Stride Gaming pleased with 'resilient' trading

26th Sep 2018 08:22

(Sharecast News) - Online gaming operator Stride Gaming updated the market on its trading on Wednesday, ahead of its final results for the year ended 31 August.The AIM-traded firm said it had traded "well", and in line with its expectations during the second half of the financial year.As a result, it expected to report net gaming revenue for the financial year of no less than £85m, up from £82m, and adjusted EBITDA of no less than £16m, compared to £20m last year.It said that "resilient" performance was achieved against a backdrop of more challenging trading conditions, including higher taxation - an effect of £4m in the 2018 financial year - and implementing further measures in a bid to to ensure that it continued to maintain high standards in the provision of responsible gaming.During the period, the company completed the earnouts for the Tarco and 8Ball businesses that were acquired in August 2016 and subsequently successfully integrated into the groupIt said it was now focussed on delivering further operational synergies in the year ahead.Stride Together, the group's business-to-business division, had performed well with Aspers Casino achieving continued strong growth.It said it was exploring additional partnerships in the UK and globally.On 2 August, Stride had announced that one of its subsidiaries had received notice from the Gambling Commission of Great Britain of its intention to require the licensee to pay a financial penalty following a review of the manner in which the licensee had historically carried on its licensed activities.Since the announcement, the board said it had made further extensive representations to the Gambling Commission, and anticipated that a decision by the UKGC on a financial penalty would be made before the end of the calendar year.On the basis of legal advice received to date, Stride said the board had concluded that it should make a provision for its financial liability against the proposed penalty.A £4m provision would therefore be recorded in the results for the year ended 31 August."I am pleased to report that the group has traded well during the second half of the year despite a number of headwinds impacting the UK online gaming market," said chief executive officer Eitan Boyd."Our focus remains on delivering further market share growth in the UK, driven by continued product innovation and increasing player loyalty."Boyd said that was underpinned by the strength of its proprietary technology as well as its proven business analytics capabilities."We have an excellent technology platform as well as a highly experienced team driving the group forward, and as a result we look forward to the future with confidence."Stride Gaming said it intended to announce its final results on 21 November.