Sportingbet Q3: Australia wards off Greece, Spain woes
Sportingbet's Australian sportsbook has enabled it to weather the economic storm in Greece and Spain, the company's third quarter results show, recording a 30% year-on-year rise in third-quarter net gaming revenue (NGR) despite the recessions in those two core markets.
SPORTINGBET’S Australian sportsbook has enabled it to weather the economic storm in Greece and Spain, the company’s third quarter results show, recording a 30% year-on-year rise in third-quarter net gaming revenue (NGR) despite the recessions in those two core markets.
The operator posted NGR of £55.7m for the three months ended 30 April 2010, compared to £42.9m in the same period last year, while operating profit rose by a healthy 18% to £12.0m, from £10.2m.
Sportingbet chief executive Andy McIver said the profit increase was particularly pleasing not only given “the recessionary backdrop, in particular in two of our four biggest markets” but also due to the run of favourites winning in Spanish football.
“Spain has also been impacted by the run of results. If you wanted free money this year, betting on Real Madrid or Barcelona in every game was a sure way to get it”, he said.
In Australia, NGR soared 167% from £3.9m to £10.4m, although 23% of that is attributable to favourable foreign exchange movements.
Favourable horse racing results also lifted the sports margin well above the long term average in the quarter to 5.9%, compared to 2.9% the previous year.
The other strong performer was the group’s European sports and casino business, the former achieving 21% year-on-year growth in NGR to £29.2m, from £24.1m. Boosted by European markets, group NGR from casino and gaming contributed a further 17% of growth to £11.6m, from £9.9m. In common with most other non-US facing operators, NGR from poker was down, dropping 10% to £4.5m, from £5m.
On the imminent re-regulation of the French online sports betting and poker market, McIver stated it was it was “currently our intention to apply for a French licence”, but revealed “it is going to take us longer to get the IT compliant site that we hitherto expected based on the unofficial conversations with French authorities. We are estimating it will take us months to produce an IT system that is compliant.”
McIver added that launching in France was also still contingent on the level of sports levies payable to French sports bodies. “We still don’t know what some of the sports levies are going to be. If you make a 10% margin, and the starting point is a 7% turnover tax, you are down at 3% already. If you have to give 1% to the sports federation, you are down to 2%. You just need those sports levies to equal 2%, and then, what’s the point?”