Online gambling technology supplier GAN has charged out of the gate in 2019, reporting record revenue on the strength of its New Jersey sports betting and online casino operations.
On Wednesday, GAN issued a trading update for the first three months of 2019, during which the company says its revenue hit a record £4.6m, 122% higher than the same period last year and 5% above its Q4 2018 result. The company reported earnings of £600k, a welcome return to black ink after reporting a £1.5m net loss in its 2018 annual report.
GAN said the revenue surge was driven by better than expected growth in its New Jersey sports betting operations, as well as significant cross-sell from online sports betting to GAN’s online casino operations.
Assuming the good times keep rolling, GAN said it expects to achieve its full-year 2019 guidance of “mid to high double-digit revenue growth” and positive earnings. However, this growth is contingent on Pennsylvania regulators sticking to their online casino and sports betting launch timetables, and on “the speed with which efficient marketing of the Overseas Internet Casino is conducted in European regulated markets.”
GAN launched this Overseas operation – WinStar.com – in January 2018 on behalf of the Chickasaw Nation, the Oklahoma tribe which is also a client of GAN’s Simulated Gaming social casino product. The WinStar site has so far resulted in a £200k net loss for GAN but the company launched a digital marketing agency in Tel Aviv last September to boost the site’s profile and customer acquisition/retention.
As of April 30, GAN said it had a debt-free balance sheet, with £8.6m in cash and equivalents on hand. As a result, GAN says there will be no need to go looking for additional financing “for the foreseeable future.”
GAN’s trading update made no mention of its March announcement of a review of “various strategic alternatives,” which included the possibility of an outright sale of the company. GAN CEO Dermot Smurfit chose instead to focus on the company’s plans/hopes to sign new clients and expand the product options of its existing clients’ contracts.
