Elys Game Technology, Corp.
(“Elys" or the “Company")
(Nasdaq: ELYS)(BER:3UW), an interactive gaming and sports
betting technology company, today issued the following letter to
shareholders:
Dear Shareholders,
As we approach the conclusion of another year of
formative developments for Elys, I would like to take this
opportunity to highlight several positive accomplishments and
assuage any concern in light of the recent turmoil in both global
and U.S. markets and the negative impact it has had on the gaming
sector, particularly on our stock price, and to further discuss the
sustainability of the Company and dedication of our founders and
senior management with the upcoming annual meeting of
shareholders.
Company Road-map
This year marks the 8th year in our initial
long-term strategy and development road map whereby we set out to
strengthen and grow our presence in the Italian market and to take
advantage of opening opportunities in the U.S. and global markets.
During this period we managed to adapt to changes in market
conditions that included an unprecedented global pandemic, which we
sensibly navigated by growing our on-line presence to offset the
closure of almost all of our retail locations in the Italian
market, growing our overall revenue and market share, and expanding
from a small private 6-person business in one market, into a
multinational group with approximately 127 employees and
contractors in approximately 12 countries around the world.
During the period 2014 through 2017, we rolled
up of a number of small gaming operators in the regulated Italian
market and also acquired and integrated an in-house technology and
highly skilled development team. Between 2018 and 2022, with the
repeal of PASPA, we focused on developing a custom-built technology
specifically for the U.S. market based on best practices gleaned
from our experience in the highly regulated Italian market, and
after a temporary slowdown due to COVID-19, we launched our
leading-edge sports betting platform with our first U.S. retail
customer in Washington D.C. Following directly on the heels of this
successful launch, we developed a substantially new casino property
sports betting platform with several unique features. We launched
this new platform in March 2022 for Ocean Casino Resort (Ocean)
based in New Jersey, and together with the experienced management
team at Ocean we are steadily improving system operations and
trading procedures and developing several new features unique for
the casino market.
During this 8-year period, Elys experienced
remarkable growth with annual betting turnover increasing from
approximately $30.5 million in 2014 to $841.9 million in 2021 and
revenue growth from approximately $1.7 million in 2014 to $45.6
million in 2021. As a result of this remarkable growth, our
aspirational milestone of reaching one billion in non-GAAP betting
turnover seems within reach in the very near future.
This update also coincides with the anniversary
of our first year of U.S. operations with the deployment of our
proof-of-concept location at Grand Central Restaurant and
Sportsbook, in the Adams Morgan district of Washington, D.C. We
have also overcome challenges related to licensing and implementing
compliance tools needed to properly and effectively operate a
sportsbook within a small business. These efforts have been
rewarded with the recent approval to operate a joint venture
sportsbook at the Cloakroom Gentlemen’s Club and in its rooftop
venue the Over Under Sportsbook and Rooftop Lounge, our second
location in Washington D.C. With this, we anticipate further
launches in this sector to be much more efficient as we continue
collaborating with local regulators to simplify the onboarding
process for small business sportsbooks. Transition from
Expansion to Profits
We are seeing a reshaping of the competitive
landscape in the regulated U.S. sports betting market with a
greater appreciation for licensing neighborhood businesses to offer
retail sports betting as an ancillary product alongside lottery
ticket sales, and the potential positive effect this could have on
creating employment and driving business opportunities in the local
economy. We believe that Elys is well positioned to take advantage
of this next phase of regulation in the U.S., while management
implements its pathway to profitability by strengthening our
product offering and reducing expenses by right sizing operations
commensurate with the revenue generating potential of the markets
we have chosen to operate in.
I believe the encouraging results of the first 3
quarters of 2022 are a good indicator of our strategy as we
continue to improve profitability in our B2C vertical in Italy
while steadily scaling up and reduce costs in our U.S. facing
operations. On October 4, 2022, Elys took over the management of
our USBookmaking (USB) subsidiary from prior management and have
rapidly turned this subsidiary from losing approximately $110,000
per month, before non-cash amortization of intangibles, to a
virtually cash-flow breakeven position while maintaining the full
level of services to all our USB customers.
Scaling up U.S. Retail (Land-based)
Operations
We currently have 7 signed locations in
Washington D.C., 2 in Maryland, 1 in New Jersey and 6 tribal casino
clients in 4 other states, and through our agreement with the Ohio
Lottery, have already signed over 100 retail host locations to
offer sports betting alongside their existing lottery kiosks in
Ohio.
