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The governance of LSE-listed Gamesys Group, formerly JPJ Group, has cited confidence in achieving its corporate objective of indexing as a FTSE250 firm within the coming months.
Publishing its full-year 2019 results, a new look Gamesys has reported a 35% increase in corporate revenues to £415 million (FY2018: £308m), citing ‘high organic growth’ achieved across the UK and Asia.
Corporate governance branded 2019 as a ‘transformative year’, in which the company has taken full control of its technology stack and increased its UK B2C brand portfolio by acquiring group technology partner ‘Gamesys’ for £490 million last September.
The strategic enlargement has allowed the company to ‘return to UK growth’, as it’s home market unit recorded 5% revenue growth to £357 million (FY2018: £339m).
Further enlargement gains saw Asian operations surpass Europe as Gamesys’ second-largest revenue-generating region. Gamesys stated that it has established its presence within Japan after recording an Asia revenue increase of 137% to £122 million (FY2018: £55m).
Commenting on company performance, Gamesys Group CEO Lee Fenton said: “I am delighted with Gamesys Group’s strong financial performance in 2019, particularly given the significant work undertaken around the acquisition and integration of the legacy Gamesys business.
“Pro-forma5 revenues grew 15% delivered by growth the UK, Asia and North America, slightly offset by a decline in Europe, mainly due to regulatory developments in Sweden. It was particularly pleasing to see the UK return to moderate growth in 2019 as we annualised the introduction of enhanced responsible gambling measures and we expect to see similar trends in 2020.”
Closing its 2019 accounts, Gamesys has absorbed £63 million in Q4 administrative costs (Q42018: £28m) primarily related to transactional fees and group taxes.
Despite booking significant transactional costs, Gamesys maintained a 9% increase in adjusted EBITDA to £118 million (FY2018: £108m), sustaining its group net income at £85 million (FY2018: £86m).
“After a transformative year, the Group can look to the future with confidence,” added Fenton. “Our ability to use enhanced scale, greater operational control and a renowned portfolio of brands will provide a strong platform for growth and at this early stage of the current financial year we are trading in line with our expectations. Finally, as ever, we aim to continue to provide an entertaining, fun and responsible environment for all our players to enjoy.”
In its forward-looking, Gamesys underlined that 2020 trading thus far has remained in line with expectations. However, corporate governance is currently monitoring global COVID-19 developments closely and will issue investors with a further update prior to publishing its Q1 2020 trading statement in May.
