Swedish online gaming software provider Net Entertainment saw revenues rise 33.9% in Q1 2012, driven in part by last year’s online casino liberalization in the Italian market, new license agreements and strong mobile growth. Revenues were SEK 127.5m (US $18.9m), operating profit was up 52.4% to SEK 40.1m ($5.95m) and profit after tax came in at SEK 34.6m ($5.13m). The number of gaming transactions rose 58% to 3b.
Even with an ongoing prohibition against online slots, Italy now represents NetEnt’s third-largest market behind Norway and Sweden. In the newly regulated Danish market, NetEnt helped launch Betsson, Unibet, Bet24, Scandicbookmakers and Danbook, and signed an agreement to do the same with a sixth (as yet unidentified) customer. The NetEnt Touch mobile platform went live with three new customers and the company signed an additional 11 new mobile deals in the quarter. NetEnt also hopes to launch its new Live Casino product toward the end of this year.
PokerStars has further expanded the reach of its real-money mobile app. Players on French site PokerStars.fr can now access up to five tables on their iPads but only four on other devices, including iPhone and Android platforms. The move follows the mobile product’s highly popular debut in Italy in January and February’s launch in the UK. Still no fixed date on when Zoom Poker – Stars’ fast-paced Rush Poker clone – will get its mobile wings, but Stars is working on it.
Only Poker, a skin on the Cake Poker Network, has apparently merged with another Cake skin, Colt Poker. Poker Affiliate Solutions reported Only Poker clients receiving emails stating that the company was “no longer offering their services” and that account info, balances and rewards were transferred to Colt on April 25. Colt was the similar drop zone for Power Poker’s US players when the latter company decided to exit the US market.
Sports betting and white label provider EveryMatrix has inked four new clients in Q1 2012. The likely lads are Gutshot and Pokerhuis, IPbuilders and the Georgian-focused Adjara Casino. Gutshot has already gone live with the NetEnt casino along with Xpro Live Casino and Gutshot’s two new network providers (Merge and Enet) integrated into the GamMatrix platform. EveryMatrix also announced the appointment of Nicholas Hill as Sales and Marketing Director.
