Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the presentation of Evolution's Year End Report for 2020. My name is Matti Carlison, and I'm the CEO of Evolution. With me, I also have our CFO, Jacob Kaplan.
As always, I will start by giving some comments on our performance for the quarter. I will then hand over to Jacob, who will also look at our financials and after that, round off the presentation with an outlook for 2021. And then we're happy to take questions. Next slide, please. I'm pleased to present the highlights of Evolution for the full year 2020.
It's been a fantastic year for us despite operational challenges that the pandemic had caused. Our strong result comes from the combination of our innovative product portfolio, global demand as a result of these products and innovations and our constant pursuit of cost efficiency. Recently, we released the first ever live casino version of Krebs our online platform, and it has been very well received in Europe. But it is primarily, of course, aimed to soon strengthen our portfolio on the North American market. Crazy Time, which were released this summer and which is one of our strongest releases ever, is an example of successful 20 editions in the game show category.
Our game shows are becoming increasingly popular and attract new categories of players also outside what is usually defined as online casino. We invented the game show category and added that to online casinos to increase the entertainment and enable new pay groups. And now after a few years, I'm very pleased to see the traction they have now. In December 2020, we broadened our product offer and expanded into the new vertical through the acquisition of LATAM. Acquisition brings together some of the online casino industry's most renowned brands into single powerhouse, fueling our ambition to become the world leading provider of Online Casino.
I want to point out that the 20 20 year end results also include €19,400,000 nonrecurring restructuring costs. The acquisition of NetEnt was completed on December 1, and consequently, it entered into the P and L from that date. I will later in this presentation get back to some more details regarding Neta. And I should also mention that the board proposed a dividend of €0.68 per share, equivalent to 51% of the net profit 2020. All in all, we round off 2020 with strong financial results and come into 2021 with a strong momentum, which makes us well safe to further strengthen our market share and continue to widen the gas competitors.
Next slide, please. Now let's look at the 4th quarter and focus on the results adjusted for nonrecurring restructuring costs. We continue to see worldwide strong demand for Evolution Live and a revenue increase of 51% for the quarter compared to the same period 2019. We see growth in slots of 5% if we look at the whole quarter and compare it to the net and reported figures for Q4 2019. EBITDA adjusted for nonrecurring costs was 65 percent EBITDA margin for the adjusted for nonrecurring costs, sorry for that, was 65.1% and amounts to €115,600,000 which is an increase of 107% compared to last year.
The contribution from NetCent to this figure was €9,200,000 I'm particularly pleased with still strong momentum in player numbers and engagement level for our products, which continues to drive high volume increase in our network and how this, together with our cost efficiency, has paid off in our strong results also for this quarter. All in all, I would like to sum this up as nothing but a fantastic achievement by all Evolution's team members. Next slide, please. Let's look a bit closer on the acquisition of Netland and we see that contributing to the company short- and long term. Next slide, please.
Our long term The ambition is to become the world leading provider of online casino. The addition of NetCent and Brandtiger as the 2nd vertical and 2 great brands, together with Evolution's stronghold in Live Casino, takes the group a significant step forward towards this ambition. As a group, we are committed to creating the best gaming experience for every player in both live and soft as well as the mash up between the 2 verticals. In recent years, Evolution has redefined live casino by creating the GameShow segment, which combines the live products with RNG elements. I'm excited to explore what can be done now that we add slots.
This is strong revenue synergies as well as cost synergies and is ahead of our plans on delivery. With acquisition, we're taking an even stronger position on the North American market, but we also see positive effects of strengthening our position on other markets. By targeting the market with a broad portfolio comprised in the best of each vertical as well as the ultimate mix of the 2, we will be in an even stronger to capitalize on opportunities and the market growth. Next slide, please. Following the completion of the acquisition, it was a priority for us to ensure a fast integration.
We were well prepared on restructuring activity started immediately upon close. It might be seen abrupt or even brutal, but I strongly believe in building 1 company and move fast towards the future instead of getting stuck in a long term integration project that often never ends and have vague deliverables. We're in a fast moving industry that at the moment are on the edge of changing from land based to online. It's an Exciting time, but we need to work hard to deliver to earn our position on this market, and we need to do that as one company with multiple brands. So act like one thing, relentlessly pushed forward towards the future is important, and therefore, this restructuring needed to be fast.
Cost synergies and cost synergies initiatives have been implemented that will result in approximately €40,000,000 which is €10,000,000 more than previously communicated. This effect will happen during the first half of twenty twenty one, about 6 to 9 months earlier compared to the previous announcement. Moving forward, our focus will be on developing the new company without losing speed on any vertical. Through our shared emphasis on product innovation and the ultimate player experience. And by utilizing combined NOA from the new organization, we aim to speed up our market penetration and increase gas competition even further.
