eGaming Review Power 50: 30 to 11
A run-down of the movers and shakers in this year's eGaming Review Power 50 from 30 to 11
Welcome to the 2013 edition of the Power 50, eGaming Review’s guide to the power players in the online gambling industry
30. BETFRED
(42)
The Manchester-based ï¬rm has made much progress, having launched a mobile sports betting platform to replace its Mfuse-supplied oï¬ering this year, to add to standalone mobile apps for its Goals Galore, Lotto and Virtual Racing games. Mobile now accounts for almost 50% of Betfred’s online turnover and around 60% of online proï¬ts. In a move demonstrating its ambitions, it also established its Australian business. More recently, it invested almost £10m into TV advertising over the course of the 2013/14 football season, spending more than three times the £3m spent in the previous two campaigns. Figures provided under NDA show strong growth compared to last year.
29. RANK INTERACTIVE
(18)
Digital revenue from Grosvenor Casino increased 72% year on year to £9.3m for the ï¬nancial year ended 30 June 2013, demonstrating strong progress with the brand. Its more established Mecca Bingo division grew by 10% to £61.3m, however proï¬t shrank to £21.1m, down £500k from last year’s ï¬gure. Both brands have beneï¬ted from increased investment in marketing, while its product range has also expanded via deals with Bally and Greentube in recent months. The sale of its ailing Blue Square Bet business to Betfair for £5m in April resulted in an initial loss of £2m but was broadly considered a shrewd move.
28. SVENSKA SPEL
(32)
Lack of regulatory progress in Sweden means Svenska Spel has retained its market-leading position, however it is under threat from foreign operators, which are not prevented from advertising there. It saw H1 2013 operating proï¬t rise by 3.7% year-on-year, coming in at SEK2.48bn (£249m), though growth in Q2 slowed compared to the ï¬rst quarter. Despite Swedish politicians aiming to introduce a licensing framework in 2014, Svenska Spel’s brand recognition and product range will continue to make it a dominant force.
27. BETCLIC EVEREST
(28)
The leader in French sports betting saw chief executive Ignacio Martos leave after just a year in the role, to be swiftly replaced by chief ï¬nancial and corporate oï¬cer Isabelle Andres. It recorded 300m in gross gaming revenues in 2012 with EBITDA of 10m as the company gradually recovers from a loss making period which saw annual losses of around 90m back in 2011. French regulation has made poker a struggle “ proï¬ts were down 13% in the ï¬rst quarter of 2013 “ despite being moved onto the top tier of Playtech’s iPoker network. However its mobile sports betting proposition is a real strong point, with some 35% of Betclic Everest’s new sign-ups coming via mobile and tablet devices in the ï¬rst half of the year.
26. MR GREEN
(36)
Casino-only operator Mr Green entered a new era in 2013 when it became a public company (in Sweden). Its share price at the time valued the business at around SEK1bn (£97.6m) and its ï¬nancial results since show huge growth and it scores well in our ï¬nancial rankings. In the ï¬rst half of 2013 the Malta-licensed operator’s revenues increased by 64% to SEK223.5m, while proï¬ts totalled SEK52m (£5.1m) compared with a minor loss for the corresponding 2012 period. It continues to invest in mobile and adding to its product portfolio including live dealer games with Evolution Gaming.
25. SISAL
(25)
Driven by a strong performance in online sports betting and a successful launch of slot games, Sisal has cemented its place as a top-three operator in Italy. According to ï¬gures published by AAMS It holds 10% market share in sportsbook, 9% in bingo and around 4% in a poker market dominated by PokerStars. Meanwhile in the six months ended June 30 2013 online games revenues amounted to 9.9m, an increase of 19.8% from 8.2m in 2012 “ just 2.5% of total income.
24. GVC HOLDINGS
(31)
GVC continues to beneï¬t from going against the grain in terms of its market focus. Its turnaround of the lossmaking Sportingbet business it acquired in March “ from an operating loss of £39.1m for the 12 months ended 31 July 2012 to a 0.1m trading surplus in September 2013 “ surprised many. Overall the operator posted a 132% rise in EBITDA to 17.8m for H1 2013. Its German-facing Casino Club brand also grew. Latin America, leveraging the leading positions of its market-leading Betboo and Sportingbet brands, is and will remain a lucrative area of focus. With growing revenues it will potentially be a player in M&A activity, making it one to watch.
