Sportingbet saved by Australian profits
NGR in the region grew 116% year-on-year following Centrebet integration, accounting for 90% of third-quarter profits.
Sportingbet’s Australian operations made up more than 90% of Q3 profits, the London-listed operator has revealed in its results for the three months ended 30 April.
Overall amounts wagered rose 9.6% to £555.9m, compared to £507.3m in Q3 2011, but total revenues were down 20.7% to £43.4m, due in part to the Spanish injunction and the sale of Turkish business Superbahis to East Pioneer Corporation, described at the time by chief executive Andy McIver as “The last piece in the jigsaw” for Sportingbet’s focus towards regulated markets.
McIver said in a statement that the integration of Centrebet – the Northern Territories-licensed bookmaker acquired last year for AU$175m (£115.25m), is “nearly complete”, and has contributed to NGR from the jurisdiction more than doubling year-on-year to £18.1m.
However European NGR dropped 47% to £24.2m, due in part to the March injunction from land-based operator Codere which saw Sportingbet’s Spanish-facing Miapuesta brand suspended.
The “anti-competitive” injunction – citing the advantage gained by those operators taking bets in the country without paying tax on their activities – was described by Sportingbet as “a blatant attempt to disrupt the market,” and the operator pledged to appeal the ruling.
Sportingbet anticipates this injunction to be lifted following the award of a Spanish egaming licence in June – licences are due to be awarded from Friday ahead of the dot.es market opening on or around 5 June. Last week’s back-tax payment of 17.2m to the Spanish Tax Authority is expected to clear the way for the award of a licence.
More than half of the operator’s revenues (52%) are currently derived from regulated markets, a figure only set to increase once Spain and Greece – two of Sportingbet’s ‘Big four’ territories along with Australia and the UK – open up.
Analyst Nick Batram of Peel Hunt retained his firm’s ‘Buy’ recommendation, largely on the basis of “A strong performance from Australia,” but warned that “There is a feeling that the company has been on a bit of a losing streak “ regulatory speaking.”
Meanwhile, Sportingbet has appointed existing director and audit committee chairman Rory Macnamara as a senior independent non-executive director, with Brian Harris – who previously held the role – remaining on the board as a non-executive director.