We will continue to strengthen our strong position in Life and at the same time, and our slots business into new markets. Next slide, please. Let's now move to some more details for live, Evolution Live only. Next slide, please. In 2020, we launched a record number of 12 new games.
This includes several new releases in our award winning game show category and the new twist on casino classes such as Krebs Live. Krebs Live is, of course, very as we focus specifically on the U. S. Sale and we set up to go live there during 2021. All in all, and as a result show, it was a strong product year for Evolution.
Now let's look at the future and the roadmap for 2021. We will continue to expand our range of immersive and engaging game shows utilizing the newest technology and live casino in Malaysia to appeal to an even broader spectrum of players. In addition, we will continue to build the success of our 1st person range, and we are also working on new games and features is for continuing growth in the Asian market, the tailored content for this region and its players. The demand for our classic games, such as Lolet and Blackjack and Background, remains high, and we also continue to develop variants and unique twists to these game favorites. Now with NetHunt as part of Evolution, we will blend NetHunt player favorites into the world of light casinos to create a new wave of games that by players with yet more €2,000,000,000 entertainment experiences.
Needless to say, I'm very excited about the coming game launches 2021 for both Evolution Life and Slots. Next slide, please. As you know by now, best spots is a good indicator for the activity in our network. The positive trend with a strong increase of best spots have that we have seen all through 2020 continued and accelerated in the Q4. The number of efforts from end users amounted to $15,300,000,000 compared to €7,000,000,000 in the same period last year, which is the growth by 116%.
Historically, the passports have increased at a steady rate, but in the Q2 2020, we experienced a strong increase in volume, which have been continued throughout the year. This is partly a result of many new faces in distribution life due to the pandemic, limiting mandates and other players. Meanwhile, another explanation of reason is the impact for our increasing range of game show style gains that generate a high volume of smaller debt. Crazy Time with Florence last summer, she did phenomenal Succession became an instant player favorite, peaking at record levels of concurrent players. The game show vertical is an important part of our offering since we have found completely new players group and increased our market with these unique games.
We, of course, need to note that the Pandemic has a positive impact on the activity in our network, but we also need to note that it is very challenging to operate during the pandemic. We are simply not operating at full capacity, and especially in U. S, we have had challenges. In the end of Q2 and Q3, I stated that the effect the pandemic was neutral or slightly positive for Evolution Life, and that is still a valid statement. Next slide, please.
In addition to our product development, we continue to invest in the future in forming new studios. We have been delayed by the pandemic, both in expansion 2020, but with addition of U. S. State getting ready to regulate and very high demand in Europe, we now need to work hard to increase capacity. We opened our 2nd U.
S. State, Pennsylvania, in late 2020. And during 2021, we will expand into Michigan with a new state of art studio. Following the acquisition of NetCent, we expect our U. S.
Footprint to grow at higher speed. NetCent has held a leading position in New Jersey, which It was the 1st U. S. State to regulate since 2015. National Games has also went live on the 1st day of regulation in Pennsylvania in 2019, West Virginia in 2020 and in Michigan 2021.
During this quarter, we also went live with a midsized English speaking to you in Lithuania. To meet the high demand in primarily Europe and Asia, we are also currently that is an additional option for new cities in Europe during the year. Next slide, please. Now let's move to a few slides on the whole group of Evolution. So next slide, please.
Due to the pandemic and the relating restrictions, we opened fewer tables than planned during 2020 and fewer than demand. As a consequence, the headcounts were lower in the 2nd and third quarter than in the 3rd quarter. We are now expanding in all At the end of the Q4, we reached 8,700 employees. Our teams work with an ungraspable number of different things on a daily basis. There are a lot of hard work behind each and every number that I present to you.
Our Evolution team ensure that we stay on one step ahead in product innovation and never lose sight of quality or reliability. They are the ones to ensure that we pay attention to the small and sometimes actually big details. Evolution is many things, but most of all, we're a people company. In the start, our focus has been to recruit the best talent in each market, and that remains ever as relevant today. We continue to see a high demand for tables, and we'll continue to grow with our customers.
Therefore, I expect the number of employees to grow fast as fast as the pandemic allows during 2021. Next slide, please. This slide shows the breakdown of our revenue by geographic region, and it's an evidence that the demand and growth is through the global. The Nordics is a stable region, even if our smallest contributing with about 6% of the total revenue. During 2020, the growth was moderate up until the Q4, where we saw stronger development.
You can see the same break of negative trends for the U. K. In the Q4. The year on year comparison shows a growth of 16%. The rest of Europe continues to develop well and constitute about 4% to 6% of revenues.
