NetEnt Releases 2017 Report: Profit Growths and Expansions to New Markets
Published April 7, 2018 by Ivan P
NetEnt has marked a 11.7% growth in profits in 2017, primarily thanks to expanding to new regulated markets and successfully reinforcing their position in the old ones.
NetEnt, one of the leading developers of casino games and full-scale gaming solutions , has released the full business report for 2017, summarizing everything the company has achieved over the 12-month period. The report covers many relevant points and areas but, generally speaking, it can be concluded that the last year was another successful one for the Swedish developer.
New Markets and Improved Profits
During 2017, NetEnt focused on expanding to new regulated markets, which helped them boost their overall profits by 11.7% in relation to 2016. The overall profits at the end of 2017 stood at SEK 1,625,000,000, which translates to about €160 million. The operating margin stood at 36.1%.
A more aggressive approach to the expansion to the regulated markets across Europe as well as the United States was the main reason for the increase. During 2017, NetEnt managed to enter the USA via New Jersey and the company continued to reinforce its positions in the UK, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. They also entered two newly-regulated markets in the Czech Republic and Serbia, further improving their position in Europe.
Despite the overall positive numbers, the company expected somewhat better results in 2017, but these expectations were hindered by some unfavorable developments, such as having to initially withdraw from the Czech market after new gaming regulations. The same thing happened with Poland and Austria. The company's President and CEO since 2012 Per Eriksson was recently let go by the board of directors following the 2017 results.
14 New Gaming Titles
In addition to entering new markets, NetEnt has also boosted its gaming portfolio with 14 new titles in 2017. During the Q1 they released a new jackpot slot called Divine Fortune, followed by Jungle Spirit: Call of the Wild, the Hansel and Gretel slot, a sequel to their Fairytale Legends series, ending the year on a high note with their Planet of the Apes branded slot and the Finn and the Swirly Spin game, featuring innovative game mechanics.
The company has already announced they have plans to release even more new slots in 2018, a couple of which will be based on hugely popular TV shows Narcos and Vikings, and these are the titles NetEnt has the highest hopes for.
Clear Vision for the Future
Showing a strong growth year after year, NetEnt's 2017 report also contains the company's vision for the future. The key people in the company are aware of the biggest opportunities as well as challenges that await along the road.
One of the areas where NetEnt sees a great potential is the US market, where they managed to enter thanks to their New Jersey deal, positioning themselves perfectly to seize new opportunities that future online gaming laws could present.
Another niche where the company will be looking to leave its mark is the live casino, where they already have an infrastructure in place to compete with some of the biggest studios. With the recently released new products as well as the ones in the works, NetEnt is convinced there is plenty of space for a significant growth in this area.
