Åland Islands-based gambling operator Paf is becoming less dependent on high rollers, as it sees revenue from big spenders fall, but profits increase.

The operator, which in 2018 became the first to introduce mandatory loss limits, and last October reduced them from €30K to €25K, says revenue from those losing at least €30,000 fell by a massive 67% year-on-year, to just €3.2m.

Specifically, Paf reported that the number of customers who lost €30K or more last year dropped from 0.13% to 0.04%. Meanwhile, revenue from players losing between €0.01 and €8,000 grew by 10% to €79m. Total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for 2019 was up 4% to €102.8m, while profit was also up 4% to €25.6m.

Paf has also confirmed it will be paying a dividend of €40m to the Åland Islands government to help fund COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief efforts.

Reflecting on the results Paf Chairman, Jan-Mikael von Schantz, said:

“We would like to express our sincere thanks to the management and staff for their excellent work. The importance of Paf’s contribution to society appears to be extraordinarily high in situations such as these.”

While Paf CEO, Christer Fahlstedt, added:

“We believe in openness and that openness gives strong credibility to discussions about responsible gaming. We are proud and happy that our development is going in the right direction.”

AYO.NEWS says:

While Paf’s strategy seems to be paying off in terms of business , many would argue it doesn’t really address the majority of problem gambling cases – as for the vast majority of problem gamblers, financial crisis would start well before they hit a €25K loss limit.

Staying with Paf, last month we reported Paf had significantly expanded its Swedish footprint with the acquisition of Malta-based, Swedish-licensed Mandalorian Technologies – operator of brands including No Account Casino, No Account Bet, and Prank Casino.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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Catena Media’s affiliate brand AskGamblers has pledged to donate €50K to UNICEF to help with COVID-19 relief efforts.

The money was originally raised at the AskGambler’s Charity Night, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia, in January. Catena Media will now ensure €50K will be donated to UNICEF to help it provide relief in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

AskGamblers has thanked its casino partners who took part in the charity event, with Vice President Nikola Teofilovic saying:

“We’re all aware of the fact the battle between humanity and the coronavirus pandemic is going to be a long journey, but we truly believe it is our responsibility to help protect the most vulnerable ones who are fighting this dangerous disease.

“We have decided to divert €50,000 to support our local hospitals with the necessary resources to save lives in the fight against COVID-19.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite the damage the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is causing to the global economy, its great to see companies and individuals across the gambling sector come together to support good causes.

Earlier this month, members of the UK’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) donated GBP £2.6m raised during the Virtual Grand National to the National Health Service (NHS),  while bet365 owner Denise Coates awarded a £10m grant to an NHS hospital trust, and the UK’s National Lottery announced a £300m contribution to the COVID-19 relief effort.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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Portugal is set to introduce online gambling restrictions for the duration of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

A bill demanding action to limit online gambling during the crisis, introduced by members of the environmentalist Partido das Pessoas, dos Animais e da Natureza (PAN), has been passed by the Portuguese parliament.

Though the bill doesn’t detail specific restrictions, it demands “partial or total limitations on access to online gambling platforms.” It also referenced neighbouring Spain, which has restricted audiovisual gambling communications to between 1am and 5am for the duration of the lockdown.

The authors of the bill claim that online gaming revenue has increased 18% year-on-year in Portugal since the country entered a state of emergency on 18 March.

The bill came into effect on 9 April, giving the Portuguese government five working days to introduce the regulations – which means they should be in effect from next Monday. The regulations will stay in effect until the state of emergency in the country is lifted.

The bill was supported by the governing Socialist Party, the Left Bloc, Unitary Democratic Coalition, the Libertal Initiative and Libre parties. It was, however, opposed by the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, along with the CDS People’s Party and Chego.

AYO.NEWS says:

As we have said before, the longer the COVID-19 crisis drags on, the more likely we are to see draconian online gambling restrictions and bans. In addition to Portugal and Spain, we’ve also seen weekly wagering limits introduced in Belgium, while Swedish operators have been warned of “extraordinary measures” unless they reduce online gambling activity, and regulators in the UK and Malta have urged operators to maintain the highest standards of social responsibility to avoid further measures.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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The G2E Asia show has been postponed for a second time due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

Originally scheduled to take place at the Venetian Macao casino resort from 19-21 May, G2E Asia was postponed to 28-30 July, but has now been pushed back to 1-3 December.

