Zeal Network H1 2021 revenue remains flat year-on-year

Online lottery brokerage business Zeal Network has posted a flat 2% year-on-year (YoY) rise in revenue for H1 2021.

The German operator posted €44.5m (£37.9m) in revenue for the first six months of the year, up from €43.6m in the corresponding period for 2020.

Zeal’s billings rose by 6% YoY from €314.4m in H1 2020 to €332.9m in H1 2021, with its German operations accounting for almost the entire amount at €313.8m

Elsewhere, the operator’s EBITDA rocketed 224.2% YoY from €3.3m to €10.7m.

Additionally, Zeal secured 291,000 newly registered customers in Germany during H1, with the cost of each user growing slightly YoY from €27.13 in 2020 to €32.85.

However, the group noted it had spent significantly less on marketing ventures in 2021, with expenses amounting to €13.8m compared to €18.3m in 2020.

Zeal also revealed the impact of the weak market environment for lotteries in Germany during H1.

The average jackpot of the LOTTO 6aus49 amounted to €9m, down from €9.4m in 2020 while the average top prize for the Eurojackpot dropped from €51.2m in 2020 to €38.3m in 2021.

Zeal said: “Low jackpots have a negative effect on billings, gross margin and customer acquisition.”

Jonas Mattsson, Zeal’s chief financial officer, said: “The fact that we have managed to continue to grow with a significantly weaker jackpot development compared to the previous year makes us proud and shows us that we have taken the right measures to continuously improve both in terms of customers and results.

“The scalability of our business model will also help us in the future to take advantage of market opportunities, adapt to the dynamic environment and continuously optimise,” he added.