Betclic Everest moves into profit as EBITDA leaps 50%
Improved financial performance helps Paris-headquartered firm record first net profit since 2007 launch
Betclic Everest Group recorded a 50% increase in full-year EBITDA to 40m, a rise which helped the operator post its first ever annual net profit, eGaming Review has learned.
Profit amounted to “circa 1m”, an improvement on the 2013 loss of 8m, while gross gaming revenues for the 12 months ended 31 December 2014 soared by more than 15% year-on-year, partly due to a post-World Cup bounce.
The operator, which formed in 2007, said its improved financial performance followed a greater ROI on marketing, a restructuring of its cost base and an uptick in revenues driven by growth from its sports betting arm.
Chief executive Isabelle Andres told eGR she was pleased with the company’s progress and said its current positive momentum was also due to its regulated market strategy and success in its core French market.
“This has taken time, as the conditions of taxation in France are not optimal – to say the least – and makes it more complicated to find an economical balance, but we are positive we can benefit from this experience to develop successfully in some other regulated markets,” Andres said.
“We will obviously continue to select carefully the opportunities where we want to develop and are confident we can continue posting positive in results in 2015,” she added.
Betclic Everest Group was created in September 2007 and operates five online gambling brands which include Betclic, bet-at-home.com, Everest, Expekt and Monte Carlo Casino.
The operator was recently the recipient of a licence extension to operate in the French online gambling market for a further five years until 2020.
According to figures released by ARJEL in May, gross gaming revenue (GGR) from regulated French online sportsbook operators soared 17% year-on-year to 63m in Q1 2015, outpacing the overall market which rose a more modest 3% to 190m during the period.