DoubleDown drives IGT's 320% Q1 online growth
Online revenues help gaming machine manufacturer towards strongest Q1 performance in four years.
A strong performance from IGT’s social casino division DoubleDown Interactive has helped the company post a 320% year-on-year rise in first quarter revenues from online operations, the company has announced.
DoubleDown reported revenues of US$41.3m for the three months ended 31 December 2012 “ a 15% quarter-on-quarter rise “ offsetting a decline in takings from its egaming branch IGTi, which saw revenue fall 8% from $12.6m in the same period in 2011 to $11.6m as it geared down and ultimately discontinued its real-money online poker network in December.
The app’s average DAU saw a slight rise, up 3% from the period ended 30 September 2012 to 1.5m, while average revenue per user grew 7% to $0.30, making it the third highest-grossing app on the Facebook platform, and the sixth top-grossing game on iPad.
This growth contributed to 19% year-on-year growth in group revenues, which climbed from $445.5m to $530.3m in the quarter “ the company’s strongest Q1 performance of the past four years, according to chief executive Patti Hart. This was aided predominantly by increased product sales, with the company having signed deals with lottery organisations in Manitoba and Illinois to supply video lottery terminals.
Commenting on the results Hart said that she expected the company’s showing in Q1 to kick off the supplier’s fourth consecutive year of growth.
“We believe our strong performance demonstrates that our strategy is working and that IGT is moving in the right direction. Through the remainder of fiscal 2013, we intend to build on this momentum by leveraging our core business, distributing our best-in-class content more broadly, and returning capital to shareholders,” Hart explained.
Hart went on to comment on the proposed nomination of three director candidates to the supplier’s board, with Ader Managament Group having informed IGT that it intends to nominate Raymond Brooks, Daniel Silvers and former CEO Charles Mathewson. Ader Management founder Jason Ader was also set to be nominated, but has since decided against the move.
IGT has already spoken out against the nominations, explaining that it “strongly believes” that the trio would pursue an agenda that was “not in the best interests of all IGT shareholders” due to a long-running dispute between Mathewson and the company since his retirement in 2003.
On the subject Hart said: “Our Board strongly believes that our current group of directors brings a diverse and appropriate set of skills and experiences to our boardroom.
“And therefore, we recommend strongly that shareholders vote for IGT’s 8 highly qualified and experienced directors and reject the opposing slate of 3 candidates.”