Latam and CEECA growth drives “all-time high” Q2 revenue for Betsson

Betsson has recorded “all-time high” revenue for the business in Q2 2022 thanks to strong sportsbook performance and rapid growth in the Latam and the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) region.

Following on from 8% year-on-year (YoY) growth in Q1, the Stockholm-listed firm once again recorded an 8% uptick in quarterly revenue from €172.8m (£158m) in 2021 to €186.3m this past quarter.

Despite this, group EBITDA plunged 16% to €39.3m YoY, equating to an EBITDA margin of 21.1%, which was down from 27% from 12 months ago.

Operating profit, or EBIT, fell 23% to €29.2m. Meanwhile, active customers increased 20% to 1,246,710, while there was a 17% increase in deposits (€845m).

The positive top-line figures send Betsson shares surging by more than 13% in early trading before falling back to a 10% increase to SEK66.25 (£5.42) at the time of writing.

However, the firm said it will continue to “monitor macro and geopolitical factors” that could hamper business down the line.

Pointing towards these external factors, Pontus Lindwall, CEO and president of Betsson, said: “We see that macro and geopolitical factors continue to dominate the world around us, with great uncertainty and concerns around war, inflation, higher interest rates and potentially a coming recession.

“Despite uncertain capital markets, we recently refinanced our bond until 2025, which gives us financial flexibility to continue investing in both organic growth and selective acquisitions.”

Posting revenue of €61.6m, the sportsbook vertical saw an increase of 20%, with margin remaining flat at the same figure as in Q1 – 8.3%.

Football was pinpointed as a particular highlight due to favourable results in the World Cup qualifiers helping to boost margin towards the end of the reporting period.

Having dipped slightly in Q1, casino revenue was up 1% from €120.6m to €122.2m – the “second-best level ever”.

Casino represented 66% of all turnover, with sportsbook 33% and “other” 1%.

In CEECA, revenue increased 23.4%  to €61.1m driven by strong casino performance and positive revenue performance in Greece and Croatia particularly. The Baltics also performed well, with Lithuania and Latvia showing growth, although revenue dropped in Estonia.

The company’s rapid growth in Latam continued apace as revenue rose €24.5m to €45.7m, equating to an 86.2% rise.

Speaking of Betsson’s commitment to the Latam region, Lindwall said: “In May, our sponsorship with AC Milan was renewed, which means that Betsson now also becomes exclusive sponsor for the club in Latin America.

“The region is important for the club with millions of fans and the history of stars like Kaká and Ronaldinho. Further, Betsson is a proud sponsor of Copa America Femenina 2022.”

Brazilian-ace Zé Roberto was also snapped up as global ambassador in July.

Western Europe continues to struggle following recent increased legislation across the region; revenue dropped 39.1% from €40.8m to €24.8m YoY.

In the Netherlands, Betsson is still awaiting a decision on its licence application and, thus, no revenue was recorded for Q2.

German online casino regulation, introduced in 2020, coupled with increased taxation towards the end of 2021, has also impacted revenue; the firm only owns one online casino licence in the country.

Nordics revenue was down 5.7%, blamed on a tough comparable Q2 2021 based primarily on the delayed Euro 2020 taking place last year. The rest of the world (RoW) revenue dipped 4.7%

Group revenue for the first half of the year stood at €356.4m (up 8% YoY). EBITDA was €72.7m, a decrease of 12%.