Intertain benefits from single-minded focus

Intertain chief financial officer and co-founder Keith Laslop has said that the company’s success is down to its precise focus as it announced an incredible 1,578-per-cent year-on-year rise in quarterly revenues. According to the operator’s president and chief executive, John Kennedy Fitzgerald, Intertain would assess further expansion on the back of the Q2 results, and Laslop said that the company's decision to purely concentrate on the bingo and slots vertical was key in its huge growth.

Revenue in the second quarter amounted to $95.2m (€83.4m), up from just $5.7m in the corresponding period in 2014, with this year’s purchase of Jackpotjoy also among the reasons for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising by 1031 per cent to $32.8m.

Laslop, who will be a speaker at EiG 2015 in Berlin in October, told TotallyGaming.com that the company – which also runs Costa Bingo, InterCasino, Vera&John and Botemania - was guided by the success of another market leader that did not try to be the proverbial jack of all trades.

“Our main consideration is what I refer to as the original PokerStars strategy - don’t try to be all things to all gamers, but instead focus on one particular segment of the market and dominate that space,” Laslop said. 

“Our focus is on one gaming vertical - we count bingo and slots as one - which has different characteristics from others as the majority of players tend to be women, and they play differently from men. If we remain focused we believe we’ll be able to extend our leadership from the UK into many newly regulating jurisdictions.”

The company completed the acquisition of certain assets of Gamesys, including Jackpotjoy for $578.7m in April, and has also announced technological progression at Vera&John and expansion into the Spanish market so far this year.

Laslop – who will speak at this year’s EiG event in Berlin – believes that both size and innovation will be key attributes for gaming company’s wanting to be successful in an era of consolidation.

“Size allows companies to focus on multiple new jurisdictions simultaneously and player liquidity provides larger companies a natural advantage with respect to jackpot size and breadth of games,” he said. "Taxes such as the UK Point of Consumption (PoC) Tax also tend to entrench the market leadership of the largest companies as it creates barriers to entry for new companies.

“Innovation will always disrupt markets though so innovation is equally important in today’s environment. It’s harder for larger companies to innovate so small companies will always be important and often times have a competitive advantage.

“Where a gaming company doesn’t want to be today is in the middle of what I’ve described above.”

For more information about EiG 2015, which will take place at Arena Berlin from October 20-22, click here.