Online gambling technology supplier GAN says 2019 will be a record-setter in terms of revenue and earnings, but the rest of this year is somewhat beyond the company’s control.
In a trading update issued late Tuesday, GAN said the company had performed “in line with market expectations” in the six months ending June 30. GAN is set to release its official H1 report card on September 28.
Looking ahead to H2, GAN says its performance is contingent on several factors, including (a) the growth of online sports betting in New Jersey, (b) how soon Pennsylvania regulators fire the starting gun on their intrastate online gambling market, and (c) how fast GAN can roll out marketing in European regulated markets for the Overseas Internet Casino (Winstar.com) of its Chickasaw Nation client.
As for New Jersey, the start of this month saw GAN integrate a leading B2B online sports betting system into its platform, enabling the launch of online wagering for the FanDuel-branded product of Paddy Power Betfair (for which GAN powers the online casino of Betfair NJ).
On July 10, GAN launched a desktop-only online gambling product for Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort Casino. GAN says its Ocean Resort mobile gambling product was only approved on September 4, due to gaming regulators being distracted by the statewide rush to approve new online sports betting products.
In Pennsylvania, GAN has submitted its online gambling technology vendor application to state regulators but the market isn’t expected to launch until early next year. The delay prevents GAN from recognizing revenue from professional service fees already generated via its land-based partner Parx Casino, although this delay will give H1 2019’s revenue a definite kick up the whatsit.
In Europe, GAN has established a solid footing in Italy, and the company claims to be not particularly bothered by the country’s new ban on gambling advertising, given that its clients include some major retail gaming operators, who will soon enjoy a distinct visibility advantage over their online-only rivals.
As for its Chickasaw Nation’s European-facing online casino, GAN says operational marketing officially commenced on September 12 following “an extended period in Q3 restructuring certain operational and financial arrangements to ensure an efficient deployment” of the $10m the Chickasaws have provided GAN for marketing purposes.
Finally, the search for new brick-and-mortar casino partners for GAN’s Simulated Gaming social casino product has fallen victim to all the attention GAN’s paid to its real-money online gambling and sports betting business, a situation that isn’t likely to change until GAN expands its software team in Sofia, Bulgaria by mid-2019.
