Sky Betting & Gaming half-year profits soar 92%
Yorkshire-based operator’s revenues climb 47% following double-digit growth for both its betting and gaming brands
Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G) has reported a 92% rise in EBITDA to £118m for the six-month period to December 2017.
Revenues for the half-year were up 47% to £339m, with double-digit revenue growth for the betting and gaming brands.
Sky Bet revenues increased 58% to £210m while gaming revenues climbed 31% to £117m.
“The business continued to perform very well in the first half of 2017/18,” said SB&G CEO Richard Flint. “Our focus on the customer, and delivering quality experiences, offers and promotions continues to differentiate our brand, and we extended our lead as the UK’s most popular online betting brand.
“During the period, we continued to enhance our range of markets, products and offers, with more betting options than ever and over 20 exclusive new games launched on our gaming brands.”
Total customers increased 19% to 2 million.
Flint noted technology was a key focus in 2017 with the operator investing in data science to improve the customer experience and create a more personalised journey.
The operator also shifted much of the Sky Bet technology stack onto it AWS-powered containerisation platform in order to handle much higher volumes of traffic.
During the period Flint also unveiled a four point plan for what he said was the “industry’s first” safer-gambling campaign.
“We continue to increase our investment in research, data analysis and capability to provide a safe and responsible gambling environment for our customers,” Flint added.
The operator also launched an SBTech-powered sportsbook product in Germany which includes Sky’s free-to-play Super 6 game.
In an analyst note this morning, Regulus Partners said SB&G enjoyed a flattering sports margin during the period, but still showed very impressive fundamentals compared to listed rivals.
“The firm’s 47% organic growth compares to 22% for William Hill and 11% for Paddy Power Betfair (H2, both online only, ex Australia).
“Moreover, two million customers suggest SBG is by far the largest UK brand from a customer engagement perspective.”