NetPlayTV swings back into the black
INTERACTIVE gaming company NetPLayTV has swung into the black with EBITDA of £200,000 in the first quarter of 2010.
The Lancaster-based company – which provides interactive bingo and roulette games to ITV, STV and Five – has also reported that its full year results for 2009 will be in line with market expectations.
It took a total of £166m worth of bets in the first quarter of 2010 – which was an increase of 5.7% from the last quarter of 2009.
The figure was 32% higher than in the third quarter of 2009 when the company did not have any terrestrial transmission.
A trading update released to the Stock Exchange said: “The swing to a positive EBITDA of £200,000 is a major step forward for the company.
“It follows a period of heavy investment during the second half of 2009, and into the first quarter of 2010 as the Company entered into a number of significant partnerships with UK terrestrial broadcasters.
“The first quarter of 2010 also saw the Company restructure various parts of its business including moving the Supercasino.com brand from the UK to Alderney at the end of February 2010. The full financial benefit of this move will take effect from the second quarter of 2010.”
The company, which is led by Lancashire entrepreneur Martin Higginson, incurred additional TV airtime expenditure of £1.2m in the fourth quarter of 2009 as a direct result of entering into partnerships with STV and Five.
NetplayTV will announce its full financial results during the first week of June when it will also provide an update of the early trading of the ITV1 parnership which began earlier this month.
