Another strong performance from Unibet

The Swedish online gambling group Unibet reported another strong set of Q2 and H1 2016 figures in a trading update Wednesday, highlighting:

* Q2-2016 group revenues of GBP 126 million (Q2 2015: GBP 80 million) and H1-2016 revenues of GBP 249 million (H1 2015: GBP 156 million);

* H1-2016 EBITDA of GBP 50.5 million (H1-2015 GBP 39 million) for H1 2016 and first half group profit of GBP 38 million (H1 2015: GBP 26.5 million);

* Good year-on-year growth across all metrics and brands, and an additional 1.1 million active punters signed up thropugh the group’s Unibet, iGame and Stan James online brands following extended marketing over the Euro 2016 football championship period;

* The expanded marketing cut profits in the second quarter by GBP 13 million, but the influx of new clients holds the promise of future rewards;

Chief executive Henrik Tjärnström reported:

“The [second] quarter was characterised by the Euro 2016 which provided a new all-time high in customer activity and continued strong growth. Margins in the tournament were significantly higher in July than in June.

“As in previous tournament years, we invested heavily in marketing both for new customer acquisition and reactivation of existing customers. While this has a short term effect in reducing profits, we are confident that this as proven previously will drive sustained growth in gross winnings revenue and profits. For the quarter, marketing was 30 percent of gross winnings revenue, but for the full year we still expect it to average a few percentage points below 30 percent.

“In the period from 1 to 24 July 2016, average daily gross winnings revenue in GBP has more than doubled compared to the same period in 2015. Adjusting for the unusually high margin on the final stages of the Euros, the impact of exchange rate changes and acquisitions, the organic constant currency growth is close to 50 percent.”

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