Betsson reports continued growth in Q1-2017

Online gambling group Betsson AB has posted generally positive Q1-2017 figures, highlighting the following:

* Casino revenue up year-on-year by 23 percent at SEK 822.9 million;

* Sports betting revenue down 15 percent at 250.3 million on flat margins;

*Active players up 13 percent at 607,000;

* Overall revenue up 10.2 percent to SEK 1,102 million;

* EBIT of SEK 241 million, down 4 percent reflecting a negative impact by currency moves of SEK 19.1 million;

* EBIT margin down 3 percent at 22 percent;

* Net income down 8 percent at SEK 214.4 million;

* Gross profit up 8 percent at SEK 806.3 million;

* Nordic revenues grew by 13.5 percent y-o-y;

* Western Europe revenues grew 15.6 percent y-o-y;

*Total deposits SEK 3,789.2 million;

• Acquisitions of NetPlay TV in the UK and Premier Casino in Spain were completed during the quarter.

Betsson CEO and president Ulrik Bengtsson reported:

“The combined effect of currency fluctuations had a negative impact on operating income of SEK 19.1 million. In addition, a high proportion of “player-friendly” results in the big football leagues resulted in a lower sportsbook margin than the eight quarter rolling average and thereby lower revenue. The operating income was SEK 240.9 million, corresponding to an operating margin of 21.9 percent.

“Some of our fastest growing markets are locally regulated, and local betting duties were SEK 14.5 million more this quarter than for the same period previous year. The share of locally taxed revenues continues to increase and amounted to 20.3 percent, compared to 13.3 percent in the first quarter 2016. Meanwhile, less revenue from countries with higher margin had a negative impact on earnings during the quarter. We expect that margins will go down slightly as our revenue base transforms, but Betsson has well-balanced operations, and can absorb both temporary declines in revenue and increased costs over time.

“The region Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) is still challenging with strong negative currency impacts on both gross revenue in the Sportsbook and on license revenues related to the associate Realm. The planned migration of Europe-Bet to Techsson was completed in March and the operator now has by far the region’s best mobile casino offer.

“The acquisitions of NetPlay TV in the UK and a locally licensed operator in Spain were closed March. The latter will be operated under the brand StarCasino going forward.

“The second quarter is normally seasonally weak. The quarter has started with higher revenues than the daily average for the second quarter last year, but lower than the daily average revenue for the first quarter 2017. The underlying activity remains strong.”

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