Digital casino solutions provider NetEnt has posted increased revenues for Q2 2018, with continued high-pace growth in Southern and Eastern Europe helping to fill the gap left by weaker development within the Nordics and the UK.

NetEnt

Revenues for the second quarter amounted to SEK437m (£37.3m), up from SEK417m a year earlier, with a half-yearly revenue figure of SEK867m (806m).

EBITDA for Q2 was up to SEK202m (187m), a margin of 46.3 per cent (45.2), while over the half-year the margin was 44.3 per cent (43.5) from EBITDA of SEK384m (350m).

Operating profit for Q2 was SEK149m (147m), while for H1 2018 it was SEK283m (274m), with respective margins of 34 per cent (35.6 per cent) and 32.6 per cent (34 per cent).

Net Ent’s new group CEO Therese Hillman, who succeeded Per Eriksson in May after the company failed to match market expectations last year, said that in the last quarter the company has made “necessary” changes to strengthen market position in casino.

“During the quarter, we came up with a plan and started taking action in several areas to strengthen our customer offering, cut lead times, and free up resources for new commercial projects,” she said.

Discussing the financial results, Hillman continued: “We see that our core markets in the Nordics and the UK are maturing, and competition has increased. During the quarter, we came up with a plan and started taking action in several areas to strengthen our customer offering, cut lead times, and free up resources for new commercial projects.

“These changes are necessary for us to reassert our strong market position in online casino. At the same time, we continue to review our cost structure to improve scalability across the business, and we have started to see a lower pace of cost growth. We continue to target higher revenue growth than cost growth.

“Regionally, we saw similar developments as in the first quarter. Growth in locally regulated markets continued at a high pace, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe, while overall revenue growth was negatively impacted by a weaker development in the Nordics and in the UK. The share of revenues from locally regulated markets was 36 (32) per cent in the quarter.

“In the US, we now see some positive signs after the Supreme Court decision in May that paves the way for sports betting to be legalized in New Jersey and other US states. Thanks to our presence in New Jersey, we are in a good position to enter other US states if and when they open for online casino.”