Return to higher growth will take time, says Betsson CEO

Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall has warned his ongoing plan to return the operator to higher growth will start showing results “towards the end of the year,” following the firm’s Q4 results this morning.

Group revenue climbed 12% to £112m, with 10% organic growth, but was assisted by exceptionally high sportsbook margins.

Operating income (EBIT) was down 18% to £19m , which Betsson attributed to negative currency impact, negative contribution from recent acquisitions and increased marketing.

“When I stepped in as CEO in September, my first action was to analyse the situation the company was in and together with management set a plan on how to bring Betsson back to higher growth and earnings,” Lindwall noted.

“It will take some time until I am satisfied, but we are systematically implementing actions to improve performance and expect to see results towards the end of the year.”

Some of the initial work during 2018 was the restructuring of company operations, with around 160 staffers let go.

Lindwall also said the firm would be scaling back marketing in several regions, including the UK, as part of an effort to improve marketing return on investment.

However, the figures contained reasons for optimism, with Q4 sportsbook revenues up 36% year-on-year to £32m, thanks to an 8.2% margin.

Sports turnover saw organic growth of 7%.

“The growth indicates that Betsson’s new mobile web sportsbook, which was launched on core brands during the quarter, has been well received by customers so far,” Lindwall said.

Elsewhere, casino revenue climbed 5% to £77m, with strong growth in Western Europe offset by a decline in the Nordics thanks to “strong competition”.

Lindwall added: “We have identified and started to implement a number of improvements on both the product and the marketing side. The launch of the new front-end system for casino and sportsbook on desktop and apps should be completed during 2018.”