Inspired Entertainment has posted its unaudited financial results for the three-month period and full year ended December 31, 2019. Total revenue for the 12 months increased 9% to $153.4m, from $140.7m, while adjusted EBITDA decreased 10.4% to $49m, from $54.7m year-on-year.
Executive Chairman Lorne Weil claimed to be “very pleased” with Q4 results which, he said, demonstrate the firm’s excellent progress in the firm’s ongoing business strategy to mitigate the effects of the Triennial Implementation in the UK.
He told investors: “We are excited about the growth prospects we are seeing across the company. We sold our first units in Illinois during the fourth quarter and have seen outstanding performance with all completed trials having resulted in follow-on orders.
“Our Virtual Sports business had its strongest ever quarter and we saw growth across the board. The popularity of our gaming and virtuals content continues to fuel the growth in our Interactive business and we are seeing impressive results from the recent launch of six new Interactive customers in North America.”
He concluded: “With the uncertainty surrounding the Triennial behind us, we are delighted to see these positive trends across our business thus far in 2020, where, in addition to the annualization of the Acquired Businesses (Novomatic Gaming Technology Group), we continue to see upside from North American penetration, accelerated UK pub and leisure digitization, additional customers coming onboard in Virtual Sports and Interactive, as well as the realization of expected synergies.”
Among the highlights for 2019 was the first series of installations of the firm’s Valor terminals in North America. During the fourth quarter, Inspired sold 116 units in Illinois and has sold an additional 144 machines in the first quarter through March 10, 2020. “Nearly every major Illinois operator has trialed Valor and all completed trials have resulted in follow-on orders,” it noted.
Inspired was also one of the first suppliers to be certified by the Illinois Gaming Board for each of its games to include the increased $4 stakes and up to $1,199 prizes which were enabled in January 2020.
Turning to its Virtual Sports offering, the firm said that the number of operators in this segment had increased to 111 live worldwide (as of December 31, 2019), up 11.0% from the same time last year.
New Virtual Sports content was also launched in the period, including Virtual Football across two dedicated channels on bet365.com and 20 channels of Virtual Sports via a sportsbook integration on bet365.com in New Jersey. BetVictor introduced Virtual Basketball across two dedicated channels, while the Pennsylvania Lottery launched “Derby Cash” Virtual Horse Racing in over 8,500 venues in November 2019.
Other highlights include the multi-year exclusive contract with Flutter and the addition of six key North American customers. Inspired went live with four clients in New Jersey comprising Caesars, Golden Nugget, Mohegan, and Resorts, and two customers in Canada – Loto Quebec and British Columbia Lottery Corporation.