Good year for Net Entertainment

Online gambling software developer Net Entertainment AB has released its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011 showing that revenues for the three-month period rose by 21.6 percent year-on-year to SEK121.1 million (£11.51 million).

Net Entertainment used last month’s International Casino Exhibition (ICE) 2012 event in London to unveil its new Scarface five-reel and 20-payline slot and revealed that operating profits for the fourth quarter of last year increased by almost 25 percent year-on-year to SEK42.2 million (£4.01 million) while the operating margin climbed one percent to 34.9 percent.

Stockholm-based Net Entertainment declared that all of this saw its profit after tax for the fourth quarter grow by 26 percent to SEK36.6 million (£3.48 million) as it also signed a pair of licensing agreements and launched two new customers’ online casinos.

Full year revenues grew by 16.1 percent year-on-year to SEK427.6 million (£40.63 million) while operating profits amounted to SEK129.7 million (£12.32 million), which was a drop of almost five percent when compared to 2010 and sat alongside similarly decreased profits after tax of SEK115.6 million (£10.98 million).

“Year 2011 was a year of new markets and product initiatives to secure continued solid growth for Net Entertainment moving forward,” said Bjorn Krantz, Acting Chief Executive Officer for Net Entertainment.

“Revenues increased by 21.6 percent during the fourth quarter, which is a result of organic growth. Net Entertainment has been successful in strengthening its position as a leading supplier of games and systems within online casino and our focus on customer closeness and product and technology leadership will continue to differentiate us. During 2011 our market share in Europe increased to 22.4 percent compared to 19.3 percent in year 2010.

“Net Entertainment has a clear focus on online casino and to complement the existing product portfolio and strengthen the company’s offering it was decided during the fourth quarter to launch our own live casino product with a planned release around year-end 2012. Live casino is a relatively new form of gaming that has proven to be successful and is also expected to show good growth in the coming years.”