NetEnt after-tax profits jump 46% in H1

netent-gambling-profitsOnline gambling technology supplier NetEnt said revenue rose nearly one-third during the first half of 2016.

In a trading statement issued on Thursday, the Stockholm-based NetEnt announced that its revenue during the first six months of 2016 had risen 31.7% to SEK 697.4m (US $82.3m) while profit after tax was up 46.3% to SEK 235m ($27.7m).

Second quarter figures were equally impressive, with revenue up 30% to SEK 352m and margins improving to 34.8%. NetEnt CEO Per Eriksson said Q2 had featured “strong demand for our products” and said all indications suggested “continued strong growth” for the rest of the year.

The company inked 12 new customer agreements in Q2, including a major deal with UK gaming operator Rank Group to supply online casino games to Rank’s Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca brands. NetEnt also launched its products with six new clients in Q2.

H1 saw the company begin providing online and mobile casino games to the New Jersey-facing site of Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand and NetEnt is keen to expand its US foothold beyond New Jersey if and when other states finally get around to authorizing online gambling.

Bjorn Krantz, NetEnt’s Brand Director for North America, recently told YogoNet that the company wasn’t too worried about fending off rival firms as the US market expands because “market entry barriers are high in the region.”

Krantz expects “there will be a natural filtering out of companies that do not have the organizational bandwidth, operational maturity and financial strength to fully comply with regulatory requirements” in US states’ regulated markets.

NetEnt’s Q3 numbers could take a slight dip, as the company announced last week that a lucky Swedish punter scored a nearly €3m jackpot playing NetEnt’s MegaFortune slot at Scandinavian online operator Casumo. NetEnt’s chief product officer Simon Hammon put on a brave face, saying the company was “always delighted to see users win big on our slots.”