Existing customers are to be able to log in and play on both brands until closure takes place on Tuesday 3 September, however new registrations are no longer being accepted.

Issuing the news with statements on the individual sites, it is thought that each is to remain in operation across other regions beyond the stipulated date of UK closure.

Earlier in the year Jackpotjoy reported a 13 per cent year-on-year climb in Q1 gaming revenue to £83.3m, with negatives outweighed by the continuing stellar success of the Vera&John brand, which posted a 62 per cent Q1 increase in gaming revenue, meaning it accounted for 41 per cent of total group revenue.

With a similar such statement placed on each site, the note to customers on Vera&John read: “We’ve had some good times, haven’t we? Unfortunately, even good things must come to an end, and the time has come for us to say goodbye. As of Tuesday 3rd September, we will no longer be operating in the UK, and access to your account will be blocked.

“From today, Monday 5th August, we will no longer accept new registrations. If you’ve already registered and you’ve yet to claim your welcome bonus, don’t fret. You can still deposit and claim your bonus spins.

“However, in preparation for the closure, we will be ceasing all promotional activity immediately. That includes onsite promotions, email offers, and tournaments. We will also begin to phase out the loyalty shop. We’re not going to cut off promotions happening right now, so please rest assured that those will be completed, and all winnings will be paid out as normal.

“As of Tuesday 27th August, you will no longer be able to make deposits or place wagers using your account. Rest assured, if you still have cash funds in your account, you can still access it in order to withdraw your balance until Tuesday 3rd September. Do withdraw any cash balance in your account at your earliest convenience.

“If you need help withdrawing your balance, please contact our customer support team via email on support@verajohn.co.uk, or via live chat.

“It’s been wonderful, but we’ve reached the end of our journey together. We’d like to thank you for your loyalty and wish you all the best for the future.”

The post Jackpotjoy’s InterCasino and Vera&John to exit UK appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Earnings (adjusted EBITDA) rose similarly in the period, up 16 per cent to £29m. The underlying picture behind the headline figures is a little more complex however, with Jackpotjoy UK dragging Jackpotjoy operations down, with a seven per cent drop in revenue.

This fall was attributed to the introduction of enhanced responsible gambling measures in the UK and increased marketing spend in Spain and the UK, as well as the “intense competitive environment in Sweden”.

However, these negatives were once again heavily outweighed but the continuing stellar success of the Vera&John brand, which posted a 62 per cent Q1 increase in gaming revenue, now accounting for 41 per cent of group revenue. Adjusted EBITDA for Vera&John leapt 234 per cent.

This extends the recent trend for Vera&John sustaining and driving growth at Jackpotjoy as the core UK business faces continuing regulatory and competitive challenges.

The group’s average active customers per month grew to 242,938 in the 12 months to the end of March 2019, an increase of eight per cent on the same point in 2018.

In a statement released this morning the group’s executive chairman Neil Goulden, said: “I’m pleased to report that the group has delivered another good quarter of growth… driven by a strong performance in Vera&John.

“We successfully completed the sale of our Mandalay business to 888 Holdings in March for £18m, which will allow us to focus on driving progress in our core market-leading brands in the UK. We remain convinced of the growth opportunities in global online gaming markets and are confident that we are well-placed to take advantage of this positive backdrop and deliver value to shareholders.

“The board is currently comfortable retaining significant cash on the balance sheet given the optionality which this confers and we will update the market at our interim results with respect to our plans to return cash to shareholders.”

The group said that trading in the first quarter has been in line with management’s expectations and the company “remains confident in the full-year outlook”.

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In a statement, JPJ said: “Overall, the board is confident that the group will report FY 2018 revenue and adjusted EBITDA at the upper end of current market expectations for the period.

“2018 has seen some consistent trends across the group with the stand-out being strong organic growth at Vera&John across a number of international markets. Meanwhile, the JPJ segment has reflected the consequences of the introduction of enhanced responsible gambling measures in the UK.”

