Jackpotjoy remains confident of meeting upper end of full-year expectations following a strong third quarter.

The group said the strong trading momentum seen during the first six months continued into Q3 and into the early stages of Q4.

It said that as previously flagged, there would be an impact on profitability from Q4 onwards from the introduction of the UK point of consumption tax on bonuses. Likewise, and also as previously highlighted, marketing spend was weighted towards the second half of the financial year.

Management, however, remained confident in meeting the upper end of market expectations for FY17. Q3 gaming revenues were up 14% at £75.4 and adjusted EBITDA increased by 4% to £26.7m.

Executive chairman Neil Goulden said: ‘The third quarter has seen a continuation in the strong underlying momentum that we saw during the first six months of 2017, with gaming revenue up 14% and adjusted EBITDA up 4%.

‘There continues to be solid customer growth across the Group, with our Vera&John business segment performing particularly well, with constant currency revenue growth of 21% in the quarter.

‘I am very proud of the new integrated advertising campaign for our Jackpotjoy brand, which launched in the UK in mid-September.

‘Television personality, Paddy McGuinness, succeeded Barbara Windsor as the new brand ambassador and early signs indicate that the campaign is helping to reinforce our market leadership position in online bingo in the UK.

‘Finally, in October, the group announced that Andrew McIver will be stepping down from his role as chief executive officer, having successfully overseen the listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year.

‘In my new role as executive chairman, I will be responsible for leading the development and execution of long term strategy, while Simon Wykes has joined us as group managing director to provide additional operational expertise.

‘Andy will step down as a Director on 31 Dec 2017 and will remain with the Company until 31 Jan 2018 to ensure a smooth transition of duties to the new members of the executive team.

‘On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to thank him for his work in helping establish the Group as a UK plc and I wish him well in the future.’