Global Gaming expected to dismiss half of staff following Q2 difficulties

After reporting that ‘the last three months have been the most turbulent and difficult’ in its company history, Malta-based Global Gaming has been forced to let go of half its staff in a bid to reduce costs. 

Releasing its interim Q2 report last week, the iGaming operator explained that it had faced tough regulatory headwinds from its home market of Sweden, which resulted in the company’s profits and revenues taking a significant hit. 

In the report, which covered the period January – June, Global Gaming CEO Tobias Fagerlund stated: “It is no understatement to say that the last three months have been the most turbulent and difficult in the history of Global Gaming.”

It is expected that Global Gaming will reduce its current team from 190 people down to approximately 90-100 by the end of the year. 

“We are reducing the number of people in the group by about 50%, which is expected to significantly affect costs accordingly,” added Fagerlund. “The technology organisation in Sweden will be completely shut down during the remainder of the year, and the organisation in Malta has already shrunk considerably.”

Global Gaming previously came under fire from Spelinspektionen on 17 June following the decision to revoke SafeEnt’s operator licences. 

The decision followed the regulator’s conclusion that the Global Gaming subsidiary was in ‘serious breach’ of Swedish gambling’s AML Code and failed to meet customer care-of-duty requirements.

As a result of the regulator’s decision, profit after tax took one of the largest hits in Q2, with the operator group reporting a 136% drop compared to Q2 2018. For the period ended 31 June 2019, profits were negative SEK11.8m – a significant fall from the SEK28.9m from last year. 

Meanwhile, profits after tax for the first half of the year dropped by 195% since last year, while cash flow from operations took a similar hit through a 154% drop.Q2