Bet-at-home revenues down on Poland blacklisting
Operator says H1 2018 revenues took a massive hit after Poland imposed a ban on foreign operators in July 2017
Bet-at-home has reported a 13% dive in H1 revenues to €66.6m thanks to new blocking measures in Poland used to ban foreign operators from the market.
EBITDA was also down 37.3% year-on-year to €10.9m despite marketing spend being down 12% on the previous year.
However, the Dusseldorf-headquartered operator attributed a 6.3% year-on-year rise in registered players to the World Cup and its increased exposure during the tournament.
In an analyst note this morning, Regulus Partners said the firm’s results also suggested a weakness in German gaming revenues.
The note continued: “Bet-at-home’s H1 results clearly demonstrate the extent to which regulatory disruption can outweigh underlying market growth, even in a World Cup year.
“While Poland is a good excuse, we would also be concerned about underlying momentum.
“These concerns would be substantially mitigated by BAH hitting its FY targets, which would also demonstrate that marketing spend really was ‘investment’.”
In July 2017 the Polish government move to block access to a number of major operators’ sites, including Betsson, Ladbrokes and Unibet.