Mobile boosts Gaming Realms' debut Q1 revenues
Mobile accounts for half of £1.43m revenues as AIM-listed firm adds soap star Helen Flanagan to marketing drive
Gaming Realms posted a 64% sequential rise in its Q1 2014 revenues following an aggressive marketing strategy and strong mobile performance.
The results mark the operator’s first set of public figures since it commenced trading on the Alternative Investment Market last year following its £12m reverse takeover of technology firm Pursuit Dynamics in the summer.
Revenues increased from £870,000 during a provisional Q4 2013 to £1.43m during the three months ended 31 December, although the gaming operator recorded a £3.3m full-year loss due to a high marketing and set-up costs.
Mobile accounted for 50% of total gambling revenue in Q1 and Gaming Realms CEO Patrick Southon told eGaming Review this morning he was surprised by how high the figure was.
“I think 50% is probably higher than we expected but it’s a good balance for the business in terms of a split between mobile and desktop,” he said. “The question now is how we position ourselves as there’s a bigger user base in mobile because it’s less competitive.”
The operator also saw a sharp rise in customer numbers with new depositing players and new real-money depositors increasing 55% and 334% respectively quarter-on-quarter.
Southon said he expected a further increase in new users in the coming months after having rectified stability issues with its flagship product BingoGodz.
“Our model is acquisition and monetisation, and in both of those areas we’re exceeding our expectations on the product set we have available and with BingoGodz we can now start increasing that as well,” he said.
BingoGodz beta-launched last August and was followed by an aggressive ad campaign to boost the new brand.
Gaming Realms said it will continue to market the product heavily including today’s launch of a new Dickinson’s Real Deal sponsorship and the addition of Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan (pictured centre) as a new God on BingoGodz.
“These are areas we’re trying to work on from two levels; aggressive CPA driven direct response on the one hand and brand building and targeting PR campaigns on the other,” Southon said.
The results follow the acquisition of bingo affiliate and marketing agency Quick Think Media (QTM) for £2.2m which Southon said would be crucial in its push to grow customer numbers.
“They are very good at buying online at a reduced cost through Facebook channels,” Southon said. “That’s a key area for us to acquire players moving forward and we’ve seen great success from it so far,” he added.