Unibet pursues dot.country push after record Q4
Gross winnings revenue reaches all-time high during quarter - CEO says operator now 'clear number two' in Denmark.
Unibet chief executive Henrik Tjärnström has pledged to continue to invest in regulated markets after the operator recorded all-time high fourth-quarter gross winnings revenue in its numbers for the year ended 31 December.
Five of the Swedish-listed company’s top 10 territories are now locally regulated, with Denmark, France and Belgium leading the way, with growth from dot.dk and dot.be activities arriving at a faster rate than the overall business.
Fourth-quarter gross win in Belgium was up 45% year-on-year following the award of a dot.be sports betting licence and a casino partnership with Rank Group, while dot.dk growth came in at 29% up year-on-year in Q4 and continued at an even faster rate in the early part of the first quarter of this year.
Much of the growth has come from sportsbook which contributed 47% of gross win revenue (GWR) in Q4 compared to 40% in the previous quarter, with Western Europe keeping pace with its core Nordic region with the two areas contributing £10.1m and £11.2m of the £26.6m total respectively.
Sports betting GWR in the fourth quarter was up 43% year-on-year – in line with full-year growth of 44% – while other products saw GWR growth of 16% with the Nordic region contributing £19.2m of the £30.3m total, an all-time high.
Following last year’s acquisition of Danish-facing competitor bet24, Tjärnström said in an analyst call this morning: “Overall we have created a clear number two in the [dot.dk] market and we are continuing to take market share into 2013 so are very optimistic for the future.
Responding to a question from analyst Rasmus Engberg, the CEO said it was “only a matter of time” until Unibet reaches pre-regulation earnings levels.
“Right now it is encouraging that we’re taking market share and growing the business through investment, and we want our profitability to come organically from that – we want to invest now while we can and are very encouraged by what we’ve seen so far,” he added.
The Nordic region contributed 53% of Unibet’s Q4 gross winnings revenue of £56.9m, a lower proportion than during any point in 2011, with the contribution from the Central, Eastern and Southern Europe region (which includes Italy) contributing 9% compared to 8% in Q4 2011.
Meanwhile, the ‘other’ region contributed 7% thanks largely to last year’s acquisition of Australian sports betting operator Betchoice and the fourth-quarter launch of an Australian-facing mobile offering for sports betting and horse betting.
Tjärnström (pictured) was positive about the advent of dot.it slots in the fourth quarter, however he expressed his concern about limitations in in-play betting making it difficult for licensed operators to compete with the dot.com market in that particular territory despite noting: “We understand the authorities in Italy are looking into improving existing products rather than introducing many new products and we expect [progress on in-play] to arrive in 2013.”
While Tjärnström would not be drawn on future M&A activity, he acknowledged that the “underlying theme of our last three acquisitions has been focusing on regulated markets and growing our position there – it is part of our long-term strategy to transform the group from dot.com to dot.country”.
He also noted in a statement: “The gaming market is increasingly divided into those who embrace the opportunities and challenges provided by re-regulation and those who don’t.
“Unibet takes a lead in working with regulators and other official bodies to develop sustainable local regulations that provide a fair market while ensuring social policy goals are achieved,” he added.