Stocks Tracker: Q1 results ramifications lead to share price peaks and troughs for operators
EGR analyses the stock movements of major industry players in April, including Betsson, Entain and Kindred Group
Betsson
2 April closing: SEK106.50
30 April closing: SEK122.50
Peak closing: SEK122.50
Betsson enjoyed a steady start to the month in terms of its share price. The Stockholm-listed operator made no major announcements prior to its Q1 financial report at the end of the month other than a sponsorship deal with Torino FC, news that did not lead to any significant swings in the stock.
The operator fell to its lowest level for the month, on 22 April, when its shares traded at SEK106.20, but the release of the Q1 results sparked a reversal. Betsson posted a 12% year-on-year (YoY) jump in revenue to €248.2m, with management noting a 25% organic increase.
The spike in revenue was driven by strong performance in casino, with revenue for the segment jumping 18.7%, while sports betting fell 2.5%. The firm also noted a record quarter for EBIT of €57.9m, up 35% YoY, and a 32% jump in EBITDA from €54.3m to €71.6m.
When the report was published on 26 April, Betsson shares leapt almost 12% in early trading before closing at SEK122. The operator rounded out the month with an uptick on the final day of trading, sitting at SEK122.50 at the close of play.
Kindred Group
2 April Closing: SEK124.70
30 April Closing: SEK123.80
Peak closing price: SEK124.90
Like Betsson, fellow Swedish operator Kindred started the month with shares hovering in the SEK124 to just under SEK125 range, culminating in the peak of SEK124.90 on 12 April.
Kindred published its revenue from harmful play on 22 April, which showed a slight uptick from 3.1% at the end of Q4 2023 to 3.2% in the first quarter of 2024. This release coincided with the stock’s lowest point of the decline over the month, which saw it dip to SEK123.20.
Shares picked up slightly towards the end of the month with the release of the group’s Q1 report on 24 April, which showed revenue in the opening quarter went up fractionally to £307.7m, with Kindred citing a “solid start to a transformational year”.
In terms of EBITDA, the firm posted a 23% YoY increase from £47.3m to £58.3m, with underlying EBITDA increasing 20% from £49.4m to £59.3m. Post-tax profit rose 22.7% from £25.6m to £31.4m in the opening three months of the year.
The relatively flat results did not lead to any major changes in Kindred’s share price. The week following the results, shares ricocheted between SEK123 and SEK124 and closed out the month at SEK123.80.
Entain
2 April closing: 757.60p
30 April closing: 784.64p
Peak closing: 853.80p
April was an up-and-down month for the FTSE 100 giant, with share price rising 4.8% by the end of the period.
The operator kicked off the month with a 5% jump from 759p to 797p on 4 April. A slight dip to 784p a day later was met with an immediate spike to over 800p on 8 April. The stock levelled off over the next couple of weeks but then gradually increased from 806p on 16 April to the month’s peak at 854p on 22 April.
This increase occurred as the multi-brand giant published its opening quarter financial report on 17 April, which revealed a 6% YoY rise in net gaming revenue (NGR), which was “in line with expectations”.
However, group NGR slid 3% on a pro forma basis, while group online NGR, excluding the US, fell 2%. UK and Ireland NGR also slipped 7% as Entain cited the continued impact of its internal “regulatory implementation” as the main contributing factor.
Overall online NGR fell 9% on a reported and pro forma basis, while retail NGR dipped 6%.
After the peak price on 22 April, there followed a fairly steep decline. Over the course of that week, shares fell to their lowest level since 3 April, tumbling to 784p on 26 April.
In the last couple of days of trading of the period, Entain picked up again to 818p on 29 April, but, yet again, shares fell by just over 30p to 785p at the close of play on 30 April.