Frank Gibeau, the chief executive of US social gaming giant Zynga, assured investors in his Q1-2017 report this week that he expects to return the company to profitability “in the very near future”, his confidence given credibility by reduced losses and a good quarterly performance from Zynga Poker.
A statement from the company outlined key metrics in the quarter, including:
* Revenue overall up 4 percent y-o-y at $194.3 million;
* Net losses of $9.5 million – an improvement on the $26.6 million loss incurred in the same period last year;
* In-game sales up 14 percent at $207.4 million (85 percent from mobile sources, which were up 27 percent, generating revenues up 19 percent);
* Zynga took a knock on its advertising revenues, which fell 18 percent year-on-year to $40.8 million due to adverse market conditions;
* Average daily active users in the quarter rose 8 percent y-o-y, boosted particularly by a 16 oercent rise on mobile users;
* However, desktop (Web) DAUs fell by a worrying 30 percent;
* Average daily in-game sales to DAUs were up 4 percent y-o-y at $0.107, thanks to a 2.3 percent improvement in conversion rates (players to payers);
* Zynga Poker, which has now been around for almost a decade, brought in 23 percent of Zynga revenues in Q1-2017, delivering its best performance in the past two years, and encouraging the company to improve the popular app.
* Zynga social slots saw revenue slide 3 percent to 29 percent, as the popularity of Hit It Rich! Slots appeared to wane, providing only 10 percent of Zynga’s overall game revenues.
* Gibeau expects the acquisition earlier this year of Harpan Solitaire to have a positive impact on company revenue in the second quarter, appealing strongly to Zynga’s casual and social gaming fans, although he cautioned that losses in Q2 could come in at around $6 million.