A Malta-based gaming company operating in Africa is on track to reach its operating income target of €47 million.

Pefaco, founded by Francis Perex and Olivier Cauro, was operating from the Ivory Coast but redomiciled to Malta in June. It was listed on the Malta Stock Exchange in July and has issued an intermediaries offer of 6.85 million shares at €2.19 per share. The offer was meant to close on August 8 but has been extended to October 17.

The company has also started preparations for a convertible bond to be listed on the European Wholesale Securities Market.

Funds raised from these offers will be used to accelerate operations in Africa.

As at June, the group had 5,128 gaming machines spread across Benin, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo, working through 2,500 subsidiaries.

The company also recently obtained a provisional gaming licence for Rwanda but there are no firm plans yet to start operations there, the company said in its half-yearly report.

The company announced total revenue of €21.3 million for the first half of the year, with an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of €3.3 million. It said that all signs point toward it achieving its goals of €47 million in annual revenue and an EBITDA of €9 million.

The pre-tax profit was €1.45 million, up from €715,000 the previous year