Sportingbet revenues slide ahead of bid deadline
Spain declines post-regulation, however November has seen improvement from Australian activities.
Post-regulation struggles in Spain contributed to Sportingbet’s first-quarter revenues falling by more than one third, the operator has announced in its results for the three months ended 31 October.
Net gaming revenues from casino and games in Europe fell 33.1% year-on-year, due in part to dot.es regulation restricting the availability of certain products, while overall group revenues of £38.8m were down from £59.9m in Q1 2011-12.
Australian NGR was hit by what the operator has described as “customer friendly sporting results in August and September, however revenues from the market have rebounded in November to rise 10% year-on-year and mobile rose to account for 23% of amounts wagered in the country, compared to 7% in the corresponding period in the 2012 financial year.
Meanwhile European poker revenues fell 49.5% year-on-year, and chief executive Andy McIver admitted the operator “Has lost market share in Spain year-on-year, as we had to close our website following a legal injunction from one of our competitors [Codere], but we have been slowly clawing this back since regulation.
He added that the full impact of regulation in Spain is unlikely to be seen until the end of Sportingbet’s 2012-13 financial year as unlicensed operators are weeded out and Sportingbet begins to see the benefits of its TV advertising in the EU country.
The figures come just days before the deadline set for William Hill and GVC Holdings to lodge a joint bid for the company, with Hills predominantly looking at Sportingbet’s Australian business.
Sportingbet has made no mention of the potential deal in today’s statement, the deadline for which is 5pm on Tuesday, however eGaming Review sources have suggested the pair will agree a 65p-a-share takeover next week.
McIver said: “Although the sports margin returned to more normal levels in October, compared to the prior year the business saw a drop in volume due to October 2012 being a four weekend month (October 2011 was a five weekend month) and due to the scheduling of sports events, such as the Australian Derby Day which fell in November this year.”