Mybet online sports betting revenues slump 38%
Frankfurt-listed operator blames Greek capital controls and an outdated web platform for setback
German operator mybet this morning reported an 11% year-on-year drop in Q1 revenues, driven by a double-digit drop in both online sports betting revenue and gaming revenue.
Revenues from its online sportsbook slumped 38% year-on-year during the three-month period, while online casino and poker revenues also declined 20%
The Frankfurt-listed firm attributed its online troubles to an outdated platform and the impact of capital controls in Greece.
“Although we had been able to win back the Greek customers we lost as a result of the capital controls in 2015, this catch-up process took time and the level of Greek customers is lower than previously,” a statement from the mybet management board said.
“In addition, because of the restricted appeal of our existing platform we are still unable to develop the desired momentum in our day-to-day business.”
A new platform is being developed by the German operator, but the scheduled launch date has been pushed back to July/August, in time for the next European football season.
“We would have loved to use the Football European Championship as the launch opportunity for our new platform,” Zeno Ossk?, mybet CEO, said. “But in the interests of the best possible standard of customer satisfaction, which is absolutely critical to the future of mybet, we have decided in favour of additional detail work to the platform.”
The group also reported a net loss of ?802,000 for the period ending 31 March 2016, although it marked a slight improvement on the ?878,000 loss it recorded in Q1 2015.
EBIT for the quarter was -?467,000, although this was a ?222,000 improvement on Q1 2015, an improvement which the firm said reflected “the effectiveness of the measures taken to optimise internal processes and structures”.
Going forward, mybet confirmed its earlier FY2016 guidance which called for revenue growth of between 8% and 12%, with a positive EBIT. However the board also warned that the delay to its new platform “increased risk to the revenue forecast”.
Mybet shares were down 9% to ?0.69 today in early trading.