NGR declines at mobile gambling provider

Probability plc, a provider of mobile gambling based in the UK, has broken a generally positive pattern in its quarterly results reportage, posting Q1/2010 numbers that show an almost 2 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in net gaming revenues to GBP 1.11 million.

The drop may be rooted in an 11 percent q-on-q drop in new customer registrations from January 1 to March 31 to 41 825.

The company reported net cash on hand and equivalents of GBP 1.64 million – 14 percent lower than for the final three months of 2009.

Chief executive at Probability, Charles Cohen, attributed the lower performance to a seasonal weakness in the industry, but noted that the company had held its ground with trading in line with expectations.

“These unaudited figures mean that we are also in line with investor expectations for the full-year, an encouraging outcome given that the focus has been on building Probability’s core technology to drive future growth,” he added.

“The investment programme started a year ago is now substantially complete and we look forward to a rapid succession of exciting product rollouts as well as new business-to-business integrations with major partners. Response to our new dedicated offering has been very strong and we are in advanced negotiations with several potential customers for this service.

“All this comes at a significant time in the evolution of the market for portable gaming. Our focus has always been on mobile phones and smartphones. Indeed, we are putting the finishing touches to our iPhone and Android services and will be submitting these for regulatory approval very shortly.”

Expanding on the iPhone initiative, Cohen said that Probability engineers have determined that the core technologies developed for iPhone can be adapted very quickly to new devices including the Apple iPad.

“The iPad is not a phone but it uses a mobile operating system and, therefore, cannot run the software used by any existing online gambling games that we are aware of, even browser based,” said Cohen. “This is, therefore, a market that Probability is uniquely positioned to address both for our consumer and our business-to-business services.

“We are very pleased, therefore, to be able to confirm that Probability will support both the iPad and the iPhone with a full suite of real-money casino games and slots during the next quarter. The iPad service will be made available as soon as possible after this revolutionary new device becomes available in Europe, currently expected to be late-May.”