The changes that have been made at Konami Gaming have been impressive, including choosing a new head of software development in April, when Sathish Anantharaman was brought on board as the company’s newest vice president. Now a new VP is joining the group, as John Garner has joined Konami as the Vice President for Finance and Accounting.
In a written statement, the company explained that Garner will be in charge of fiscal strategy, planning, and processes, not only looking to make short-term gains for the company but also helping it to reach its long-term financial objectives as well.
Meeting the long-term objectives looks to be the driving factor at Konami. Anantharaman was hired because of his pioneering work in a large number of different products that included table games, automation, central monitoring, facial recognition software, and mobile applications. He is viewed as one of the most innovative people within his field, and his addition was clearly geared toward increasing the company’s presence for years to come.
“Sathish Anantharaman has long demonstrated an ability to drive meaningful value for operators and guests through innovative use of technology, creative application development and proven results,” the company said in a statement at the hiring of their new vice president.
Garner comes with his own impressive set of credentials. He has over 30 years of experience in the gaming industry, often overseeing financial strategies for gaming companies across the globe. Now it looks like he will bring his special set of skills and expertise to his new position. “His demonstrated abilities are well-aligned with our strategic vision and growth opportunities,” the company wrote.
Things are clearly looking good at Konami Gaming. The company reported a 5.2% increase in net revenue in the first quarter of this year as compared to the first quarter of last year, thanks in large part to the success of their slot machines. This helped the company go from $284.3 million in the first quarter of 2018 to a total of $331.6 million in the first three months of this year.
The message that Konami is sending is that they are successful now, but are not sitting on their laurels. They fully intend to become one of the leaders, if not the leader in the development of gaming systems as well as developing strategies
