GIG eyes new brand launches as Q1 revenues soar

Gaming Innovation Group (GIG) has announced plans to launch a “next generation” online casino product later this year, as the company looks to build on a triple-digit rise in Q1 2017 revenues.

The new “personalised and gamified” brand, currently nicknamed ‘BrandX’, is expected to launch in Q3 2017 and feature proprietary technology, design, sound effects and HTML5 content.

It will join the Malta-based firm’s growing list of B2C brands, including betspin.com and thrills.com, which helped drive a 193% year-on-year rise in GIG’s total Q1 revenues to €23.1m.

B2C revenues increased 178% to €18.5m after GIG significantly ramped its marketing spend to €11.1m, up from €3.4m reported in the same period last year.

Gaming Innovation Group CEO, Robin Reed

Of total marketing expenditure, 70% was attributable to up-front payments, including TV advertising, while 30% was allocated for revenue share agreements.

The sharp rise in marketing spend led to a widening EBITDA loss of €350,000 during the three-month period, up from the €72,000 GIG reported in Q1 2016.

“We invested extensively in marketing, acquired the largest affiliate to date, signed seven new brands and contracts to the iGaming Cloud (iGC) platform and continued to develop the next generation online casino,” CEO Robin Reed said.

“Our vision is to make the igaming industry an open and connected eco-system for the benefit of all,” Reed added. “The recent development and acquisitions contributes to the realization of this strategy.”

Last month, GIG agreed a deal to acquire an as-yet unnamed affiliate network targeting online sportsbook players in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for €5.7m.

The agreement was announced just weeks after the company’s digital marketing subsidiary, Innovation Labs, had completed its largest acquisition to date for CasinoTopsOnline.com.

GIG’s share price was down 5% to NOK 4.84 on the Norway Stock Exchange at the time of writing.