The latest postponement follows criticism of the first date change, which several possible attendees had deemed unrealistic given the global situation.

Commenting on the news COO of Reed Exhibitions, China Josephine Lee, said:

“The health and safety of our exhibitors, attendees and employees is paramount. The rapidly evolving situation makes it too difficult to host G2E Asia in a safe environment this summer.”

Organisers hope that, by the winter, things will have stabilised the industry will be starting to recover.

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite Macau itself managing to keep the COVID-19 outbreak under control, based on the latest projections of multiple virus waves and the necessity of long-term social distancing measures, we very much doubt international air travel will be operating sufficiently by the winter to allow for a successful G2E.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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888 Holdings saw revenue grow 6% year-on-year to a record USD $560.3m in 2019.

74% of revenue for the year ending 31 December 2019 came from regulated markets, and the majority of revenue, some $530.5m, came from B2C operations, including $359.3m from B2C casino – a 13% rise. Revenue from sports betting climbed 12% to $90m.

However, B2B revenue for 2019 fell a very significant 41%, to $29.8m. Adjusted EBITDA also fell 14%, to $92.1m, and adjusted profit before tax dropped 39% to $53.2m.

The operator managed to attract over a million new players during the year, up 22%, with the UK being the best performing market, seeing a 20% year-on-year rise in revenue to $204.1m.

Reflecting on 2019 and addressing the current COVID-19 crisis, 888 CEO, Itai Pazner, said:

“Despite the headwinds of significantly increased gaming duties and challenging conditions in some of our global markets, 888 delivered a resilient financial performance during 2019 reflecting the strength of our unique combination of technology, compliance and diversification across regulated markets.

“The Board is closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on 888 and its customers. We continue to recognise that with people spending more time at home and with increased levels of stress and economic uncertainty, 888’s unwavering commitment to preventing gambling related harm is even more important than ever. We are proactively communicating with our customers to provide information on safer gambling and, where necessary, offer support.”

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis severely affecting many gambling operators, 888 says it has seen a rise in casino and poker activity during the lockdowns, with average daily revenue up 18% year-on-year so far.

AYO.NEWS says:

888 is clearly one of the operators better placed to weather the COVID-19 crisis, being far less exposed to sports betting than many other large gambling companies. Of course, as we’ve noted before, the continued success of the online casino sector very much depends on regulators not imposing draconian restrictions, or even total bans, during the crisis. And, the longer the crisis drags on, the more likely those restrictions and bans become.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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Gibraltar-based casino supplier Nektan has appointed administrators, confirming it has failed to secure funds needed to keep operating.

On 14 April, Nektan announced it was appointing an administrator, and trading of its ordinary shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange was suspended.

Following completion of the required process through the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, Steven de Lara of Signature Litigation Limited and Ian Defty of CVR Global LLP have been appointed joint administrators.

Nektan also confirmed that Shore Capital has resigned as Nominated Adviser, and it will not be appointing a replacement – meaning that, as per Rule 1 of the AIM, admission of the company’s securities to trading will be cancelled.

The company has entered administration despite revenue for H1 FY2020 (ending 31 December 2019), was actually up 157% year-on-year to GBP £797,000 on a continued basis, and after tax had fallen 41% to £2.77m.

As we reported previously, in January Nektan was temporarily suspended from the AIM for missing the deadline to publish its accounts.

At the time of writing, Nektan’s website was still live and contained no mention of the crisis.

AYO.NEWS says:

As recently as last week, Nektan was still making deals with new companies – for example, sealing a deal with games studio Evoplay. Despite this, and the improving revenue, there have been signs that all was not well at Nektan for a while, with CEO Lucy Buckley resigning in August 2019, after just ten months in the role. At the time, Nektan’s difficulties were blamed on overregulation in the key UK market.

It now seems likely that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis has hammered the final nail into the coffin for Nektan. Despite online casinos actually seeing an increase in customers, those companies looking to secure finance, like Nektan, are finding funding has dried up as the world enters what the IMF is predicting to be the worst economic collapse for 90 years.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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