Independent.ie – GameAccount Network, the UK-based gambling software provider headed by Dermot Smurfit Jnr, has inked a deal to provide a simulated gaming website to the famous Yonkers racetrack and casino in New York. GAN also announced that pre-tax profits hit £1.6m (€1.9m) last year compared to a loss of £1m (€1.2m) the year before, as net revenue rose 123pc to £12.3m (€15m). Expansion in the US remains a “strategic priority” for the group, said Mr Smurfit.
Shares in the company, which floated on London’s Alternative Investment Market and Dublin’s Enterprise Securities Market last year, jumped 12pc in London yesterday morning.
The revenue rise was driven by new business and organic growth. Overall, B2B revenues rose to £11.3m (€13.7m) from £3.9m (€4.7m), offsetting a decline in B2C business, where revenue fell from £1.6m (€1.9m) to £1m (€1.2m).
The company confirmed it signed a deal with Empire City Casino, which owns the Yonkers Raceway Corporation, to launch a simulated online casino for its customers.
The website is expected to launch in the second half of the year. Simulated gaming sites are being set up by casino operators in advance of the expected introduction of more widespread legislation to permit the use of real money internet gaming.
