Casino drives Betsson Q1 revenues up 10%
Operator posts revenues of £97m with casino up 25% but sportsbook falling 15%
Betsson AB this morning posted a 10% year-on-year rise in Q1 2017 revenues after the firm’s casino vertical powered double-digit growth in the Nordics and Western European markets.
Total revenues for the three months ended 31 March were SEK1.1bn (£97m), of which casino contributed 75% of the total with SEK822.9 (£72.3m), up 23% on the previous year.
Growth would have been stronger had it not been for a contracting sportsbook where revenues fell 15% SEK250.3m (£22m) and turnover was down 11% to SEK6bn (£528m).
However, the firm pointed to customer friendly sports results and currency fluctuations, particularly in Turkey where it has a B2B partnership – Betsson CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said the turnover for sportsbook B2C was up 15% year-on-year.
Revenues from its core Nordics market were up 14% to SEK530.3m (£47m) while Western Europe climbed 16% to SEK281.6m (£25m).
Meanwhile, revenues from Central, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia – which includes its Europe-Bet brand – amounted to SEK252.7m (£22m), down 6% on the year prior.
The quarter saw Europe-Bet migrated to the Techsson platform which the firm said resulted in immediate growth in mobile casino, albeit from a low base.
Bengtsson also revealed the firm’s percentage of regulated and/or taxed revenues had increased from 13% to 20% and that the firm would continue to grow sustainable revenues with the goal of exceeding 50% by 2020.
“We expect that margins will go down slightly as our revenue base transforms, but Betsson has well-balanced operations, and can absorb both temporary declines in revenue and increased costs over time,” Bengtsson said.
“Local regulations create improved growth opportunities. The conversion of our revenue base to long-term sustainable and valuable revenues is a positive development and in line with our strategy,” he added.
That strategy has seen Betsson make a number of acquisitions of late, including German racebook RaceBets and UK casino NetPlay TV, the latter of which completed at the end of March.