Novomatic purchase pays off for Inspired

The acquisition of the Novomatic Gaming Technology Group in the UK – including major AWP manufacturers Astra and Bell Fruit and operator Gamestec – has paid dividends for new owner Inspired Entertainment.

The group, in its fourth quarter of 2019, reported revenue up 116.2 per cent to $66.4m and adjusted EBITDA up 69.4 per cent to $17.7m. Despite the ruling that stakes and prizes in bookmakers’ shops should be adjusted down to that of the AWPs business in UK high streets, the quarter still showed betting office results improving.

The end of year figures saw revenue at $153.4m, up from $140.7m or nine per cent. The company’s chairman, Lome Weil, said that the company was pleased with the quarter that saw the effects of the UK’s triennial review (every three years stakes and prizes are adjusted) mitigated and the integration of the Novomatic businesses in the UK pub and leisure industry.

Weil also noted that the group had sold its first gaming machines in Illinois, US, its virtual sports business had enjoyed a record quarter and there was growth across the board.

The UK, he said, was now benefiting from the changeover from analogue to digital machines and there was a strengthening in the British pub market, where the number of venues had actually increased for the first time in a decade.