XLMedia booked a 22% fall in first-half profit after revenue was hurt by gambling regulations and costs rose amid management changes.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through June amounted to $13.8m, compared to a profit of $17.6m on-year. Revenue fell 10% to $42.5m.

The company declared an interim dividend of 3.1584 cents per share, up from 3.0040 cents on-year.

‘This year has proven to be challenging for both XLMedia and the industry as a whole, as the gaming industry changes and regulates,’ outgoing chief executive Ory Weihs said. ‘However, this does result in the group having greater visibility, more sustainable revenues and stable earnings.’

‘Whilst we expect this disruption to continue in the midterm, we remain committed to our stated strategy, focusing on publishing.’

‘We continue to diversify our asset base, specifically developing our US gambling strategy and the personal finance sector, in which we continue to make good progress with this sector now accounting for 14% of the group’s revenues.’