Montreal-based online gaming technology solutions provider Amaya Gaming Group saw revenue rise 461% to CDN$6.38m in Q1 2012, reflecting the many contracts Amaya has inked over the past two years in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean that are now transitioning into actual operations. But with great power comes great responsibility, and expenses were also up dramatically (358%) to $7.7m, plus another $2.27m incurred via the acquisition of software outfit Cryptologic. If you exclude acquisition costs and termination of agency and employment agreements, expenses rose by a mere $0.54m over Q4 2011, so all is not lost. Regardless, the net result is a net loss of $4.55m for the quarter.
Rank Interactive, the online arm of UK operator Rank Group, has selected Cozy Games’ Cozy Connect as its mobile platform. Rank gets a suite of 17 Cozy games to which it can add third-party gaming content to its heart’s content. Cozy will also provide an integrated payments solution that allows punters to deposit via their phone provider account. In return, Rank will provide Cozy with a warm, cozy feeling. And presumably some money. The deal follows Rank Group’s £205m acquisition of Gala Coral’s UK land-based casinos, so full spectrum dominance appears to be the game plan.
The Daily Mail reports that UK bookies Ladbrokes have suspended their head of trading pending an investigation into how Jon Thompson was running his department. The company declined comment on the circumstances surrounding the suspension, saying only that it was “an ongoing staff matter.” The Mail ‘understood’ the matter to be ‘betting-related’. Lads’ timing is unfortunate, given the slate of high-profile sporting events on the calendar, including the Derby and Euro 2012.
Racing UK reports there’s been a – wait for it – dramatic rise in punters using mobile devices to stream races from its 33 courses via its Bet-To-View facility. (We know… Hard to accept that mobile could be growing in popularity.) Racing UK biz dev director Simon Brydon says the streaming is down to a mere six-second lag behind the regular telly feed and, besides, you can’t take the telly into the bog, now can you?