The growth rate year on year amounts to 28%. As we have seen during the past year, Asia and North America have grown very fast, with the year on year growth amounted to 1 137% 91%, respectively. We see good potential in both these markets and expect to continue high growth rate going forward, particularly as we are small active in Asia and with the recent regulatory movements in U. S. And the coming Michigan studio.
Other, including South America and Africa and remaining part of the world, shows good growth of 68%. In the long term, we see that the South American market is promising. During the quarter, Evolution was the 3rd supplier to launch live casino games in the newly regulated Colombian market. Revenues from regulated markets showed a growth of 52% and constitute 36% of revenues. Increase in the share of revenue from regulated markets is partly due to the growth in U.
S. And Nordic as well as that we have operated more than 50 tables in the quarter. A large part of our table fees are in the regulated market separately. And due to more tables in operation, those fees are higher in Q4, and it also increases the percentage share of revenue from regular marks in the quarter. I will now pass over to Jacob, who will take you through the financial details.
Next slide, please.
Thank you, Martin, and good morning to all of you listening. Now for a couple of slides for the closer look at our financial development during the period. I'm on Slide 14. This slide shows the group's performance adjusted for the nonrecurring restructuring cost of EUR 19,400,000. Revenue amounts to EUR 107,700,000 in the 4th quarter.
That includes EUR 17,800,000 from the acquired NetNel business. NetNel, as mentioned a few times now, is included with 1 month in the 4th quarter P and L, so from 1st December. Our light casino business has developed really well in the quarter. Revenue from Light Casino is about €160,000,000 in the quarter. That's comparable to previous quarters in this chart.
And as can see a EUR 20,000,000 or 14% increase from the Q3 of 2020 and compared to Q4 2019, a growth rate of 51%. The strong performance is really across all products. As Martin mentioned, both are traditional table games as well as New game releases from 2020, including Crazy Time that was launched earlier this year, contributes. And in this quarter, the new game release is the live craft game, which has found an audience also outside of its, That's the whole market of the U. S.
Where it will be launched later this year. The second wave of the pandemic that we've seen in most countries during the end of last year has given a tailwind to all online activity, including online casino. However, as you see In the blue bars in the chart, we had a very good growth coming also coming into 2020. So the current growth rate is definitely not only related with the pandemic. Something we do see is that many new players have found our games earlier this year, are staying in the network, and that's positive and contributes to growth.
The Clos business also finished the year with increased volumes in December. Looking pro form a for the full Q4 and comparing to the same Q2019, we estimate growth at about 5%. Our ambitions for growth are higher. And as Martin mentioned earlier, we Feel good about the product development and the growth prospects going forward, especially during the second half of the year when we will see some results of our joint product development. But we ended 2021 with mid single digit growth in this area.
The TOX business will make up about 20%, 25% of group revenue as we come into 2021. In Q1 and going forward, we will report live and RNG revenues separately, so you will be able to follow this development going forward. EBITDA for the quarter amounts to EUR 115,600,000. Again, this excludes the EUR 19,400,000 in restructuring costs taken in the Q4. EBITDA margin is 65.1% in the 4th quarter.
This is the highest level we achieved for a single quarter. Our guidance for full year 2021 is that we aim to reach the 4th quarter level also for the full year 2021. So aiming at about 65% for full year 2021 EBITDA margin. There are several balancing factors affecting margin. One, we had a business right now with slightly lower margin coming into the year, but we will have cost savings through the synergies as the year progresses, which is support margin.
2, as we've stated before, we will prioritize growth over margins. And hopefully, we will be able to open more tables and also and more rapidly in, for example, the U. S. Than what we have been able to do during the second half of twenty twenty. We are right Now somewhat boosted on the margin side from the special circumstance that come with the pandemic, high volume but with fewer available tables.
You see that in the slide that the margin actually you see that jumped up to a level from the Q2. So as the pandemic hopefully lingers off, we should be able to expand faster. This could pressure margins some in the short term. But on the other hand, our scalability should mean that the growth in top line also supports growth in margins. So some of this, some of that.
All in all, we think the 65% level is the reasonable expectation right now for 2021. We'll, of course, come back to this as the year goes on. Operator, let's go to the next slide, please. This slide shows our P and L in a bit more detail and as reported, meaning it includes the nonrecurring items excluded on the previous slide. Walking through the items from the top.
Again, we see revenue of EUR 177,000,000, a 68% increase year on year, including the 1 month of the NetEnt business. For the full year, revenues are just over EUR 560,000,000 and growth is 53%. Organic growth is just under 49% for the full year. This is a quarter with several moving parts, especially on the cost side, so we'll try to sort them out for you here. Operator, let's go to the next slide.
