Unfavourable sports betting results impact Fortuna Entertainment

Czech betting company Fortuna Entertainment Group posted a 17 percent drop in EBITDA in the first quarter due to unfavourable sporting results in January, the Central European fixed-odds betting operator revealed this week in posting its unaudited consolidated results for the first quarter of 2014.

EBITDA fell to Euro 9.4 million ($13.10 million) from Euro 11.3 million a year earlier and below the average estimate of analysts.

Highlights of the report included:

* Total Amounts Staked in Q1 2014 increased by 17.5 percent to Euro 165.9 million

* Total Gross Win in Q1 2014 was up by 1.8 percent to Euro 34.1 million

* Online Sports Betting Gross Win in Q1 2014 increased by 19.2 percent to Euro 16.2 million

“In the first quarter of 2014, the company continued in a strong growth of amounts staked and we accepted Euro 165.9 million of bets, which is 17.5 percent more than last year,” said Radim Haluza, chief executive of the group.

“Amounts staked grew by double digits in all our key markets, primarily driven by online betting expansion. The number of registered users exceed a half million in the first quarter of this year which is 40 percent more than a year ago.

“The group’s amounts staked for the first quarter of 2014 was Euro 165.9 million, a strong 17.5 percent y-o-y increase. The amount staked on sports betting reached Euro 162 million in the first quarter of 2014, an 18.2 percent improvement on the first quarter of 2013. Lottery betting in the first quarter of 2014 totaled Euro 3.8 million.

“In the first quarter of 2014, total Gross Win reached Euro 34.1 million, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2013. The Gross Win from sports betting was Euro 32.4 million, a 3 percent increase y-o-y.

“Of this figure, the Gross Win from online betting in the first quarter of 2014 increased to Euro 16.2 million, a substantial gain of 19.2 percent over the same period of 2013.

“The Gross Win from retail betting in the first quarter of 2014 amounted to Euro 16.2 million. In the first quarter of 2014, the Gross Win from the lottery business was Euro 1.7 million.

“In the first quarter of 2014, total EBITDA reached Euro 9.4 million, a 17.0 percent decrease over the same period of last year. The total is drawn from a 16.9 percent decline in sports betting to Euro 9.4 million and a positive lottery EBITDA of Euro 22,000.

“Lower EBITDA and slower Gross Win growth compared to the first quarter of the last year resulted from unfavourable sporting results in January, primarily football results in the first two January weeks. We believe that our full year guidance will be met.”

Fortuna’s chairman Wilf Walsh will end his term at the annual general meeting on June 6, the Czech betting company noted.