We believe that we are in a unique position as
many of our competitive peers drove hard to compete in mobile
betting space after the repeal of the U.S. PASPA law in 2018. While
this crowded market continues to battle, we built a cost-effective
land-based solution which we believe is highly scalable and sets
Elys apart and is ahead of the curve in the quickly developing
land-based sector in the evolving U.S. sports betting market.
Mobile Segment Strategy
In January 2022, we reached an agreement to
provide our sportsbook platform for Lottomatica’s global
initiatives. Our mobile strategy was to let other competitors slug
it out in the U.S. markets in the early years and plan to launch
our mobile solution with better visibility on market dynamics in
partnership with industry giant Lottomatica in 2023.
With our efficient U.S. development team,
extensive experience of our Italian operations and outstanding
engineering team, coupled with our proven technology and unique
build-your-bet product, Elys is poised for effective scaling of our
global business.
Shareholder Value
We strongly disagree with the current market
capitalization, which remains significantly underpriced due to
circumstances beyond our control, and which is adversely affecting
our stock price and shareholder value. Consequently, the current
value of our capital stock lacks credit for the value of our
cutting-edge betting technology and engineering talent, our growing
and profitable Italian operations, or our future growth potential,
particularly in the U.S market, and in other global markets.
Notably, the Company’s strength lies in the lack
of significant debt on our balance sheet and successful strategic
execution of our cost containment exercises. In the first nine
months of 2022, we began re-opening our post-pandemic land-based
channel in Italy. Despite the adverse effect of the strength of the
U.S Dollar on our foreign operations we reported growth in our
betting turnover and gross gaming revenue for the three months
ending September 30, 2022, to $166.5 million and $11.7 million
respectively. This positive trend also produced a profit in our
Italian B2C segment, and we deeply focused on returning Elys to
being a cash flow positive group enterprise through the next 12 to
18 months. With our planned Ohio project getting underway over the
coming months, we believe that the Company is at a key inflection
point for future success and revaluation. Indeed, we believe there
could be significant opportunity in current and future operations
that is not currently baked into our market valuation.
We have just begun to make considerable gains in
the exciting and massive U.S. market opportunity and look forward
to sharing our continued success with our committed shareholder
base. I hope you share our enthusiasm for the future and the
potential for breakthroughs over the next few years and thank you
for your trust and your continuing support through these
extraordinary times.
Yours sincerely,
Michele CiavarellaExecutive Chairman
About Elys Game Technology,
Corp.
Elys Game Technology, Corp., is a B2B global
gaming technology company operating in multiple countries
worldwide, with B2C online and land-based gaming operations in
Italy. Elys offers its clients a full suite of leisure gaming
products and services, such as sports betting, e-sports, virtual
sports, online casino, poker, bingo, interactive games and slots in
Italy and has operations in five states as well as the District of
Columbia in the U.S. market. Elys' vision is to become a global
leader in the gaming industry through the development of pioneering
and innovative technology.
The Company provides wagering solutions,
services online operators, casinos, retail betting establishments
and franchise distribution networks. Additional information is
available on our corporate website at www.elysgame.com.
Investors may also find us on Twitter
@ELYS_gaming.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements are identified by the use of the words “could,”
“believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,”
“continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar
expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based on
management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this
press release and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could
cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations
and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any
forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes such
forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it
can give no assurance that any of its expectations will be
attained. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from current expectations include, among others,
the Company’s ability to improve system operations and develop new
features for the casino market, to reach one billion in non-GAAP
betting turnover in the near future, to be more efficient with
further launches, to simplify the onboarding process for small
business sportsbooks, to improve profitability in our B2C vertical
in Italy while steadily scaling up and reduce costs in our U.S.
facing operations, to take advantage of the next phase of
regulation in the U.S., to launch our mobile solution with better
visibility on market dynamics in 2023, to effectively scale our
global business, to achieve future growth potential, to achieve a
key inflection point for future success and revaluation, to achieve
breakthroughs over the next year, the duration and scope of the
COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, including the impact to state and
local economies, and the risk factors described in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and
its subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and
current reports on Form 8-K. The information in this release is
provided only as of the date of this release, and the Company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements
are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events,
except as required by law.
Company Contacts:Elys Game
Technology, Corp.Investor RelationsTel.: 1-561-838-3325
Email: i.relations@elysgame.com
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