It is something of a recurring theme for Jackpotjoy, which in Q3, reported a 40 per cent revenue increase for Vera&John, driven primarily by organic growth

Executive chairman Neil Goulden said in the statement: “We are pleased with the performance of the group during 2018, as we continue to take advantage of the growth opportunities present in international markets, notwithstanding what has been a challenging regulatory backdrop in the UK.

“We enter 2019 in a strong position to deliver further growth and to create value for shareholders.”

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Striving to launch the titles on January 1, the date the liberalised market comes in to force, H5G states it is to be done through NYX/SG Digital, with “multiple real-money operators” in line to take up the titles, which will see a total library of 40 follow.

Emphasising that numerous games are “already well known to the Swedish market through land and digital platforms,” such as Valkyrie Queen, Joker’s Riches and Silver Enchantress, the New York headquartered firm is to also tailor the offerings to Sweden via specific game and theme styles.

H5G has stressed a continued aim developing content distribution opportunities within globally regulated territories, as it “continues to actively develop opportunities and to work with governing bodies throughout Europe and the United States to expand its presence in 2019 including Pennsylvania, Denmark, Spain and Italy”.

The most recent moves by the Swedish gaming regulator, the Lotteriinspektionen, saw the handing out of five more igaming licenses as the market prepares for relaunch.

Bringing the total number of licensed gaming organisations to 31, L&L Europe was awarded a licence for online gambling, and is set to offer a wide range of .com and .se brands, including Funcasino, Karlcasino and Yeticasino on both domains.

Further licences were confirmed for Bayton, Dumarca Gaming, Genesis Global and Enlabs.

Bayton, a subsidiary of Cityviews, has been licensed for sites including Rubyfortune,  Jackpotcitycasino and Spincasino, all on the .se domain.

Dumarca Gaming, a subsidiary of the JPJ Group, will offer Vera&John and Intercasino brands in the re-regulated market, having been awarded a licence.

Simon Wykes, CEO of Jackpotjoy operations, welcomed the news: “Ensuring that our gaming platform is fully compliant with all of Sweden’s licensing requirements, has been a challenge which our technology team has successfully handled within a very short time frame.

“We now look forward to addressing the opportunity that a regulated and licensed Swedish market will present in 2019.”

The post High 5 Games preparing for 15 game Swedish launch appeared first on CasinoBeats.

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Ryan, who is also CEO at Pala Interactive, was awarded 30,000 share options – worth around £200,000 at present value – in September, 2016.

“These options were a legacy holding resulting from the more common use of share options to compensate non-executive directors in North America,” the group said in a short statement.

The practice, while common in North America, is not consistent with the requirements of the UK Corporate Governance Code, which requires non-executive directors to be able to act independently. JPJ voted to eliminate the practice at its 2018 annual general meeting.

“Under the existing Remuneration Policy approved by shareholders at the 2018 AGM, non-executive directors are not eligible to participate in any of the company’s share schemes or incentive schemes in the future,” continued the statement.

“The surrender of his options allows Mr Ryan to be deemed an independent member of the board as per the UK Corporate Governance Code. The surrender of options will not involve financial consideration.”

The company also confirmed that Ryan “no longer holds any shares” in the group.

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Third-quarter revenues across the group were £78m, up eight per cent year on year, gaming revenue per customer climbed 10 per cent, to £99.

JPJ’s European online gambling brand Vera&John reported a 40 per cent revenue increase to £26m, driven primarily by organic growth.

Underpinned by the benefits of a proprietary technology platform, Vera&John maintains JPJ’s group momentum during a period in which the flagship Jackpotjoy brand is adjusting to new UK responsible gambling measures, which has lowered its revenue and EBITDA earnings.

“As part of our commitment to meeting the highest industry standards on responsible gambling, revenues at Jackpotjoy UK have been impacted by the responsible gambling measures we have implemented and the closure of a number of high value accounts” said JPJ Group chief executive Neil Goulden.

During Q3, the company disposed of its social games division for £18m cash to South Korean games developer BagelCode.