So this zooms in a bit on the cost Here. Going forward, we will not report net debt as separate business units. We will report revenue separately, as I mentioned But operations will be fully integrated, which Martin also stated early on here that We're working hard to kind of create 1 company. However, tankers all have visited here in Q4 so that we all have a common starting point. So let's walk through this.
The reported operating expenses amount to EUR 92,800,000. You will recognize that number from the previous slide. We're off SEK 38,600,000 in personnel expenses. Net sales adds about SEK 33,400,000 here in Q4, making the comparable underlying increase about 6% from the same period last year for the rest of the group. Depreciation includes euros 2,900,000 related to amortization from the deal and about €1,000,000 from the underlying NetCent business, Making the depreciations for the underlying Evolution with the SEK 7 point SEK 6,000,000, and that's also an increase of 6% compared to Q4 of 2019.
And then in other operating expenses, that's reported at EUR 42,800,000 in the quarter. This includes the restructuring costs that we mentioned earlier of EUR 19,400,000 And so an underlying increase of EUR 1,300,000 in the quarter. So those are the main items affecting comparability Between the Q4 and the same period last year. I'll repeat what we said before. We will run Evolution as one business.
So we'll probably never see such a neat and tidy slide again as operations are integrated continuously and the lines get blurred. But this gives an explanation of what has happened in the Q4. All right. Operator, let's go to the next slide, please, and that takes us back to the full P and L. So if I continue down from operating profit, Financial items, just over €800,000 in the quarter, bringing us to profit before tax of It is just around €84,000,000,000 Tax rate is 4.1% in the quarter, slightly lower than normal and for the full year, 4.7%.
Profit for the period, EUR 80.6, which then includes the nonrecurring items, as As mentioned earlier, earnings per share, EUR 0.41 per share in the 4th quarter and EUR 1.51 per share for the full year 2020. That's an 84% increase compared to 2019. That completes the P and L. Operator, let's look at the next slide, please. Before I hand back to Martin, a look at cash flow and financial position.
Starting to the left in the slide, the chart shows the development of capital expenditure. The gray bars that represent investment in tangible assets, mainly our studio constructions, It's just over €6,000,000 in the quarter. And the blue part of the bar is intangible investment in intangible assets, and that's related to Development of new games and features to the platforms. It's SEK 4,700,000 related to CapEx related to intangible assets in the quarter, so Slightly up from previous year this year. Total CapEx for the full year is almost EUR 37,000,000.
This follows our guidance for 20, it's up from about EUR 30,000,000 in 2019. And again, as Martin said earlier here, we will continue to invest in new studios and products. So we're expecting a continued increase in CapEx for 2021. However, in relation to revenue, I think we'll see that trend continue continue down as revenues will increase in the quarter. In the middle of the slide, we look at operating cash flow.
Cash conversion, slightly lower in the quarter but It's on a good level. That's nearly 80%. And to the far right on the slide, look at the balance sheet. Here, there are some changes from the previous quarter. The increase in noncurrent assets is related to mainly the goodwill and other intangible assets from the acquisition.
And on the equity and liability side, you can see equity increases with the new share issue that's also taking place in the quarter. During the quarter, we have repaid the debt that came with the NetEnt acquisition but still maintained EUR 220,000,000 in cash. The board has proposed a dividend of about EUR 145,000,000, That's €0.68 per share. It's the same payout ratio as last year, 51% on net profit for the year and also in line with our dividend policy of 50
Thank you very much. Let's move on to the outlook slide for 2021 and a few comments from me. I'm very pleased to conclude a strong quarter and an overall very successful year for Evolution, which has included many important achievements, both in terms of financial results, product launches an addition of a second vertical and 2 strong brands to the group. We have entered 2021 with a good momentum and equipped with extended product portfolio and talent following the completion of that acquisition. While integration is well underway We already can see the results of fast action in this area.
2021 will continue to be about how we can leverage the joint knowledge, the experience and ambition of our new company and project it through new thrilling payer experiences. As always, cost efficiencies will remain as important and our efforts to restructure the cost base to reach an increased effectiveness we continue and we expect to sustain margin levels from Q4 in 2021. The events of this year have highlighted the potential in online casino products. Also the land based vertical still stands on majority of the total casino market. We are excited to play a role in the digitalization industry as more and more players experience online casino through our games.
The rate at which land based will convert online over the years to come remains unpredictable. However, we have our growth runway in place to capitalize on the development. 2020 has been an unexpected, partly very difficult year, but also fantastic. Our teams have worked hard to keep the business running through the effects of the pandemic, and I want to take this opportunity to once again highlight the thousands of individuals that Evolution is built of and who, together with the management, make these figures and products presented today possible. Evolution's core is based on a shared desire to win and to collectively constantly push ourselves to the next level, make Evolution better every single day.
