EGR Power 50: 11-20 (2018)

11. JPJ Group (11)

As JPJ’s unchanged position in the Power 50 suggests, it’s been a year of steady growth for the bingo-led firm. The most recent results showed an 8% rise in Q3 revenues to £77.8m, as dot.com growth from Vera&John helped offset a slight decline from its Jackpotjoy brand in the UK. JPJ, like the rest of the industry, has taken a hit in the UK from the increasing scrutiny around VIP players, and set a goal this year to get less than half of its revenues from the UK over the long term. The big upside could instead come from Spain where the Botemania brand is going from strength to strength. Elsewhere, the London-listed operator sold off its social gaming business for more than £18m, in an effort to focus on its “core activity” of real-money gaming.

12. BetVictor (12)

BetVictor has built a reputation as a technology-first operator, not afraid to think for itself and go against the grain where necessary. It’s exemplified by the release of its in-house BetBuilder product which earned BetVictor an EGR award for Best In-house Product. The Gibraltar firm made the product the centre of its World Cup marketing campaign, generating plenty of buzz as punters competed to land the highest-priced BetBuilder wager. The firm has also taken a lead on minimum bet guarantees, with its offer applying to each-way bets and all races in the UK and Ireland, regardless of grade. The operator said it had seen an influx of “bad business” from the offer, including bots and arbers, but remained committed to offering fair prices to genuine customers.

13. Cherry Group (16)

Despite facing a turbulent year, Cherry Group has crept into the top 15 of this year’s rankings. In October 2017, the Swedish operator reshuffled its online senior management team in the face of revised full-year revenues that were expected to drop 12% to SEK2.2bn (£196.6m) on ComeOn integration issues. The operator’s luck turned in Q1 2018 as it outperformed revenue expectations and welcomed its new online CEO: former Mr Green CMO Lahcene Merzoug. The new chief exec has been the driver behind ComeOn’s prolific multi-brand strategy, overseeing the launch of two Pay N Play Swedish brands, a similar Finnish product and, most recently, a Polish sportsbook called PZBuk. The operator is stealing a march in Sweden and gained a chunk of no-registration casino market share, having most recently reported Q3 revenues of SEK2.3bn (£199.4m), up 46% year-on-year. Cherry is now eyeing the US market and recently acquired a New Jersey-based affiliate domain.

14. Hong Kong Jockey Club (13)

The Hong Kong Jockey (HKJC) always feels like one of the odd ones out among the companies towards the top of the Power 50 rankings given its vastly different business model, but the numbers reported by the Asian betting heavyweight are simply staggering. According to revenues provided by HKJC for the Power 50, annual online net gaming revenue increased from HK$25.4bn (£2.5bn) to HK$28.7bn (£2.9bn) this year, with the firm contributing HK$18.2bn (£1.8bn) in gaming taxes. The Club’s comingling deals have formed a key part of its wider strategy, with 34 partners worldwide and the UK its fastest growing sector. The HKJC will launch a new Ascot World Pool for Royal Ascot in partnership with Ascot and Totepool in 2019.

15. Fortuna Entertainment Group (21)

Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG) has long been one of the biggest operators in Central and Eastern Europe and has solidified its leading position even further over the last 12 months. In 2017 the company reported an 87.4% year-on-year increase in full-year gross win to €305.4m, and these numbers continued into 2018 with gross win in Q1 up 157.6% to €110m with strong betting growth in its core markets and online gaming growth in the Czech Republic. Last year FEG bought Hattrick Sports Group, as well as Fortbet’s Romanian entities which were licensing the Fortuna brand, and these acquisitions seem to be bearing fruit, while CEO Per Widerström is on the record as saying the operator is still looking for new M&A opportunities.

16. Pinnacle (19)

The biggest news for Pinnacle in 2018 was the end of its multi-year effort to obtain a UK licence. Some questioned whether it simply had too much grey market revenue, but the firm said it preferred to focus its efforts on its nascent B2B business and possible US expansion. To date, only the B2B business has shown a return, thanks to a deal to supply esports pricing to Asian BGE. The US plans still remain something of a mystery, with Pinnacle’s history of serving the US in the past perhaps a black mark on its name. The operator’s core betting and casino business continued to show growth, despite whispers of lower limits on some US sports. That said, Pinnacle remains the gold standard model for any high-volume, low-margin operators, and its closing price is still the standard by which sports bettors are measured against.

17. Playtech B2C (N/A)

Playtech endured a difficult year as the London-listed supplier issued two profit warnings due to an influx of aggressively priced competitors and a crackdown on gambling syndicates in its core Asian market of Malaysia. Headwinds in the Far East have since stabilised, and the technology giant consolidated its B2C business in regulated European markets with the €846m acquisition of Italian betting giant Snaitech. This in combination with Playtech’s other B2C assets propels the company into the top 20. Playtech is deep in discussions with News UK as a technology partner on Sun Bingo and perhaps Sun Bets, should the sportsbook be brought back to life. Playtech faced a backlash from investors and shareholders this year over a 78% pay increase for CEO Mor Weizer, while investor Jason Ader built a $100m position in the firm and could press for a sale of the company next year. Adjusted EBITDA is set to hit €320m-€360m for 2018.

18. Betclic Everest Group (27)

Betclic Everest Group, which includes Betclic, Everest, Expekt and bet-at-home, is one of the biggest risers in this year’s Power 50 list after what was a formidable year for the Bordeaux-headquartered company financially with both revenue and EBIDTA showing impressive growth. The company no doubt benefited from the part-inclusion of the World Cup, but its flagship market, France, has also gone from being the black sheep of the European regulated gambling markets to one of the fast growing. According to the regulator, revenue generated in the market last year increased 18% year-on-year to €962m, while in Q3 2018 it was up 21%. Away from the French market, Betclic has also been busy ramping up its headcount for the company’s Bordeaux HQ and extending its reach into new markets such as Poland.

19. Lottoland (18)

Since its inception in 2013, the leading bet-on-lotteries operator has handed out close to $1bn in prizes, including a Guinness World Record €90m pay-out this summer to a cleaner from Berlin. Moreover, in August, the Gibraltar-based outfit, which employs 350 people, surpassed eight million customers – up from five million at the beginning of 2017. In fact, the userbase stood at one million in 2015, underlining Lottoland’s aggressive customer acquisition drive over a relatively short space of time. Yet it hasn’t been all champagne and caviar of late; a ban on UK residents betting on the outcome of non-UK EuroMillions draws came into force last April, while in June, Australia outlawed betting on lotteries. The prohibition begins in January 2019. On a more positive note, Lottoland has confirmed it is in discussions regarding a potential consortium bid to take over operation of the UK’s National Lottery when the current licence expires in 2023.

20. Rank Group (17)

2018 feels like something of a transitional year for Rank Group and its 2017-18 financial performance was something of a mixed bag. The firm’s retail business had a tough ride and although UK digital revenue increased 9.9%, digital operating profit fell by £1.8m year-on-year to £20.9m, while its new Luda brand has still yet to take off. The Maidenhead-headquartered operator has also seen a raft of high-level personnel changes, most notably the departure of CEO Henry Birch who left the Mecca Bingo owner earlier this year to join online retailer Shop Direct. Birch was later replaced by John O’Reilly who knows the UK gambling sector better than most after more than 25 years’ experience in the market, and he has been busy building his own senior team with a new CFO, CIO and chief transformation officer. On paper, O’Reilly should be the right man to help Rank fulfil its significant omni-channel potential.