Unibet’s Q4 results released this week show a healthy growth in revenues across all its activities, which to some extent ameliorates the impact on net profits of a foreign exchange loss of GBP 11.8 million over the final quarter and GBP17.9 million over the year.
The culprit was a Euro 100 million corporate bond used to purchase Maria Holdings, and the end result is a net loss of GBP 900 000 for the quarter, and a net profit for the year of GBP 8.8 million, substantially down from the GBP18.7 million recorded in 2007.
Gross winnings revenue came in at GBP34.9 million in the last quarter of 2008 and reached GBP123.4 million for the full year, up from GBP24.5 million and GBP81.4 million respectively over the corresponding periods in 2007.
“During the first six weeks of 2009 we still see a healthy growth in the business. This is why we reiterate that given the growth in the online gambling market it is difficult to determine what impact the actual financial situation in the world has on our business model,” said CEO Petter Nylander.
Unibet Group, headquartered in Valletta, Malta, is one of Europe’s largest gambling operators with over 3.1 million customers in over 100 countries.