Thank you for listening. Now let's move to the last slide and your question. Thank you.
Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Martin Arnel from DNB. Please go ahead.
Good morning, guys. Good morning.
So just on firstly, on the new Stuglows. You're launching in Michigan soon on the lag part, I guess. Can you tell us more on the timing for that? And what restricts you from just having 1 or 2 rooms open in Michigan so far? We have commented the timing is that it will be 2021, and we will, of course, do it as soon as possible.
We want to open a state of the art studio in Michigan. It needs to be the size so that we can support the market, and it will open gradually and as soon as possible. Okay. And how has the NetEnt launch been received there in Michigan so far? Good.
We were pleased with the launch in Michigan. Okay. And Looking at your dedicated tables capacity now compared with 3 months ago or even 9 months ago, guess it's not really where you expected it and hoped it were going to be. But can you give us some flavor on sort of How much capacity you're up with as a percent of your total? I would put it into 2 answers to that.
We are actually where I So what we should be or even a little bit better? We're coming out of the year a little bit better even than what we planned. But then on the other hand, of course, this would have been a normal year, would have been much further. So when we went into the pandemic and we had to closed tables and make this restructuring. We took down the capacity.
But from that point, we are where we should be. Coming into 2021, I, of course, hope that the pandemic, as everyone else, that it comes to an end and that we can fully expand and recruit them then because we are undersupplying at the moment. So we have a higher demand of what we supply. And how does it work when you're selling this dedicated table to new customers? Can you sell sort of future capacity now?
Or are you restricted in those kind of discussions? That works like in any other business. We you can of course sell, but you have to also be careful not selling what you can't deliver. So We can sell back right now. There's no limitation for that.
Okay, great. And on net end, The synergy scenarios, what have you learned here? I mean, what's really changed? Because it's quite a Dramatic change of and raise of the synergies and also the timing for the synergies. So I'm just interested to hear what's changed.
When you go into deal of this site and make an decision of the size. When you make the pre deal announcement, you don't really know. So as you go into the company and see what you can do, of course, you get more substantial information. And right now, we feel confident that we can deliver the SEK 40,000,000, and it will be 6 to 9 months earlier than what we predicted before. We were well prepared, done and integration of Netland, which is rapid.
And even as I said earlier, maybe even look brutal. But we want to move fast into 1 company. And we want to build 1 strong unit with everyone and every knowledge. So That shows also in the figures and the reason for the earlier delivery of the SEK 40,000,000. Where do you think you can have your RNG growth Looking further out, do you think you can be above 10% on RNG?
We don't guide on the growth of R and D. But of course, as before, we see the on the SEK30 €1,000,000 level, we see the synergies on revenue higher than the synergy on cost. And there's all those geography geographical growth that we see. And Of course, there's great potential for R and D in the U. S.
As it continues to regulate. But we also see that we can do these new products and continue to sort of develop and innovate online casino with both live as well as slots and the combination in between. Okay. Thanks. And on your margin target for 2021, does that include more aggressive expansion in the second half of the year when hopefully the pandemic has lingered off, as you mentioned?
It's not I wouldn't say there is specific assumptions on that. Like we the moving parts are a little bit like we said. I mean, If we can expand a bit faster, we will always go for that. That can in a quarter, that can lead to a little bit higher cost in the quarter, which might pressure margin, but then at the same time, that should lead to higher top line and within the end would support margin. So We've given it's kind of a full year guidance.
We'll probably see it vary quarter to quarter. And As the year progresses, we'll be able to come back to it. But that's kind of how we see it now as a sort of a high level view.
Okay. And on your new games, the timing for the game launches, is that similar this year that you will start Gradually from February and have gradual rollouts during the year? Or how should we view the timing for new games? It would be the same procedure except for the fact that we don't do Thanks. And just my final question is on the start to 2021.
Is that driven by sort of good ARPU and volumes. We have great momentum coming into 2021, and it's driven over a lot of different factors. But I'm very thrilled about the play numbers and engagement levels. Okay. Thank you, guys.
Thank you. Thanks.
And the next question comes from the line of Ed Young from Morgan Stanley.
The first one is on the revenue synergies you just mentioned. You've highlighted Above €30,000,000 of revenue synergies for the year. The way that was in the presentation was in the section on net end, if you like. Can you just talk about what you mean exactly by revenue synergies? Is that extending net end into new geographies?
Is that including New kind of hybrid products. Just trying to get an idea about how to frame the upside you've talked about for 2021.