23. LADBROKES
(15)
Ladbrokes has been making headlines for the wrong reasons over the past 12 months and it looks likely to get worse before improving. March’s software and marketing deal with Playtech was seen as a coup at the time but with the eï¬ects still to be felt the UK operator was forced to issue its third proï¬t warning in a year in September, slashing digital proï¬t forecasts by half to between £10-£14m. Digital operating proï¬t for the six months to June 30 dropped to £10.8m, with all verticals except sports showing decline. Casino, poker and bingo fell 6.8%, 25% and 15.5% respectively. Much hope is pinned on a new suite of mobile and casino products, and to a lesser degree the launch of an exchange betting site following the acquisition of Betdaq in January. Yet it still has a powerful sports betting brand in the UK, while its JV with Cirsa in Spain should give them a leg up there and a buy-in to the Australian market could provide a boost.
22. TABCORP
(22)
The former Australian monopoly operator and market leader saw online wagering turnover grow to AU$2.45bn in 2013, up from $2.16bn compared to last year. Tabcorp has reacted to increased competition from new market entrants such as Hills and Paddys by investing in mobile which accounted for 43% of its digital turnover and its iPhone, iPad and Android apps were downloaded more than 900,000 times over the course of the year.
21. SNAI
(26)
A key local player in Italy, Snai holds almost 7% of the bingo market, 12% of sports betting and 5% of poker. Overall H1 revenue stood at 253m in H1 2013, with online sports betting revenues increasing by 14% to 75.8m compared to 61.8m last year, contributing 13.3% to overall sportsbook ï¬gures. Improvements in its casino and slots provision “ and an immediate uplift after regulation of the latter “ saw Snai’s egaming business improve, with revenues increasing to 13.3m from 11.4m recorded in H1 2012. Snai has been slow oï¬ the mark in mobile however, only releasing its ï¬rst app in January, roulette, followed by a horseracing app in May.
20. 12BET
(20)
Another deposit-based Asian-facing operator, which operates on a considerable scale in the South East Asian market. Its focus is less China-intensive than some others on this list and it retains a relatively high-proï¬le in Europe through its sponsorship of former Premier League club Wigan Athletic. The ï¬rm is often linked to credit betting operation IBC, but in its own right is also a signiï¬cant operation through its Isle of Man and Philippines licences. Mobile could use more work, but the product suite is solid with a huge range of in-play betting.
19. ASIAN BGE (DAFABET)
(21)
One of the largest deposit-based businesses in Asia, the AsianLogic-owned operator runs the Asian-facing dafabet brand as well as Japan-facing zipang and 777baby online casinos. Its position on the list is primarily due to the dafabet brand, however, which is showing strong growth in both its Philippines and Isle of Man-licensed divisions. It has a broad reach across Asia and a strong product mix, although it focuses predominately on casino and sports betting with poker not really proving the diï¬erence in Asia to-date. Its parent company also runs a number of land-based businesses including the Asian Poker Tour and a chain of regulated betting shops in the Philippines.
18. PAF
(13)
The à land-based operator saw its full-year revenues surpass 100m for the ï¬rst time in ï¬ve years in 2012 and ï¬gures seen under NDA show continued growth in both revenues and proï¬t during 2013 with casino still the main driver. The operator also increased its presence in dot.country territories over the course of the year, seeing its market share in Estonia rise to 20% after entering the dot.ee market. Fortunes in Spain, where it received a licence last June, were less positive and led to Paf temporarily closing its Spanish-facing poker oï¬ering due to low player numbers on the Ongame.es network. Its relaunched poker product, developed with Microgaming, leans heavily on its low-stakes, recreational business model and it continues to lead the way in pushing the responsible gaming angle.
17. GALA CORAL GROUP
(19)
As rumours of an imminent IPO persist, Gala Coral has continued to perform well, notably in bingo where others have started to struggle. Gala Bingo has gone from strength to strength in 2013 with 44% increase in stakes resulting in a 25% increase in EBITDA to £6.6m in the three months ended 6 July. Coral Interactive remains a minor player in sportsbook but is making the right moves, with a big increase in gross win for the quarter, rising 100% to £12m. Its Eurobet Italia sportsbook brand continues to hold a signiï¬cant market share in Italy of 7%, making it the ï¬fth largest bookmaker there. It has made a genuine attempt to link Coral’s online and oï¬ine business via a deal with Playtech to launch a new system linking its UK-based retail ï¬xed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) with players’ online accounts.
