32Red gears up for Italy launch
Operator expects to go live with dot.it casino, poker and bingo from the end of this year.
AIM-listed operator 32Red remains on course to launch its Italian-facing offering in the fourth quarter of this year, the company confirmed in its interim results for the six months ended 30 June.
After obtaining a licence in the regulated dot.it market in March, the operator plans to launch casino, poker and bingo offerings, with the former going live before the end of this year.
In June, Italian regulator AAMS opened up the licensing process for online bingo, with December earmarked as the likely launch date, however 32Red suggests this could happen earlier. Online cash poker and casino were both legalised in Italy in February last year.
A statement from 32Red explained: “We have been encouraged by recent Italian legislation purported to allow online operators to offer online bingo as early as November and online casino slots in December.”
Chief executive Ed Ware said: “While we continue to focus on our core market of the UK, we look forward to utilising our Italian licence to expand the profile of the brand and to grow the business in another regulated market.”
The announcement follows a 50% year-on-year overall revenue increase to £16.5m, with casino contributing the bulk of the total after a year-on-year increase to £14.5m compared to £9.5m in H1 2011.
32Red saw the number of new casino players almost double over the period to more than 18,000, while the number of active casino players rose 81% year-on-year to 31,722.
Profit before tax was up 1.3% year-on-year to £1.16m, while the first half of the year also saw the operator awarded £70,000 as part of the resolution of its trademark dispute with William Hill. 32Red explained in this morning’s results that “The balance of costs associated with the appeal, together with interest will be payable later in the year.” Meanwhile revenues for July and August are up 22% on the corresponding period in 2011.
“We are very pleased to have delivered another strong performance during the first half of 2012, across all key measures,” Ware added. “This performance has continued during the first two months of the second half of the year, despite the excitement and distraction of the Olympic Games.”
Ivor Jones, analyst at Numis, reiterated his firm’s ‘Buy’ recommendation, saying: “32Red is revving up, increasing marketing spend to drive future growth while maintaining profit and dividend growth.”