JackpotJoy Group revenues up 14% in Q3 2017

ne bingo operator JackpotJoy Group has revealed a 14% year-on-year rise in its gaming revenues for the third quarter of 2017.

Publishing its third quarter trading update, the company reported gaming revenues of £75.4m, beating the £66.4m reported during the same period of 2016.

Drilling down further into individual brands, revenues from Jackpotjoy increased by 12% year-on-year during the period, while revenues from the Vera&John online casino brand rose by a whopping 28%. However, revenues from JackpotJoy groups’ online bingo affiliate business Mandalay fell by 8% year-on-year during the three months ending September 30th.

Adjusted earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation rose by 4% year-on-year, reflecting what the company called a ‘planned increase in marketing costs’, while adjusted net income fell 14%, due to higher interest costs related to additional company debts.

The average number of customers grew by 13% year-on-year during the period, rising to 251,186 with average real gaming and monthly real money gaming revenues increasing by 16% and 2% respectively year-on-year.

Jackpotjoy’s net loss position dropped from minus £18.6m in the third quarter of 2016 to a net loss of £7.7m during the same period of 2017.

In a statement accompanying the results, Neil Goulden, Executive Chairman of JackpotJoy commented: “The third quarter has seen a continuation in the strong underlying momentum that we saw during the first six months of 2017, with gaming revenue up 14% and Adjusted EBITDA up 4%.

“There continues to be solid customer growth across the Group, with our Vera&John business segment performing particularly well, with constant currency revenue growth of 21% in the quarter.”

In October the group announced the departure of CEO Andrew McIver who will step down from his role on the 31st December 2017, leaving the company fully at the end of January 2018.

Goulden, who was appointed to the role of executive chairman in the wake of this announcement paid tribute to his departing colleague, adding: “On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to thank him for his work in helping establish the Group as a UK plc and I wish him well in the future.

“Against a positive operational backdrop and given the new management structure in place, I have full confidence that Jackpotjoy plc will continue to go from strength to strength and generate attractive returns for our shareholders.”