Betsson Q3 revenues leap 30%
Sportsbook and casino lead the way as company cranks-up marketing spend and acquires Portuguese B2C brand
Betsson AB this morning posted a 30% year-on-year rise in revenues after the company saw an increase in mobile sportsbook usage and another good quarter for its casino brands.
Total group revenues for the three months ended 30 September amounted to SEK782.1 (£67m) compared to SEK603.4 (£52m) recorded during the same period last year. When subtracting the impact of its Oranje and Kroon brands, which were acquired in March, organic growth was 16%.
Casino again led the way with gross profit up 28% to SEK423.7m, although casino was down marginally as a proportion of the business from 66% to 65%.
Sportsbook gross profit for the period was SEK207.2m which represented a 47% hike on last year’s figure at a margin of 8.5% after free bets. The operator said the World Cup contributed 1.5% of group revenue during the period while sportsbook contributed 32% of overall profit, up from 28%.
Poker continued its downward trajectory with gross profits of just SEK16m, a fall of 24%, however the company said the product continued to provide an important cross-sell opportunity.
Marketing costs increased by 30% to SEK218.1m which Betsson attributed to the promotion of its Oranje and Kroon brands and additional sportsbook spend around the start of the domestic European football season.
The company said marketing investment would increase further during Q4, particularly in the Nordic region, with total spend of around SEK250m expected.
On a B2C basis, gross profits from the Nordics made up 73% of the business, down from 85% last year mainly due to recent acquisitions which, in addition to Oranje and Kroon, also included the purchase of Portugal-facing site Dhoze.com from a B2B partner. EU markets outside of the Nordics contributed 23% of gross profits.
Mobile continued to grow with 23% of revenues – SEK176.4m – now coming through handheld devices, an increase of 36% sequentially following a number of recent mobile launches, while mobile contributed 40% of sportsbook gross turnover.
“The Company continues to deliver strong growth within mobile gaming, with the share of revenue from mobile solutions now at 23%” Magnus Silfverberg, Betsson’s group CEO, said.
“With an EBIT margin of 26.5%, Betsson has strengthened its position as the market’s most profitable online gaming company,” he added.
Betsson AB’s share price was down SEK2 to SEK256.50 at the time of writing.