Essentially, both that and also more, but it's, of course, including what we could do as product innovations in between live and slots. But it's also what we can do with slots as they are right now because of the competence we have over the player base and the network we have. But it's also, of course, how we can monetize the slots in our live environment as well as how we can monetize live in the slots environment, meaning how we will make it possible for players to seamlessly use both products as well as, of course, the geography where we see that we are stronger in some and not only stronger in others.
Okay. Thanks. So we'll keep our eyes
on the lobby, I On the U. S, I mean, the initial data for your Michigan slot launch looks Obviously, very positive. But on the live side, can you tell us what scale you're at currently in terms of tables in the U. S. At the moment or where you could get to this year?
I'm trying to think how big Can a U. S. Studio be? And also, how should we think about the level of game choice that these studios can provide at the scale? I mean, you mentioned Crabs will go there in 2021.
Clearly, they're quite small studios compared to some of your other studios. So what other kind of games do you think is viable for the scale we're talking about? And in that context, there's obviously recent wire rack news. Can you give your thoughts on state level versus nationally scalable studios? How do you think the environment will shake out there?
There's a couple of questions there. I would say like when it comes to the game suite for the players in U. S. Our ambition is that the U. S.
Players should have a full suite of games, meaning all the beautiful games that we can contribute to them, given that the regulators on each market allows them. So there are different regulation in different states, and that is sort of also limiting or and enabling different games. So the U. S. Market, there's no limitation from our side.
We should give them the full suite of games. Then when it comes to the tables and how we'll expand in both New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and potentially company states beyond that, We will expand during 2021 as much as the pandemic allows as fast as we can. The only limitation for that expansion right now, I see, is the pandemic. We are undersupplying. We need to do more.
So there, it's very hard for me to answer because no one actually knows exactly how this will play out now. We're talking about 3rd way and so on. So there's difficulty in stating anything about that. Then there were a third thing. Remind me what was the 3rd
Just on the Wire Act, obviously, there's a chance potentially move towards
more Yes, yes.
Sorry. The wireline now, the recent development is that it's been softened, as you know, meaning that, okay, potentially, it could take better over the state borders. But we are providing live casino. There's substantial amount of work places and employees in that. And it's a little bit up to the regulator to state if they want to have them inside the state or outside or somewhere else.
At the moment, the regulation regulatory requirements for each state. States that has to be inside the state. So that it has to be even though the federal level would allow it. It has to be changed on the state level as it is right now. And I have no knowledge or actually visibility that will happen.
From our point of view, I don't view to build a studio in each state as a problem. Even if we need to build 43 studios the coming year, we will do that. The market is substantial. We have scalability. We have scalability on the size of the states.
And even if we wouldn't have scalability in 1 or other state, we would supply life to those states.
Understood. And my final one is on geographic growth. You ran through it earlier, but obviously, that's a geographic mix On a reported basis, so it's a little hard to back out the growth rates. And you mentioned Asia was very strong triple digits, I think it's 137%. I mean, that obviously includes a bit of contribution from NetEnt, maybe not a lot because it wasn't a big business for them.
But that's still actually the lowest rate of the year, suggesting that the acceleration you saw In the Live business came from a strengthening in other regions. You mentioned Nordics a little bit. Can you give us some color on that? And Any other regions where you saw a strengthening quarter on quarter?
I will have Probably, Jacob will have some comment as well. But we'll start with Asia is growing very fast, and the contribution from net debt in those figures are insignificant. That's the first statement I would say. So right now, you don't need to think about it in that aspect. We see a continuous strong Demand, very strong demand in Asia.
So we as we stated in the report, we will see growth high rate high growth rates there going forward. When it comes to the Nordic, of course, there is a bigger effect when it comes to the growth rates than net sales because net sales that's a big market for net sales. But we see it we sort of turned the corner in the Nordic even so in Q4 in Life. So there were the pressure on the market is less and we see growth just like we do in UK, sort of turned the corner. How long and what happens and the regulatory aspects of that, that we have to look into once we move further into 2021?
You want to add something? Not really.
I think that we see a very high growth rate overall for the It kind of comes through in all regions and a little more in some and a little less in others. But No, I don't know.
Maybe what is really Europe is growing very nicely during in Q4. That's strong. I don't know if that's
Okay. That's all I had. Thanks very much.
Thanks, Ben.
And the next question comes from the line of Oskar Eriksson from Carnegie.
So a couple of questions from me. First of all, I mean, interested to hear what type of reactions To the acquisition of Netbank, have you seen from customers and partners any sort of negative reactions, Positive. What potentially, if any, do you see from renegotiating deals or combining the sort of offerings in, I mean, not least the U. S. Thank you.
