Betsson share price shoots up on 31% Q3 revenue increase

Betsson Group has reported a 31% revenue rise to €162m (£146.4m) for Q3 2020 to achieve all-time high figures for the second consecutive quarter. The uptick was driven by casino where revenue increased by 39% to €126.2m for the reporting period, also an all-time high, while sportsbook revenue rose 12% to €34.1m on a sportsbook margin of 7%. Revenue from mobile represented 76% of the total.

EBITDA also enjoyed a 37% increase year-on-year to €40.2m as active customer numbers jumped 46% to 920,045 for the quarter. The operator said it had benefited from the migration of retail players to online during the Covid-19 pandemic, many of which have remained online despite retail reopening in several key markets. Betsson has upped its responsible gambling (RG) activity in 2020 to protect vulnerable players from harm as more people stay at home and go online amid coronavirus-enforced lockdowns. The firm increased its RG interactions (manual, automatic and real-time) with consumers from 26,300 in Q1, to 55,300 in Q2 to 91,800 in Q3. Significant events during the reporting period saw Betsson acquire a 70% stake in Colombian operator Colbet and launch online casino in Croatia with the Rizk brand it acquired from GiG. “Betsson presented another strong result in the third quarter,” said Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall. “The last two quarters have been defined by extraordinary challenges for everyone. “Despite this, Betsson has both expanded into new markets and developed new products and features. “The positive development is partly attributable to the increased demand for digital entertainment through the pandemic. “The online gambling industry has more clearly than ever demonstrated its resilience to market fluctuations during the pandemic when compared to many other sectors. “Betsson has a unique position in being more resilient than the sector average due to the company’s diversified product and brand portfolio, global footprint and strong finances,” he added. The Stockholm-listed operator reported a revenue increase in the Nordics of 17% to €54 as it returned to growth in its domestic market for the first time in more than a year. Performance was buoyed by the launch of new pay and play brand Jalla Casino in Sweden. Q4 trading is off to a strong start with average daily revenue up 45% on 2019 figures, albeit boosted by an unusually high sportsbook margin during the period to 18 October. Betsson’s share price climbed by more than 13% in early trading on Nasdaq Stockholm.