Sportingbet profits rise as diversity pays off
Sportingbet saw its group operating profit rise 19% in the last quarter thanks to geographic diversity, its CEO told eGR on the morning of the company's Q1 results.
Sportingbet’s geographic diversity offsetting recession-hit markets, combined with growth in mobile and in-play, has seen group operating profit rise 19% in the last quarter, its CEO told eGaming Review this morning as it announced Q1 results.
The bookmaker’s group operating profit rose from £6.3m in the first quarter of 2009 to £7.5m during the same period this year ended 31 October, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 16.5% from £9.7m to £11.3m.
“It has been patchy,” CEO Andy McIver told eGaming Review. “There are recessionary forces and they definitely spill over into our industry. We’ve had softer growth in some of our key markets, Spain and in particular Greece. We’ve seen strong growth in those areas which are less affected, that have managed to mitigate that, so it just goes to show the merits of not putting all your eggs in one basket.”
McIver said that Turkey, Australia, South America and Eastern Europe had seen successful growth over the quarter, with revenue in Poland growing by 40%. Net gaming revenue in Australia rose 39% to £8.5m from £6.1m in the same period last year, which at constant currency was a 26% rise.
Sportingbet has rolled out its mobile offering in the last six months, which has proved successful for the company. “Mobile has grown ten-fold in the period, albeit from a low base,” said McIver. “It represents up to 10% of active customers in the markets we’ve launched it in and we will now roll it into other markets.”
In-play has grown 27% and now accounts for 66% of Sportingbet’s European sports revenue, up from 58% in 2009. “It is something we will continue to focus upon,” said McIver.
On November 16 eGaming Review reported that merger talks between Sportingbet and Unibet had collapsed following a leak. McIver refused to say whether Sportingbet was in talks with other businesses but said the company was always interested in new channels and markets.
McIver added that Sportingbet was interested in the Italian market. “We are considering Italy, and have been for some time,” he said. “What we’re waiting for in Italy is new licenses to be granted, which seem to be subject to a three-month rolling delay. The licenses are already about a year late; when they come out we will review our position. Italy on the face of it is an interesting market for us.”
McIver admitted that in terms of new markets, Sportingbet is more likely to look outside of Europe. “75% of the business is Europe-facing at the moment, and that is perhaps a percentage we’d like to reduce,” he said. “We have looked at Asia from time to time and we are in a period of looking at it again, but there very few markets one can legally trade into there.”