Sky Bet H1 revenues up 27%
Leeds-based operator records £84m in revenues as mobile focus continues and poker returns to growth
Alderney-licensed operator Sky Betting and Gaming has recorded a 27% year-on-year revenue rise for the six months ended 31 December as its focus on mobile continues to pay off.
According to financial results released by parent company BSkyB this morning, the operator’s revenues increased to £84m in H1 2014, up from £66m during the comparable period last year, while it also recorded a 25% rise in operating profit to £25m.
In reference to looming UK Point of Consumption levy, the British broadcaster said its Sky Betting and Gaming division was in a strong position for future growth with it already accustomed to paying onshore tax.
Speaking with eGaming Review, Sky Betting and Gaming managing director Richard Flint said he was pleased with the company’s performance, highlighting the importance of the operator’s strong mobile products.
“We’re growing strongly and all the fundamentals are going the right way,” he said. “Mobile investment across all of our products is something we’ve done well and has driven our growth. Having a lot of those platforms in-house has set us up to improve them as we go forward.”
The operator was the first to launch a seamless login function for its mobile apps, currently limited to Sky Bet and Sky Vegas, which Flint said had led to increased success for its gaming arm.
“This helped to cross-sell between Bet and Vegas, and introducing this for other verticals is the obvious way to go,” he said. “We’ve been looking at our gaming performance and our focus on mobile has certainly worked.”
Sky Betting and Gaming was rewarded for the performance of its mobile offering, most of which is developed in-house, after receiving the prize for mobile sports product of the year at the November eGaming Review Operator Awards.
Flint also told eGR this morning that there had been an improvement in the performance of its Sky Poker business after a revamp of the product in November and the launch of its new HTML5 software.
“This has led to year-on-year growth which we haven’t had for a couple of years, being the slowest growing of our four verticals until very recently,” he said. “We have a unique product and I think when we get it on tablet and mobile, we’ll record even stronger growth.”