Gaming Realms, the innovative digital gaming company, has reaped the rewards of its strategic market expansion and penetration in 2023, reporting an impressive 25.6% increase in year-on-year revenue from the previous year’s £18.65m to a surpassing total beyond its own forecasts of £23.0m earlier in February. This success is attributed largely to the company’s effective licensing revenue strategies from content distribution deals, which experienced a 33.3% growth to £19.92m, offsetting a minor 5% decline in social publishing revenue that dipped to £3.50m.
Further cementing its financial stability and growth trajectory, Gaming Realms recorded a 29% rise in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to £10.06m, up from £7.80m in 2022. This accounts for head office expenses worth £2.89m and disregards share option and other related charges of £2.4m. EBITDA figures, ignoring share option-related charges and adjusting items, reached £9.24m—which represents a commendable 24% year-on-year increase.
Delving deeper into its earnings segmentation, the licencing sector generated a robust £11.3m, while the social publishing arm accrued £800,000 in EBITDA. Gaming Realms’ strong performance, the company states, substantiates its strategic mission to achieve sustained growth. Profit before tax skyrocketed to £5.17m, a nearly 47% leap from the £3.52m mark set in 2022. The year-end cash balance also saw a dramatic rise of 158%, amassing to £7.5m.
Mark Segal, Chief Executive of Gaming Realms, credits much of this fiscal prosperity to the company’s Slingo product, a synthesis of slot and bingo games. He hailed 2023 as another record-setting year, emphasizing the company’s expansion into 20 regulated markets and its establishment of 44 new partnerships, as well as the introduction of 75 live games, a move that reveals the breadth of the company’s content licensing business.
The expansion of Gaming Realms’ portfolio was evident as their proprietary games on the remote game server increased by 10, reaching a total of 75 by the end of 2023. With new igaming supplier licences in West Virginia, Sweden, and Greece, and a foray into the Portuguese market, the company has evidenced its continued drive for distribution and market diversity enhancement.
Notably, Gaming Realms fortified its North American presence where content licensing revenues soared by 26% to £8.1m, up from £6.4m the previous year. The company attributed this to strategic launches, including five markets with Penn Entertainment and four with Caesars Entertainment, along with bespoke games such as Slingo Red Wings in collaboration with BetMGM and the Detroit Red Wings, an NHL team, which added appreciably to customer acquisition and retention.
In Europe, the company enjoyed a revenue upsurge of 33% to £10.5m from £7.9m in 2022, riding high on its growth in the UK, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, and further launches with new partners in these countries are on the horizon. Gaming Realms is on the cusp of introducing its services in Greece with its newly-acquired supplier licence.
Despite revenue growth counterbalancing escalating expenses, Gaming Realms observed its marketing spend doubling from the previous year, climbing from £38,000 to £95,000 while operating costs also rose by 33.3% to £3.44m. Even as the charges related to share options dwindled from £150,000 to £103,000, administrative expenses saw an increase of nearly 14% to £4.76m from £4.18m in the year prior.
Particularly worth noting is the growth in licencing revenue over the last five years—a striking 48% compound growth that has been a hallmark of the company’s success. As of early 2024, Gaming Realms has already secured several key licensing deals, leading to a 24% increase in unique players in its licensing business. Launches with 14 new operators in the first quarter, like Livescore and DAZN in the UK, Entain in Spain, and Bet365 in Ontario, underline the company’s robust start to the year.
With three new Slingo games and a distribution agreement with Playtech already underway, the company hails the early months of 2024 as “promising,” bolstered by a 20% jump in its core licensing business over the previous year. Mr. Segal expressed enthusiasm for future game launches, new partnerships, and expected expansion into global markets including West Virginia and Greece, underscoring Gaming Realms’ commitment to advancing its global footprint relentlessly.
