Unibet enjoys a good third quarter

On Wednesday the European online gambling operator Unibet posted a strong set of third quarter and January to September results, claiming a strong performance across all brands and good results from successful acquisitions, which delivered a 65 percent increase in gross winnings revenue (42 percent in constant currency, of which 27 percent represents pure organic growth.

Highlights of the report for the third quarter included:

* All-time high in Q3 gross winnings revenue of GBP 142.3 (86.1) million;

* Gross winnings revenue from acquisitions of iGame Group and Stan James Online at GBP 14.8 million;

* Underlying EBITDA for the third quarter of GBP 33.9 (19.6) million;

* EBITDA from acquisitions of iGame Group and Stan James Online of GBP 5.7 million;

* Q3 profit before tax of GBP 24.8 (14.4) million after GBP 2.2 million related to an accounting FX impact on the earn-out payment to the iGame owners;

• Q3 profit after tax at GBP 21.0 (12.9) million;

* Earnings per share for the third quarter of 2016 were GBP 0.091 (0.057);

* Number of active customers at the end of the third quarter was 1,067,910 (671,635). Of these, 223,617 are customers of iGame Group and Stan James Online.

Management reported that high activity levels driven by the ability to retain the customers from the Euro tournament that started in the second quarter led to a continued gain in market shares. Margin in the sportsbook was in line with the prior year and the long-term averages, so it was pure activity growth that delivered a new all-time high in gross winnings revenue of GBP 142.3 million.

Of the Unibet group’s gross winnings revenue 33 percent was from locally regulated markets, whilst gross winnings revenue from the mobile channel more than doubled in GBP and accounted for 64 percent of the total Gross winnings revenue generation in the third quarter.

All Unibet brands performed well in the third quarter, delivering underlying EBITDA up by 38 percent in constant currency.

If iGame Group and Stan James Online had been part of Unibet for the full third quarter 2015, their combined EBITDA would have grown by 95 percent in constant currency.

Post Q3, in the period from 1 to 30 October 2016, average daily gross winnings revenue in GBP was close to 50 percent higher compared to the same period in 2015. Adjusting for the impact of exchange rate changes, the constant currency growth was 20 percent,” said Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Unibet Group.

For the period January to end September 2016, Unibet reported the following highlights:

* Gross winnings revenue at GBP 391.3 (242.7) million;

* EBITDA GBP 84.4 (53.7) million;

* Profit before tax of GBP 62.7 (40.9) million;

* Profit after tax of GBP 54.5 (36.3) million;

* EPS at GBP 0.237 (0.159);