Evolution Gaming appoints Martin Carlesund as new chief executive

The reshuffle at the top has also seen previous chairman Joel Citron leave the business. He had been heading the board since the company floated on the Nasdaq First North Premier exchange in 2015.

The news came with the company’s third-quarter results which saw the company continuing to power ahead, with revenues up 47% on the same period last year to €29.2m while adjusted profit rose 28% to €7.4m. Mobile as a percentage of revenues again rose, up to 43% compared with 28% in the same period last year and 40% at the end of the first half.

Departing chairman Citron praised his successor. “The company requires an executive of Jens (von Bahr) capabilities and industry expertise to focus full-time on strategy,” he said. “Jens will engage with our management team, customers and shareholders in connection with formulating and executing the company’s future growth.”

Meanwhile, Carlesund moves from heading up the company’s Maltese operation. Von Bahr said that he and Carlesund would spend time looking at potential acquisitions and strategic partnerships.

Said Carlesund: “The company is in a highly expansive period where existing customers are demanding more services, new customers are added, and where larger trends such as the land-based online migration are happening.

“Based on this, Evolution has a great opportunity to further strengthen its leading position in the live casino market, and I look forward to leading the company to further success.”

One recent deal that went live in the third quarter is was a live casino that launched at the grand Casino Bucharest in partnership with iSoftBet. Meanwhile, the company also launched dual-play roulette operations at two London casinos, the Ritz and the Hippodrome. The company said these deals “clearly” proved the trend of the migration of land-based casino gaming gradually moving online.

In the nine-month period, total revenues rose 52% to €81.1m while adjusted EBITDA leapt 46% to €31.7m.

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