How is it doing
Gaming Realms’ focus is building and licensing new games, B2B partnerships and broadening the reach of its very successful Slingo format.
Patrick Southon, CEO, reckons it will take 18 months for the River iGaming deal to wash through fully, but by then the potential of its licensing side should be clear.
For example, Southon expects the Slingo name to become generic for all bingo-style mobile games.
“We are a start-up now in some ways, but we have a great opportunity and the cash now to do it.”
Looking ahead, the company is seeking to develop and licence its mobile-focused games under the Slingo brand while international distribution would increase income from its game portfolio.
GMR added that following its success in New Jersey it intended to enter any US states that regulated online gambling.
What the boss says: Patrick Southon
Southon said in October that the international expansion would help with “derisking its UK revenue and looking to America and the regulated European markets”.
In particular he noted the partnership with Nordic group Relax Gaming in earlier part of year “really gets us into the Scandinavian market” where casinos are “very strong”, mentioning more big distribution deals Swedish gambling group Betsson in September and 32Red owner Kindred in October.
Southon said the company is hopeful that underlying earnings will breakeven by the end of the year from the growth in its licensing business and cutting costs by £2mln with the removal of the ‘real money’ business.
Watch the interview
Inflexion points
- In October, the company said its founder, Simon Collins, had stepped down
- Slingo straightforward to sell, just a question of integration onto other platforms
- International revenues to grow and reduce UK risks where regulation is tightening
- New partners in US, Asia and Scandinavia
- Licensing is lower revenue but much higher profits
What the broker says: Peel Hunt
Following the slae of B2C, Gaming Realms is a developer and B2B supplier of games based on the popular Slingo brand and game mechanic.
It has built, and continues to build, a library of games, which make it of increasing relevance to operators.
It can distribute its games directly to operators or integrate via third-party "aggregators", which charge fees but which provide access to multiple operators in one integration.
Recent deals with Scientific Games and Relax Gaming should give over 150 operators access to Slingo games by the end of next year, up from c30 today.
Buy recommendation with a 16p target price, says the broker.
At 7.25p, GMR is valued at £20.8mln.
