Interactive television provider sees decline in profits despite 61 percent increase in earnings.
Monday 26th May 2008
UK-based interactive television provider NetPlay TV reported a 61 percent increase in revenues from continuing operations for last year of $18.3 million.
However, the firm stated that gross profits declined 25 percent to $3.1 million resulting in a loss for the year of $9.7 million versus a profit of $3.5 million for 2006. NetPlay said that the loss was down to a major programme of product development and customer acquisition and retention embarked on last year including the acquisition of Abstract Games Limited and the Monday Superdraw business of Chariot as well as the launch of its Big Box Bingo interactive television bingo show. It revealed that these acquisitions had begun to bear fruit, positioning NetPlay to build a sustainable business going forward.
In order to improve profitability, the company also announced that it was considering moving its gaming operations to an offshore jurisdiction. NetPlay's bingo business already operates offshore and it stated that a migration could take place in early 2009.
'It is extremely encouraging to see the strategic investment decisions we made in 2007 beginning to show excellent results in 2008,” said Martin Higginson, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for NetPlay.
“We firmly believe in the future commercial strengths of a converged gaming offering. Providing the customer with a trusted ‘live’ interactive gaming experience helps build trust and loyalty in our gaming brands. This in turn helps secure a longer customer lifetime value and, therefore, greater profitability.
“This year, we will continue to launch new formats to our audience, giving them an even greater choice of games in a trusted environment. The acquisition of Bingos.com will allow us to build more robust systems across all platforms as we strive to build the leading European interactive gaming business.”
UK-based interactive television provider NetPlay TV reported a 61 percent increase in revenues from continuing operations for last year of $18.3 million.