.