Publicly-listed online gaming company IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (E-Games), a subsidiary of Philippines-based technology holding company IPVG Corp., reported that it posted a 60 percent increase in net income in 2010, ending the year at P18.6 million from P11.6 million in 2009.
Despite revenues remaining flat, E-Games reported that it successfully grew its earnings through more efficient operations.
E-Games also continued its expansion plans for 2011, after successfully concluding a rights offering and raising P134.18 million in February. With the proceeds from this rights offering, E-Games was able to fund strategic acquisitions.
One of the key growth areas that E-Games implemented this year was to expanded the distribution and promotion of its gaming content into the market.
This month, E-Games completed a transaction to purchase ePLDT’s 75-percent stake in Digital Paradise Inc., which operates the Netopia brand of internet cafés, the largest chain of internet cafés in the Philippines.
Netopia serves over 1.5 million customers monthly and currently has a network of over a hundred cafés nationwide. Netopia will add more than P 300 million of revenues to the top line of E-Games
E-Games CEO Enrique Y. Gonzalez said: “We believe in the synergy between content, community and commerce. The acquisition of Netopia allows us to implement a vertically integrated strategy, which uniquely positions us in the consumer Internet space. With combined revenues of over P 500 million, and a community of over 5 million active users, our Company is clearly the #1 local Internet consumer platform. Expect many more exciting developments in the pipeline. 2011 is going to be another break-through year for our Company.”
With nearly 30 percent internet penetration in the country and with over 70 percent of Filipinos accessing the internet through cafés like Netopia, the internet café industry serves as a highly strategic sector for E-Games. E-Games intends to capitalize on this franchising opportunity and aims to triple its number of storefronts over the next two to three years.
E-Games has been one of the leading online games publishers in the country since 2007. It introduced the “Free-to-Play” business model for online gaming that is now a standard in the local gaming industry. E-Games has maintained an estimated 35-percent market share and continues to grow.
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