I think that everyone is Excited about what we can do for the players and how we can actually do new games. And now we've got another tool to do that. And lots of talent and fantastic people inside Netland to build new great games, both in Slauson and Live and in between. So I think that everyone is thrilled about that. And I think that the industry, in general, needs to move on with innovation.
So from that part, positive feedback, I would say. I want to state also added to that. I mean, we need to continue and earned trust from every operator. And I think that we have an even greater possibility to do that now with these tools.
Great. And I mean, it seems like you're sort of quite close to Launches of new games with a special focus on the game show vertical. It's possible to give any color on The number of new launches that you expect and also how you feel about them, anything that sort of sticks out? And what's Neither you take to take it to the next level, Fran. I mean, it's very high level, I should say.
We will, of course, make public announcements when we release the games. And now we have we're in a bit especially since it's no ice, and we'll look into how we'll do it. And the only statement, of course, that I've made several times is I'm very thrilled and excited about the road map for 2021. And we have, as always, high or even extreme ambitions when it comes to product development.
Great. And also, I want to touch upon the strong performance in the rest of Europe region. And I mean, the German market, in particular, which you commented on in Q3, what have you seen so far in Germany With respect to small players that are not going for life, given the tough regulatory measures are growing quite fast and capturing a lot of market share. Is that your sort of impression as well?
As we stated in Q3, we have a 5% to 10% revenue from the German market. And due to regulation, we, of course, have had a hit or a downgrade of the levels since then. How exactly that splits between the players, we don't we have no real information on that.
Got it. And just a final question from me. What reasons do you have to expect that the growth you've seen this year, high engagement levels, high player numbers, What reasons have you to expect that this is more of a structural shift that will benefit both over time As the COVID-nineteen situation all like, is there any sort of data or input you have on that?
I will start now and Harald maybe put some comments on Jacob. In the world, the pandemic initiates a paradigm shift from sort of physical whatever to online. And that is Not that is not exclusive to online gaming or online casinos. It's everywhere. We don't know it.
So we see that. Now For us, as we have 8,700 employees, we are affected also physically. We're a physical company to a great extent, and it's very, very challenging run. So when I come out like it's slightly positive, maybe neutral, that's because it's hard to operate. Now in the going forward, I think that many, many people, billions even on the Earth today, think about how to make business online.
And that will affect and potentially increase the speed of moving from land based or physical whatever to online.
I don't know
if you want to add something.
No, just I mean, we've there is no way for us to sort of Really quantify exactly what is the effect of the pandemic or not. I think what we can as we've said before, I mean, we knew that we had Very strong growth coming into this period. So that didn't disappear overnight. And at the same time, it's also reasonable to see that More or less, what online activity has gotten a bit of a tailwind from the people spending more time online basically. So There's something there.
I guess, we won't truly know until it resides. But like Martin said, I mean, no doubt about it. We would if we could make Svelte go away, that would be better for us. We would be To expand more. And again, it's back to that.
We're really trying to grow as much as Of course, with the best margin we can do. But if there's a trade off, we will go for growth. So it's holding us back in some sense.
Perfect. That's it for me. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
And your next question comes from the line of Kiranjit Grival from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hey, morning, guys. My question is mostly on the U. S. You've spoken about North America demand being exceptionally high. So maybe if we could get more Color on that?
I think most of us are following the B2C guys that are investing heavily in marketing in the U. S. So What degree is the high demand being driven by a higher than anticipated demand for maybe branded tables? And maybe a comment on what you're seeing in terms of the U. S.
And customer trends, is that actually better than anticipated as well? Thank you.
I think that what we call share of life is still on the low side in U. S. There's potentially to grow inside the market. If the market would be stable, it would there's a dimension to grow there. Why?
Because live product is kind of a new product to the U. S. Audience. So that is one level of growing. As online is coming, it's growing in itself, of course, taking them, people slowly getting accustomed to instead of going to Landes Casino than, let's say, online.
And that is also growing. And the trust where the net is also then growing with us being there and people know it and they are willing to sort of play with our product as a transfer announcement. The demand is built up not only by customers wanting dedicated tables. The demand that we see right now is built up although the market has since been slowly maturing and getting more focused. I would sort of look at it that way.
Okay. That's very clear. And in terms of U. S. Studio expansion, you know, Michigan is being built up at the moment, But New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are the extensions for those already in the works?
I know there's some restrictions, I believe, around the New Jersey studio. Is there actually potential to expand that this year or not?
The expansion in Pennsylvania is already on its way underway. And We're expanding as fast as we can also in Atlantic City and New Jersey. And we're building we're expanding already the 4 building in Michigan. So sort of taking on larger studio premise already from start.
