Netplay TV on course to beat full year expectations as casino numbers surge

Interactive gaming company Netplay Tv (LON:NPT) is on course to beat full year financial expectations after a strong first half of the year continued into the third quarter. Year-on-year Q3 indicators show that new casino players increased by 57.3% to 24,686 and the number of active casino players increased by 44.8% to 23,416.

Netplay said it was continuing to focus on how best to maximise the number of players acquired through the post midnight teleshopping TV window, and during Q3 also carried out tests on pre midnight TV advertising spots which produced positive results. As a result of this initiative, together with the continued strengthening of the relationships with key broadcasters, the company will be further increasing marketing expenditure on TV advertising in Q4.

Meanwhile, Netplay said it was also pursuing ways of generating increased revenues from its 31.5 hours of terrestrial TV per week, particularly with regard to acquiring new customers directly via mobile. This strategy has apparently proved to be effective, with Supercasino mobile revenue up over 500% on Q3 2010. This significant increase in mobile revenue is the result of the introduction of a new Apple iPhone application in Q3 2010, which supports the company’s strategy of acquiring customers directly into the iPhone via the TV.

In the six months to the end of June, Netplay delivered revenues of £10.59 million and a pre-tax profit of £0.37 million against a previous loss of £9.8 million. In an interview with Stockopedia in August, chief executive Charles Butler, said the company was keen to expand through mobile gaming and into international markets. Shares in Netplay increased by nearly 5.5% to 9.6p.