Closing a busy trading period, JPJ declared a group net income of £7.5m with an adjusted EBITDA of £29m, up from £25m year on year. The results sees JPJ reverse 2017 comparative losses of £8.2m.

Looking ahead, JPJ states that it will continue with its international expansion assisted by operations partners Gamesys.

“Overall, we remain confident in our outlook for the full year. We continue to enjoy a strong association with Gamesys in a relationship which provides mutual benefits and we are also excited by the significant growth opportunities that exist in both existing and new markets, where we are well placed to take advantage of this promising backdrop,” said Goulden.

The post Vera&John gives Jackpotjoy a welcome boost in Q3 appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Following the sale Daniel Eriksson, who has stepped down from his CEO role at Viral Interactive, to become head of business development at Glitnor, commented: “Being part of building Viral Interactive to where it is and developing the LuckyCasino brand has been a great experience.

“Joining Glitnor and driving their business development forward in this next period of growth is a challenge that I’m really looking forward to.”

Glitnor details that via this acquisition the group is “ideally positioned” to make additional manoeuvres into the Swedish market, after “recent regulatory developments in Sweden and the opening of the online gambling market to private operators in 2019”.  

Martin Prantner, director of Fortuity Holdings, stated: “We’re delighted to have concluded this deal for the LuckyCasino brand which is powered by the Finnplay technology.

“We believe Johan and his team are uniquely placed in the market, given their track record of managing and scaling online casino brands in the past, and they shall therefore ensure the LuckyCasino brand is taken to the next level of growth.”

Johan Königslehner, Glitnor Group CEO, added: “Our team has many years in developing high-growth B2C casino brands such as Vera&John in emerging and mature regulated markets.

“We are tapping into the fast growing pay and play concept developing in Sweden and Finland with no account creation needed and instant withdrawals. We believe this concept is part of the future and shall be successful in the regulated Swedish market next year.”

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The Jackpotjoy brand saw revenue leap 74 per cent, while revenue at Vera&John grew by 35 per cent.

However both brands also saw a decrease in adjusted EBITDA, down six per cent and nine per cent respectively – a drop blamed on the costs of marketing campaigns for both Jackpotjoy and Vera&John.

European online casino brand Vera&John was acquired for €90m by former Jackpotjoy operating company Intertain Group back in 2016. At the time of the acquisition, stakeholders hoped Vera&John would become an integral asset for the group’s international expansion.

The brand’s steady Q1 revenue growth has been overseen by David Flynn, formerly of NYX Gaming Group, who was appointed as Vera&John CEO in September.

In a statement, Jackpotjoy executive chairman Neil Goulden said: “The first quarter has seen a continuation in the good underlying momentum we saw in 2017.

“Group revenues were up 13 per cent with Jackpotjoy, our largest business segment, up seven per cent, and Vera&John up 35 per cent, as both new and existing players continue to have a high level of engagement with our portfolio of games.

“Adjusted EBITDA decreased seven per cent year-on-year,  impacted by our TV advertising campaign in the UK, along with the introduction of POC2 in Q4 last year.

“As we have previously flagged, the investment in TV advertising will continue in Q2 2018 including a campaign launch in Spain. I am confident that we will continue to drive good growth and attractive returns for our shareholders over the remainder of FY18 and beyond,” said Goulden.

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More content will be added throughout 2018, as Relax looks to extend its reach into Jackpotjoy’s strong markets in UK and Northern Europe.

Patrik Österåker, Relax Gaming’s CEO, ​said: “Jackpotjoy and its casino brands have worked hard to engage with players in recent years, and we’re pleased to be able to give that a further boost with the provision of our exciting new table games.

“With further casino content on its way in the coming months, we’re looking forward to starting what looks set to be a profitable, long-term partnership.”

Victor Olinger, head of gaming at Jackpotjoy, added: “We’re always looking to add the latest content to our popular gaming brands to ensure our players have the best choice of quality games available to them.

“Relax Gaming’s new table games come with both an impressive price point and quality build, helping both our bottom-lines and our player’s satisfaction.”

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