Perfect. And then the last question around competition in the U. S. I mean, So far, you've been the big player. Are you seeing anyone out or any other players that you haven't dealt with before in that market In the U.
S. Market and to European?
We're still alone on the U. S. Market, but we should expect competition. I mean, it's not It's a huge market, unlike casino, and live with the Comvolution and that we should expect competition. I'm not afraid of that.
We have the best product. We should increase GAAP competition, but there will be competition like it is in Europe. That anything else would be unlikely.
So to finish up just on Asia, is your Are you seeing is Asia momentum going to continue? I think that was the last comment, given it's been driven by market share Capture, is that still the case? Or are you worried about any COVID lapping there?
We see a great momentum and growth in Asia, and we expect it to continue to grow on a high rate.
Okay, perfect. Thank you.
Our next question comes from the line of Lars Ola Hellstrom from Pareto. Please go ahead.
Hi. It's actually, it's Inbox Capital today. I'll move it over to the Wi Fi. Hi, Martin and Jacob. Hi, how are you?
Thank you.
I have a few questions. First, on the cost synergies, going into 2021, on what run rate are we now? NetEnt was close to having paid €15,000,000 and you at the acquisitions had additional €15,000,000 on Nautam. So right now, where are we? And the EUR 40,000,000 on cost saving, will that be achieved going into the second half of twenty twenty one?
Yes. That's what we're seeing now. That's we will see this kicking gradually during the first half of the year. It's It's kind of the plan right now. So I would say we will the full effect will be sort of comes from the start of the Q3, I guess, to say that.
So some of that we haven't broken out exactly to what extent what's in this. Some of course, like you say, some of these savings are We're initiated also pre deal. So that's ongoing. So we some of that we see already. But We'll take the it will be the initiatives that we've done now in December from December will start having effect I'm already now and then sort of gradually during the first two quarters here.
Okay. You usually provide something at the 4th quarter reports where every year you said something about operator tables. Can you give us a hint where you are in terms of operating tables? Yes. I think you're right.
We We will provide that number more we normally I'd say we are back to the levels we were pre And then maybe even a little higher than that. So a little over SEK 700,000,000 is kind of a rough number. We will include it In the annual report, that's normal. And so more or less what we've I mean, I think like Martin said, I mean, the number of sales is there, but then it's of course, it's not in like for like studios. We've had studio space during the year.
So it's still It's not that everything is back to normal. That's not the case. But in number of tables that we operate, we're more or less back. And also another question just to dislocate NetEnt and Ebo. Going into 2021, after the restructuring You made in December.
How many of the NetEnt employees is still left? So what share of the 8,700 Legacy AO and I think it's 818 related to Maersk and the 8,700 are On next evolution, what do you want to call it? Yes. And on the revenue synergies of EUR 30,000,000 plus for this year, Will that be tilted as slot revenues that you are Bringing Netem to your customers in Asia.
It's a bit too early to comment. And we won't sort of tilt it to 1 or the other direction due to or we want it to be so sorry that we just need to focus on the best user experience and the best product on the market and we will see where it sort of lands.
And also, I noticed that the net AMT margin that you report for December Was below the Q3 level that NetEnt reported? Was that burdened by some special items, etcetera? Or was it just Lower volume on the costs? It's a little lower. Still, it's also it's 1 month And of course, a lot of moving parts.
We, of course, tried to capture some of those one off things are in the nonrecurring items, but there's you don't capture everything. So it's yes, it's I wouldn't So to make too much out of that 1 month number, but it's And also another net and specific question. I guess they have had a larger Osha to Germany compared to what you had. And we, for example, saw Besan was 70% down in Germany last 2 weeks, December. Have you seen that effect for NetEnt as well?
We haven't Any numbers, but I would say this effect, it's quite it's about what we said in the Q3. I mean, we see a significant Dropped in general volumes. And then once the regulation is in place, we hope that will come back. And you're right, I mean, maybe the effects are maybe a little But not I wouldn't say it's huge difference. But yes, Germany negative in the 4th quarter.
And the final question here is, as Poppaker used to come back to, is with the EBT contract. Are you now at the table in discussion with the Ladbrokes Corral brand? Or is it some kind of Time period where Playtech has exclusivity or I guess. It's a question.
However, I won't answer it. But we our ambition is to sign any and all the operators, specifically the big ones and others in Europe.
Okay. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
And as there are no further questions, I'll hand it back to the speakers for closing remarks.
Okay. Thank you very much for joining this call and listening to our figures. It was a lot of figures, new figures, and We look forward to come back in reporting the Q1. Thank you very much.