Betsson reports casino and esports uptick as Q1 revenue lifts 7%
First quarter revenue hits €130.2m despite Covid-19 hurting B2C sports performance and delaying B2B sportsbook launch
Betsson Group today reported a first quarter revenue rise of 7% to €130.2m for 2020.
Casino revenue, which makes up 72% of the total, came in flat at €93.1m, while sportsbook revenue increased by 29% to €35.3m, up from €27.4m in the same period last year.
EBITDA for Q1 2020 came in 2% higher than last year at €32.4m.
Betsson’s most significant revenue growth came from the Central & Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) region after a rise of 71% to reach €39m.
Nordics revenue for the period decreased by 17%, but still accounted for €44.3m.
Personnel expenses increased to €19.4m, up from €18.3m in 2019, after the Malta-based operator recruited employees to boost Betsson’s product offering, particularly in sportsbook.
Betsson is targeting future growth through its new B2B sportsbook division, although its first launch with licensee ibet has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Due to the current situation, launch has been postponed until the leagues and tournaments resume,” said CEO Pontus Lindwall.
“Our intention is to sell our highly competitive sportsbook to external operators, and we are seeing strong interest in this,” he added.
Addressing the impacts of the global Covid-19 lockdown on business, Lindwall said: “Overall, in both March and April, there has been both an influx of new consumers and an increase in both casino and esports activity per end user, which has partly mitigated the sudden shortfall in sports betting events.
“The absence of sporting events since mid-March has had a large impact on sportsbook revenues for that period of time.”
Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall
Last week, Betsson finalised the purchase of Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) B2C casino brand portfolio in a €33m deal.
The agreement will see 63 GiG staff and full-time consultants make the switch across Malta to Betsson, albeit working from home during the initial period, which Lindwall told EGR was always part of the plan and would not lead to Betsson job losses.
The GiG brands – including Rizk, Guts and Kaboo – will continue to operate as usual until integration work begins and they are eventually migrated onto the Betsson technology platform.
Betsson’s share price is up 5.76% at the time of writing despite today’s regulatory changes in Sweden that could negatively impact the operator’s newly launched Pay N Play Jalla Casino brand.