GAN sees ‘tremendous’ progress in 2019

GAN, the online gaming software company formerly known as GameAccountNetwork, expects 2019 to be a year of "tremendous operational and financial progress", its chief executive, Dermot Smurfit, said in advance of its Wednesday annual general meeting.

In an announcement to the stock exchange, Mr Smurfit, who holds more than 10 per cent of the company, said the accelerated regulation of internet gambling in US states creates a “unique opportunity” for GAN, allowing it to “leverage years of investment developing and optimising its best-in-class technology”.

So far this year, states including Montana, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee and Illinois have had internet gambling regulated following the US supreme court's decision in 2018 to strike down a federal law which prevented gambling on a raft of sports.

About 58 million Americans now have legislation in place permitting internet gambling and analysts expect that more than half will be permitted to gamble online “within just a few more years”, the chief executive of the London- and Dublin-listed company noted.

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Such an environment allows GAN to “maximise the equity value of its unique US industry position as a truly unique enterprise software technology platform,” Mr Smurfit said.

Mounting losses

Founded in 2002, GAN is a developer and supplier of enterprise-level business to business internet gaming software, services and online gaming content in the US. Last year, net revenue rose 16 per cent to £10.6 million (€11.9 million) but its pretax losses mounted to £6.7 million (€7.5 million).

Nevertheless, Mr Smurfit saw the year as being a "pivotal" one for GAN, in which it prepared to launch internet gambling for the largest retail operator in Pennsylvania, Parx Casino, and extended its relationship with FanDuel, the US arm of Flutter Entertainment – formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair.

“We firmly believe 2019 will be another year of tremendous operational and financial progress and I look forward to updating shareholders with our financial results for the first half of the current financial year in due course,” Mr Smurfit concluded.