INTERNET CASINO and gaming software company CryptoLogic has signed a deal with Paramount Digital Entertainment that will give the Dublin-based company the exclusive rights to market online slot games based on Paramount feature films such as Braveheart, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostand Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Under the revenue-sharing deal, the games will be available from the fourth quarter of 2009 on a dedicated movie-themed gaming site to be built by CryptoLogic, which employs 15 people at its headquarters in Dublin.
The company has a similar arrangement with Marvel Comics and last year signed a deal with Warner Bros and DC Comics.
CryptoLogic yesterday reported a net loss of $32 million (€24 million) for 2008 due to a restructuring of the company and writedowns on assets, but signalled that it was on track to return to profitability with net profits of $9 million to $10 million (€7 million to €7.7 million) in 2009 after it added 10 new customer contracts last year.
The company's chief executive, Brian Hadfield, told The Irish Timeshe was taking a conservative view of revenue growth and its outlook for the year was subject to no further deterioration in economic conditions and the stabilisation of currency markets.
Revenues fell in the fourth quarter of 2008 as a result of “a weakness in wagering activity” in November following a period of negative economic news, Mr Hadfield said, but had picked up since.
“We are comfortable with our outlook. In the past, this industry has been resilient to slowdowns in the economy,” he said.
Contracting out its poker operation to GTech Corporation had turned what had been a break-even business into a profitable one and allowed CryptoLogic to concentrate on pursuing branded e-gaming licensing, he said.
CryptoLogic’s 2008 full-year results also include a $1.5 million (€1.15 million) payment to its former chief executive, Javaid Aziz, who last month demanded that an extraordinary general meeting (egm) be held so that he could seek election to the board as a non-executive.
Mr Hadfield said Mr Aziz, a shareholder in the company, was no longer seeking an egm.
“We’re focused on running the business. We’re trying not to be distracted by anything outside of that,” he said.
CryptoLogic, which is listed on the Nasdaq in New York and the London Stock Exchange, sells its pioneering gaming software to brands such as 888, PartyGaming and Sky Bet. It moved its headquarters to Dublin in 2007 as part of a major reorganisation prompted by the prohibition of internet gaming in the US.
