Betsson Group revenues suffer 10% decline in Q4
Decreases reported in both online casino and sports betting as Swedish market pains and low sportsbook margins hit home
Betsson Group has reported a 10% year-on-year (YoY) fall in revenues for Q4 2019, with the Malta-headquartered operator highlighting “weak development” in the Swedish, Dutch and Norwegian markets.
Group revenues in the period were SEK1,289.5m (£103m), with online casino down 10% YoY to SEK964.1m (£77m) and sportsbook down 9% YoY to SEK311.6m (£24.8m). Sportsbook margin fell to 6.3% from a previous Q4 high of 7.3%.
Company operating income (EBIT) slumped by 41% YoY during the quarter to SEK200.5m (£16m), while Betsson’s EBIT margin fell from 23.8% in Q4 2018 to 15.5%.
Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall said the operator had expected some recovery in figures during Q4, especially in the Swedish market, but the firm had not reached its intended objectives there.
“Up until now, one year after the Swedish re-regulation, we have still not seen the market consolidation that we expect due to the great number of operators, many of them showing no profitability.
“On the other hand, we have seen declining channelisation, which makes it difficult for the licensed operators who pay 18% gaming tax and it also jeopardises consumer protection,” Lindwall added.
Mobile casino revenues dipped by 4% YoY to SEK654m (£52.2m), accounting for 68% of total casino revenues received during the quarter.
Mobile sportsbook revenues remained largely unchanged from Q4 2018, hitting SEK260.1m (£20.7m) during the quarter, although the percentage of total sportsbook revenues generated from mobile increased to 83%.
On a regional basis, revenues from the group’s core Nordic markets fell by 32% YoY to SEK450.2m (£35.9m), while Western European revenues also fell by 15% YoY to SEK387.7m (£30.9m).
However, revenues from Central, Eastern European and Asian markets rose by 37% to SEK369.9m (£29.5m) during Q4.
Betsson recently concluded its first B2B sportsbook deal, agreeing to supply Malta-based Claymore Group with sportsbook tech for its soon-to-be-launched iBet brand.
“Our in-house developed sportsbook with constantly improved performance delivers good customer experiences, sales growth and good profitability,” Lindwall said. “The high performance also makes it an attractive third-party product.
“We have previously stated that our ambition is to offer the sportsbook to external customers and we have concluded the first deal with a third party at the beginning of the current year. We are now looking forward to the European Football Championship in June,” Lindwall said.
Overall, Betsson Group revenues decreased 5% YoY during full year 2019, falling to SEK5,173m (£413.3m) from SEK5,419.8m in 2018.