Novomatic confirms senior management changes

Austrian gaming giant Novomatic has made a series of changes to its senior management team and also reorganised its supervisory and executive boards.

Thomas Graf, who previously served as chief technology officer at Novomatic, will now switch to the role of chief executive of its Greentube Group division.

Peter Stein has stepped down as chief financial officer by mutual consent, with Johannes Gratzl, former chief systems officer at Novomatic, being appointed to replace him.

Christian Widhalm, who had been serving as chief investment officer, has opted to resign from his position on the executive board for health reasons, but will continue to be available to the company in an advisory capacity.

Barbara Feldmann will continue to be represented on the supervisory board of the Löwen Entertainment GmbH in Germany.

Meanwhile, Bernd Oswald will serve as chairman of the Novomatic supervisory board, with support from deputy chairwoman Martina Flitsch. Robert Hofians will also serve as a member of the board.

Novomatic’s executive board will comprise chief executive Harald Neumann, chief operating officer Ryszard Presch, and chief financial officer Johannes Gratzl.

“Novomatic will continue along its chosen path and further optimise internal structures in Austria and the international Group companies across national borders,” Neumann said. “In doing so, the globally active gaming technology group hopes to increase company efficiency and achieve strong synergies between the various shareholdings.”

The reorganisation comes after Novomatic this week reported a 1.8% year-on-year fall in revenue for the first half of its financial year, with changes to gaming regulations in core markets such as Germany and Italy blamed for the decline.

Revenue for the six months through to 30 June 2019 fell to €1.26bn (£1.13bn/$1.39bn).