Marketing costs dent bet-at-home profits
Q1 EBITDA declines 22% year-on-year as firm ramps up marketing ahead of Euro 2016
Bet-at-home has announced a 21.9% year-on-year fall in Q1 profits after a rise in revenues failed to offset a significant increase in marketing costs.
The Betclic Everest Group subsidiary revealed EBITDA had decreased from ?9.6m (?7.6m) in Q1 2015 to ?7.5m (?5.9m) in the comparative period this year following a 35.9% increase in marketing expenses.
According to a trading update released by the firm yesterday, marketing spend increased from ?6.49m (?5.1m) to ?8.1m (?6.5m) in the first quarter of 2016, largely due to its sponsorship deal with Hertha BSC.
However, the Frankfurt-listed operator also posted a modest 6.4% year-on-year rise in revenues during the three months ended 31 March 2016.
And bet-at-home’s investor relations manager, Klaus Fahrnberger, told eGaming Review the increase in marketing was a crucial part of its strategy ahead of this year’s UEFA European Championship.
“In Q1 2016 we already focused on increasing our brand awareness through different marketing investments to be ready for the Euro 2016 as major sporting event in June and July,” he said.
Bet-at-home’s share price was ?127.48 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierb?rse) at the time of writing.