Sumo Group seeing 'strong demand' for services

Shareholders in Sumo Group were told how the company was continuing to see “strong demand” for the company’s services on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm was holding its first annual general meeting as a public company, telling investors that it was “well-placed” to take advantage of what it saw as considerable opportunities in a “fast-growing” global market.

Chairman Ken Beaty noted a recent report from the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), which suggested the global software market was expected to grow from $137.9bn in 2018 to an estimated $180.1bn by the end of 2021.

“This leaves us full of optimism for the future of our business,” Beaty exclaimed.

“The group's business development pipeline is very strong and I am pleased to report that the company is trading in line with current market expectations and is well positioned to take advantage of growth in the global software market.”

The company said there was also global confidence in the gaming sector, as evidenced at the recent E3 Conference in Los Angeles.

Beaty said a particular announcement to note was Microsoft's acquisition of four studios, and their plan to open a new additional studio in Santa Monica.

“This highlights the need to secure valuable development talent and experience, a challenge faced by all in the industry, and one that Sumo is particularly focused on with great success to date.”

At E3, Sony demonstrated a small number of focussed high quality first party exclusive games, Beaty said, with Microsoft showing the trailer for one of Sumo’s games, Crackdown 3, during their E3 press briefing, which he said was “well-received” with the launch date now confirmed for February 2019.

The launch of Team Sonic Racing for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC had been announced in May, with the demonstration also said to have been well-received on the show floor at E3, with the title securing several ‘Best of Show’ nominations, and being awarded the Best Racing Title by Curse.

Finally, Beaty said that of those additional titles Sumo was working on, IO Interactive announced is partnership with Warner Brothers to publish Hitman 2.

“Elsewhere in the Group, Atomhawk, our complementary visual design company which services the games, film and visual effects industries, was double shortlisted at this year's North East Business Awards, in the ‘Let's Grow’ and ‘Export’ Categories.

“Atomhawk continues to export its services to an enviable list of clients across the globe.

“In May 2018, Atomhawk announced that it was approached by Unity, a leading global gaming industry software company, to help refresh and reboot their 3D Game Kit with a re-imagined style.”

Beaty told shareholders that overall, the group was continuing to operate with positive cash balances, which were in line with management expectations.

“We continue to execute on our stated organic growth strategy and given the fragmented nature of our market we will also look to accelerate growth by exploring suitable acquisition opportunities.

“The board is confident about the outlook for the group in the year ahead and we expect to deliver full year results in line with market expectations.”