Mybet to sell underperforming Italian business
Schleswig-Holstein-based operator in talks to sell mybet Italia as net profits plummet 39.9% YoY
German operator mybet is in discussions to dispose of its loss-making Italian business after the division contributed to a substantial 40% year-on-year fall in Q1 2014 net profits.
Total EBITDA rose 9.9% to 885,000 for the three months ended March 2014 with the firm improving cost control, despite revenues falling by 7.8% with 16.5% decline in its core casino and poker segment.
And the firm’s drive to keep costs down led to a decision to discontinue mybet Italia comes after the Italian business posted an EBIT loss of 209,000 in Q1.
“Business for the Italian subsidiary mybet Italia did not develop as hoped in the first quarter of 2014,” the company said in a statement.
“The management board of mybet Holding SE has therefore resolved to write-off assets totalling 715,000 retroactively from 31 December 2013,” it added.
The operator entered the Italian market in 2012 but failed to turn it into a profitable venture while the company also confirmed its lottery business had officially been discontinued after the disposal of its Spanish subsidiaries in late 2013.
Consolidated Q1 revenues fell 7.8% year-on-year to 17.9m following a disappointing quarter for the operator’s casino and poker business which recorded a 16.5% fall in revenues from 6.6m to 5.5m.
However, mybet’s sportsbook fared slightly better after posting a 1.2% year-on-year rise in revenues to 10.6m despite a 2.5% decline in online betting stakes. Horserace betting grew 35.8% from 1.1m in Q1 2013 to 1.4m.
Mybet is currently in the running for one of 20 sports betting licences due to be awarded the Hesse Ministry of the Interior, a licensing procedure which has received substantial criticism from domestic operators.
The Schleswig-Holstein-based company was also recently awarded 11.5m in damages from the German state lottery company Westdeutsche Lotteri, bringing to an end a six-year legal battle.