16. BETVICTOR
(33)
BetVictor’s rebranding last year came ahead of a ï¬urry of activity in 2013. Most recently the operator announced plans to launch its ï¬rst bingo product later this year, as well as an in-house live casino studio within its Gibraltar oï¬ces. Investment in mobile is bearing fruit, and the business was well regarded by many operators eGaming Review spoke to in compiling this list. Its German business continues to be restricted by regulatory instability, while in Greece it must wait to see how any licensing framework pans out before being able to continue its successful venture there. Asia, where its brand is among the strongest from Europe, also represents a lucrative growth region.
15. SBOBET
(14)
The largest private Asian-facing operator in terms of revenues, its huge scale is subject to a substantial reduction factor due to its exposure to unregulated markets and its B2B arm. The Isle of Man-based deposit business is growing quickly and SBO has a broader oï¬ering than some of its competitors with an RNG and live casino alongside its core sportsbook product. Its mobile oï¬ering is also strong, although its iOS app has been removed from the store at the time of writing. The scale of SBO isn’t in doubt, with huge oï¬ces in the Philippines and its deposit business centred in the Isle of Man supporting a business with strong reach across Asia. Its impact outside of these territories is minimal, however, and the risks attached to its existing operations means a top 10 place continues to elude it.
14. LOTTOMATICA
(17)
Italy’s market leader has beneï¬ted greatly from the regulation of online slots in the country and has pushed on with content licensing deals with IGT and Net Entertainment in the past few months. Strong across all four verticals, particularly in the lucrative sports betting market, Lottomatica’s ï¬nancial score made it the most powerful Italian operator on the list. It also became the ï¬rst to launch an AAMS-certiï¬ed variant of live casino in Italy with Evolution Gaming’s Live Casino Hold’em table product.
13. UNIBET
(16)
A widely underestimated operator with a strong product oï¬ering, broad geographic reach and substantial revenue base in both sports betting and casino. Having posted a 7% rise in EBITDA for the six-months ended June 2013 to £29.1m the Swedish operator set its sights on a top ï¬ve position in the UK sportsbook market. Its increased visibility via a well-received marketing campaign will certainly help, as will its increased investment in mobile, on which the operator now oï¬ers products in each vertical. Mobile now represents more than 19% of revenues, up from 8% in the ï¬rst half of 2012. Revenues for the 12 months ended June 2013 were £214m with 54% from the Nordics region, 32% from Western Europe and 10% from Eastern Europe it remains a geographically well diversiï¬ed business. Grabbed the chance to be involved in a RMG launch on Facebook when it acquired a 45% stake in Bonza Gaming from Sportingbet.
12. PMU
(10)
With half-year online gaming revenues (GGR) of 144m and a 26% share of the lucrative French sports betting market, Pari Mutuel Urbain’s (PMU) clout there cannot be underestimated. Only Betclic is larger in sports betting “ PMU is the leader in horseracing “ and it has continued to grow at an impressive rate over the past 12 months. The former monopoly recorded 4.3% growth in online gaming revenues for Q3 2013, primarily down to strong sportsbook performance. In a country where poker has been unsustainable for all but a couple of operators, PMU saw revenues from its bwin.party-powered poker site increase by 10.1% to 415m, equating to 7.8% market share. It might be helped by unfavourable taxation levels in France which has seen competition pull out of the market, but that should not detract from its impressive performance since moving online in 2009. It has kept pace with the upward trend of mobile betting, with mobile and tablet now accounting for 15% of horseracing wagers and 25% of sports wagers.
11. HKJC
(12)
Arguably Asia’s largest online gambling operator, and certainly its highest proï¬le, the Hong Kong Jockey Club continues to post revenue numbers that would be the envy of anyone on this list. Figures seen by eGR put the HKJC in the top tier of operators based purely on revenues, and if the Power 50 was purely a measure of ï¬nancial strength it would be pushing for a much higher ranking. But the focused nature of its business means its impact is more limited on the wider industry. Its online oï¬ering is a football betting product that generated just over $1bn in NGR during the 12 months ended June 2013, up 6.8% on the previous year, from over $6.5bn in amounts wagered. The income generated from what is essentially a single product is incredibly impressive, and the HKJC has stayed ahead of the technology curve with a strong mobile betting oï¬ering to back up its online product.
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