Mr Green plots further expansion after profit hike
Nordic casino operator plans to increase its international reach after recording 45% increase in H1 profit
Nordic online casino Mr Green is plotting further international expansion after recording a 45% increase in profit during the first six months of 2014.
EBITDA for the six months ended 30 June reached SEK75.5m (£6.6m) boosted by a 41% year-on-year increase in revenues to SEK316m (£27.6m), three months after setting a new quarterly profit record of SEK23.4m (£2.1m).
Central to the growth has been an international expansion strategy that has seen the operator launch in various European markets, with CEO Mikael Pawlo keen to reduce Mr Green’s reliance on its native Nordic customer base, in the belief the firm can expand with “high profitability and limited risk”.
“We believe our strong brand combined with our well worked-out product means that we are able to offer customers entertaining and exciting games irrespective of country and region, and the local adaptations required are relatively small,” Pawlo said, adding he could see great potential in Eastern Europe.
The operator derived more of its revenue from markets outside of the Nordics in Q2 2014 than it did in the corresponding period a year ago, with its Nordic share having shrunk from 67% in 2013 to 54% this year, while the rest of Europe increased its share to 46%.
Mr Green also reported strong growth in its mobile business after what Pawlo labelled as “substantial investment” in the platform. Mobile now contributes 24% of total gross gaming revenue and the firm said it expected this to continue to grow further still with investment planned throughout the rest of the year.
Marketing expenditure increased by more than 40% to SEK59.3m (£5.2m) in Q2, however Pawlo said the spend remained within normal levels of around 37% of revenues.
Last week Mr Green confirmed the departure of its CMO Henrik Svensson, with the role to be split between new hires Fredrik Stael von Holstein and Stein-Erik Myhre.