Gaming Realms PLC (LSE:GMR, OTCQX:PSDMF) CEO Mark Segal talked with Proactive about the company’s interim results and international expansion, with Slingo continuing to drive growth across key markets.
Segal explained that international revenues now make up 61% of the business, led by the United States, which grew by 22% during the period, or 26% on a constant currency basis. Canada also delivered an 8% increase, while Italy rose 29%, demonstrating the broad appeal of Slingo.
Brand licensing revenue surged more than sixfold in the half. Segal highlighted Slingo’s strength as “a very strong gaming brand in the gambling space,” noting its applications not only in i-gaming but also in adjacent areas such as US lotteries with physical scratchcards and Slingo bingo games in the UK.
The UK, which now contributes less than 30% of revenue, was impacted by new staking limits. Segal said the company saw a dip in April through June but reported a recovery in July and August, with the expectation of returning to growth by 2026.
Gaming Realms has released six new Slingo titles and added third-party content, while also preparing new market launches. With net cash rising to £90 million, Segal said the company will invest in innovation, new features, and selective share buybacks.
Proactive: Hello, you’re watching Proactive. I’m joined by Gaming Realms CEO Mark Segal. Mark, very good to speak with you. You’re out with your interim results this week. And international licensing now makes up most of your revenues. What markets or partners are driving the strongest growth?
Segal: Yeah. So that’s right. We are 61% international now. The largest market for us is the US. We went live in another new state in West Virginia in the second half of last year. And then Delaware, actually, just in the last month. The US has grown 22% in this period, and in constant currency, 26%. Canada has also been strong at an 8% increase, 13% constant currency. And Italy as well, 29% increase. So we’re really pleased with the international reach.
Proactive: Brand licensing revenues surged more than six-fold in the half. What’s behind the increase and how scalable is it?
Segal: Our main valuable piece of IP is Slingo, which has got a very strong gaming brand in the gambling space, whether that’s the i-gaming space where we’re developing and licensing the games or also where we are licensing this IP into adjacent markets. So we are in the US lotteries with physical scratchcards, where you can buy Slingo games. But also, we’ve done deals with Slingo bingo games in the UK and Slingo.com as a website. So we’re looking at lots of opportunities. The revenue is a bit more lumpy as we do these deals, but we are looking at opportunities now and we’re hoping that we’ll be able to add to this over time.
Proactive: How are the new UK staking limits affecting your Slingo games, and how quickly do you expect revenues to recover?
Segal: We did take a hit in April in the UK. Now, the UK as we discussed, is sub-30% of our revenues now, which means we’re well diversified. The players actually we found have always been relatively low staking, but it was more the flow of the Slingo game that was affected. It’s a multi-staking game. So we dropped in April, May, and June when the limits came in. But adding more innovation to our portfolio, and now 48 games, we’ve seen a recovery in July and by August, we’d halved the drop. Hopefully, this trend will see that by the end of the year we’re back to where we were, and we could talk about growth again in 2026.
Proactive: You’ve released six Slingo titles and added third-party content. How important is portfolio diversification for sustaining momentum?
Segal: Slingo has been great for us. It’s opened up a lot of doors and the games are really popular. We diversify by also licensing in IP into our Slingo format, whether it’s slot IP or TV, and creating our own IP within Slingo itself. Diversifying is accretive to us. We have a strong following with Slingo, and taking third-party content from studios which make some great games into the US market is really helping us. We’ve got such strong distribution that we can do that. And also we’re going to be diversifying with some of our own content as well, where we can take Slingo into slightly different formats.
Proactive: With net cash rising up to £90 million, more market launches ahead. What are your priorities for deploying that financial strength?
Segal: There will be investment in the business as we look to innovate our content and have a stronger portfolio to market over the next 18 months. We’re also looking at new market launches and features to our platform as well. We did start a share buyback earlier this year, albeit we’ve only done a small amount of that. We’ll just look for the best use of these funds to help grow the business.
Proactive: Well, Mark, I hope you continue to keep us updated with your progress. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.