Intralot Weathers the Covid Storm
Greek betting operator Intralot saw its first half revenue account for €168.2m with EBITDA of €26.7m and an overall impact from Covid-19 of €25m
North America operations, under Intralot Inc., achieved significant year-on-year growth, with revenue up 15.2 per cent and EBITDA up 35.8 per cent
GREECE OPERATIONS
During the six-month period ended June 30, Intralot systems handled €9.8bn worldwide wagers, posting a 1.7 per cent year-on-year increase. East Europe’s wagers increased by 61.6 per cent (reflecting the new Sports Betting era dynamics in Turkey since September 2019), North America increased 18.9 per cent (driven mainly by Illinois full-half contribution vs. launch in mid-February 2019), in part offset by Africa’s decreased wagers with Morocco down 47 per cent, South America down by 46.9 per cent, West Europe was down 28.9 per cent, and Asia was down by 0.4 per cent, all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lottery Games was the largest contributor to Intralot’s top line, comprising 65.3 per cent of revenue, followed by Technology Contracts, contributing 14.3 per cent to group turnover. Sports Betting accounted for 11.5 per cent and VLTs represented 8.3 per cent of Group turnover, while Racing constituted the 0.6 per cent of total revenue of 1H20.
Group CEO, Christos K. Dimitriadis, said: “During the first half of 2020 we have navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the effect of discontinued operations in Bulgaria
and Turkey. We have revisited our strategy, accelerated its execution, reorganised the Group, given priority to our customers and to our people, addressed our financials with prudency, diversified our portfolio, ensured continuity in service provision and identified ways to unlock the potential of our digital technology. As a result, we have achieved significant growth in our US operation, substantial reduction of the Group’s OPEX and CAPEX and maintained strong liquidity levels. Most importantly we are prepared for the future and the new realities that are being established worldwide.”
By evaluating the latest available data and known lockdown conditions per jurisdiction and the moderate restart of sporting events, the company’s best estimate for COVID-19 impact for 2020 remains in the vicinity of €25m at Group’s EBITDA level. Intralot explained: “Estimates, in terms of impact rest in the fact that restrictions in various markets have been lifted earlier than initially expected and the top line impact in many cases is lower than previously forecasted. For example, in the US, monthly data show a high degree of resilience of our operations, and in Malta the lockdown was lifted on early May, earlier than anticipated.”
South Africa Operators warned off offering online gambling
Te National Gambling Board (NGB) has released a statement concerning the issue of the legality of online or interactive gambling stating that it wishes to make 'emphatically clear that the answer to whether online or interactive gambling is legal in South Africa, is a simple and unequivocal NO with the exception of online sports betting.'
'Section 11 of the NGA, entitled “Unauthorised interactive gaming unlawful”, expressly states that “a person must not engage in or make available an interactive game except as authorised in terms of this Act or any other national law.”
'Te National Gambling Amendment Act, 2008 (Act no. 10 of 2008) (“the Amendment Act”), which was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the Presidency on 10 July 2008, has never come into operation.'
Te NGB has stated that operators offering or wishing to offer such gambling products and services to the South African public must be aware that they are committing an offence, and will be subject to criminal prosecution if detected.
Punters are equally cautioned to avoid participating in any activity that is illegal, as such participation is also a criminal offence. A conviction for committing an offence in terms of the NGA can attract a fine of up to R10m, or imprisonment up to ten years. Winnings derived from such activity will also be confiscated, and forfeited to the State.
Te NGB added that it will 'encourage compliance with national and provincial gambling legislation. However, for those that choose to wilfully persist in criminal conduct, the consequences will be severe.
Norway
Push Gaming has integrated its content with IGT technology to supply its digital games to Norsk Tipping, Norway’s state lottery operator. Under the agreement, Push will join a group of suppliers providing digital content to Norsk Tipping through IGT, including NetEnt and Elk Studios. Push Gaming’s slots, Joker Troupe, Jammin’ Jars, Razor Shark and Wild Swarm will be available to Norsk Tipping’s customers during the launch, with further titles added throughout the year. Push Gaming's UKGC and MGA-licensed platform has been added to the IGT Connect integration layer. Enrico Drago, IGT PlayDigital added: “IGT added Push Gaming’s digital games to our stable of titles for Norsk Tipping, and further supported our goal of delivering gaming experiences that engage players.”
“We have integrated five new platforms in the last six months and demand for our game content is increasing all the time. Our popular land-based games are already present on various online casinos and we continue developing all of our existing games for the online market. We adapted ourselves quickly to this new situation and, as always, we try to keep a step ahead of our competitors.
“2020 is not what we expected, but due to our fast reactions to the situation, we have controlled the damage and have game releases and more worldwide content integrations coming soon.”
GERMANY – The six casinos in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, owned by Westspiel, were profitable for the first time in five years in 2019. The casinos in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Dortmund and Duisburg rose by a good quarter compared to 2018 to around €117m, according to the consolidated financial statements of Westspiel for 2019, which NRW finance minister Lutz Lienenkämper (CDU) published before the meeting of the budget committee of the state parliament. Westspiel achieved a consolidated net profit of almost €3.2m, according to the consolidated financial statements. In the previous year, this position was down by around €3.6m.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P21
CZECH REPUBLIC – During months of Covid-19 limitations and restricted mobility, Czech-based games developer, e-gaming, used this time to hone and improve its game content library, developing a series of new games while at the same time increasing its presence in several online gaming markets, such as Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Mexico.
Adding to e-gaming’s success across varied land- based markets, players continue to discover the company’s online games portfolio. In response, e-gaming has reacted to a wave of interest by obtaining additional online approvals.
European gaming markets reopened after three months of lockdown and continue to move slowly, step-by-step towards normal levels. Latin America, however, has taken a longer to reopen, but after several weeks of operation e-gaming is beginning to see an increase in the active player base and growth each day.
“This crisis has showed us the importance of having good game content for online casinos,” stated e- gaming CEO, Radek Pucek. “Also given that there is unfortunately a real threat of another wave of Covid, we are constantly developing new games for land based, but simultaneously prepare those same games in online versions.”
EMEA
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