Betsson group revenue in the three months to September 30 reached €280.1 million (£233.7 million / $302.2 million). In other words, this represents 17.9% more than in the third quarter of last year and 3.1% above the previous record set in the second quarter of this year.
Betsson has global growth
When analyzing the third quarter results, Betsson CEO and President Pontus Lindwall cited high customer activity as one of the main factors. It noted new record levels in customer deposits and gaming trading volume during the quarter.
Lindwall also paid tribute to Betsson’s global expansion efforts, highlighting growth across multiple regions. This, he added, helped increase the revenue share of locally regulated markets from 45% in the third quarter of last year to 58%.
“Once again, Betsson reports record quarterly revenue and EBIT,” said Lindwall. “This means the 11th consecutive quarter with sequential growth in the EBIT level. EBIT is “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes”, which translates as Profits Before Interest and Taxes.
“Growth was broad-based, with sustained high activity in the Latin America, Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) regions,” Lindwall said.
Lindwall also referenced the acquisition in August of FDJ’s Sporting Solutions sports betting trading, pricing and risk management offerings. This, according to him, will strengthen its sports betting offering both B2B and B2C.
“The acquisition will primarily contribute to faster and more flexible odds setting, stronger risk management and greater scalability for the sports betting product for B2C and B2B,” he said.
Double-digit growth for casino and sports betting
So, analyzing the numbers, Betsson recorded growth in its two main businesses: casino and sports betting.
The casino was again the main source of revenue during the third quarter, generating €209.9 million, an increase of 22% and representing another new record. Furthermore, casino revenue increased by 13.7%, reaching an all-time high of 9.42 billion euros.
As for sports betting, revenue increased by 7.9% year-on-year to €68.3 million. This was helped by an 18.6% increase in total turnover, corresponding to a margin of 7.4% for the third quarter.
Revenue from other products, including poker and bingo, fell 4.8% to €2 million.
Furthermore, Betsson saw customer deposits reach a record €1.48 billion, an increase of 19.8% compared to last year. Furthermore, total registered customers increased by 5.9% to 31.1 million, while active customers increased by 9.8% to 1.4 million.
Betsson revenue increased in almost all regions
Geographically, CEECA (Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia) continues to be Betsson’s main region, generating revenue of 116.3 million euros, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year, in another record.
Growth was driven by increased underlying casino activity, with Croatia and Greece reporting record revenue. Betsson also recorded growth in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Elsewhere, Latin American revenue increased 34.2% to a record €69.4 million, again driven by the casino. The group recorded growth in Argentina, Colombia and Peru, and in the third quarter also applied for a license in Brazil to further expand its reach in the region.
The Nordic countries were the only region to record a decline, with revenue of €45.3 million 1.8% lower than last year. This was attributed to lower activity in its casino offering.
Meanwhile, Western European revenue rose 14.2% to €44.7 million, driven by a record in Italy. Betsson also references growth in Belgium and noted the decision to increase its stake in the Betsson France joint venture from 49% to 67%.
Finally, operations in the rest of the world generated revenue of 4.4 million euros, an increase of 22.9%. Again, this was mainly due to growth in the casino segment.
Net profit falls despite increased revenue
Although operating expenses increased by 13.5%, revenue growth meant that operating profit also rose. In the third quarter, operating profit reached 280.1 million euros, an increase of 17.9%.
The group recorded 7.9 million euros in financial costs, which means that pre-tax profit rose 11.4% to 56.6 million euros. After paying 13.2 million euros in taxes, the result was a net profit of 43.4 million euros, 6.1% lower than last year.
As for EBITDA, it increased by 16.6% compared to the previous year, to 80.3 million euros. Accumulated revenue for the year is just below 800 million euros.
There was also an impact on the third quarter in Betsson’s year to date. Revenue, for the nine months to the end of September, was €799.8 million. This is 14.8% higher than the same period in 2023.
Betsson sees increase in operating profit
Operating profit increased by 21.5% to €186.5 million, while pre-tax profit was also 17% higher at €168.3 million. After taxes, net profit for the period was 130.6 million euros. This represents slightly more than the 129.7 million euros recorded last year.
Therefore, regarding EBITDA, it reached 229.5 million euros in the year to date, an increase of 20.3%. CEO Lindwall also referenced the fact that at the start of the fourth quarter, daily revenue was about 14% higher than the average for last year’s full fourth quarter.
“Therefore, there is reason to feel confident about the last quarter of the year. Because it is also generally the seasonally strongest quarter for customer activity,” Lindwall said.
