Lottomatica Group seeking casino gains for SKS365 with rapid replatforming plans
Italian firm cites past experience with Betflag integration while CFO points to further M&A in the retail sector as pipeline remains strong
Lottomatica Group bosses have claimed the replatforming of the recently acquired SKS365 business should deliver incremental gains across the brand’s casino vertical.
Speaking on an analyst call on 30 July, following the publication of the group’s H1 results, CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi was bullish on the ongoing integration process following the completion of the €639m deal for SKS365 in April.
As part of the trading update, Lottomatica added that 40% of the planned SKS365 synergies had already been realised, with 2024 cash synergies now sitting at about €13m.
However, CFO Laurence Van Lancker confirmed that despite the initial pace of synergies, there were no plans in place to take savings beyond the previously communicated €65m marker.
And with SKS365 already boasting a tech hub in Serbia, the ongoing migration of the brand onto the Lottomatica Group tech stake is progressing at pace, with plans to have it completed by the start of the domestic football season.
When pushed on the reasons behind migrating at such pace, Angelozzi said that past experience from the Betflag acquisition helped inform the group.
Whereas Betflag had a strong casino product but was lacking on the sports betting front, the CEO said it was the alternative case with SKS365.
He said: “The replatforming will bring a lot of potential on the top-line in that it is a deeper offer, its wider, more flexible and its faster when you have to launch new markets. There’s a lot you can do there.”
He added: “The other reason is that there is a clear disconnect between the casino market share and sports market share. There is a gap on casino, which is partly a gap of offer but also a gap of CRM and marketing capabilities which is where you can exploit them when you are on the same platform and use all the tools.
“There is a very clear plan which has been shared among the teams. We believe the developments will be done early next year. This could be the fastest replatforming that we have done.”
Elsewhere, given the Milan-listed firm noted in its results presentation that it still had an active pipeline for M&A, Van Lancker explained that the retail gaming sector could provide the best value.
Retail gaming revenue in H1 rose 3% against the same period in 2023 to €379.8m, with a corresponding market share of 29.5%.
The CFO said: “On bolt-on, these are predominantly in the gaming franchise businesses where we see very attractive opportunities for consolidation. There are still opportunities, but by no means does that mean we will put a hold on international expansion.
“On international expansion, we’ve always said that we will continue to scout the market. We have an active pipeline where we scout and diligence international assets and we will continue to do that.”