EGR Power 50 2019: 31-40
31. Stoiximan/Betano ***NEW***
The Greek sports betting operator started from humble beginnings in its home country back in 2012 but has worked its way up to become a truly international, technology-first gambling company. The operator employs more than 700 people and runs a successful operation in Romania and Germany, as well as Greece, and also launched in Portugal earlier this year. Approximately 75% of revenues now come from mobile. The planned combination of all brands under a new corporate umbrella organisation (Flutter Entertainment style) in 2020 should help clear the path for future growth.
32. Svenska Spel (38)
It’s been a year of upheaval for Svenska Spel which in January lost its monopoly status and began competing with a plethora of licensed operators as part of Sweden’s newly regulated online gaming market. How successful Swedish re-regulation and channelisation has been is a hotly debated topic, but Svenska Spel has maintained a dominant position in the sector and is narrowly ahead in the rankings of fellow former monopoly giant ATG due to its share of the sports betting and casino market.
33. Lottomatica (26)
While many Italy-facing operators are dominant in one specific vertical, International Game Technology-owned Lottomatica maintains a strong presence across both online sports and casino. Founded in 1990 and based in Rome, the local operator is in fact the second-biggest online casino brand behind PokerStars with more than 8% share of the market; in sports betting, it has a respectable top 10 position. Earlier this year, Lottomatica also became one of the first operators to join GVC’s new Italy-facing online bingo platform.
34. Sisal (35)
Sisal is the final Italian gambling giant to make the Power 50 list and given its recent growth can count itself unlucky not to have climbed the rankings even further. According to its H1 2019 financial report, online gaming revenue increased 17% year-on-year in the six-month period from €39.7m to €46.5m, which it said was “mainly driven by casino games and sports betting”. The Milan-headquartered firm was rewarded for its efforts by taking home two EGR Italy awards in October and is clearly confident of replicating its success further afield as it looks to open a new office in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta to aid its expansion in Spain’s online gaming market.
35. ATG ***NEW***
If the Power 50 rankings were based purely on top-line financials, then ATG would arguably be much higher and certainly above fellow ex-monopoly operator Svenska Spel. Indeed, results released since the Swedish market opened up to new licensees reveal Kambi-powered ATG recorded revenue of SEK3.5bn in the nine-month period to 30 September 2019, way ahead of Svenska Spel on €1.5bn and even further ahead of ComeOn and Kindred Group. However, it falls short of a higher position given its understandable reliance on horseracing and how far ahead its rivals are in online gaming.
36. Casumo (34)
Casumo has long been one of the true innovators of online casino having led the way with its mobile-first gamification strategy. Despite this, revenue growth seems to have proven somewhat elusive in the Power 50 reporting period and Casumo certainly took a hit – financially and reputationally – last year when it coughed up £5.85m to the UK Gambling Commission for social responsibility failings. Former Mansion COO and managing director Shelly Suter-Hadad has since been brought on board as CEO to drive the company forward and there is still plenty of growth opportunities for Casumo in markets such as Denmark and Spain, as well as through its recently launched online sportsbook product.
37. Interwetten Group (45)
Malta-licensed Interwetten Group may well have lost its long-serving CEO Werner Becher last year, but his departure doesn’t seem to have slowed the operator’s growth. Dominik Beier was hired to replace Becher earlier this year and the Germany-facing operator made much of the fact Beier was “the youngest speaker of the board in the history of all gaming companies”. Under his youthful
stewardship, Interwetten’s revenues grew from €67.8m in 2017/2018 to €80.1m for the 12-month reporting period that was used for the Power 50.
38. Danske Spil (39)
As a former monopoly entity, it’s not really a surprise that Danske Spil doesn’t have much of a track record when it comes to M&A. However, one of the biggest stories for the state-owned operator this year came when it acquired TivoliCasino.dk from local amusement park operator Tivoli. The deal strengthened Danske Spil’s share of Denmark’s online gaming market where it already benefits from exclusivity on online bingo and scratchcards. In September, Danske Spil reported an 8% year-on-year rise in H1 2019 revenues from its digital business.
39. Paf (32)
A quick search of the EGR website tells you all you need to know about what makes Paf tick. Based in the Finnish autonomous region of Åland, the operator is one of those companies which puts safer gambling at the heart of everything it does and is willing to feel the financial pinch as a result. The introduction of annual loss limits, for example, led to Paf reporting a 5% year-on-year drop in online revenue to €80m in its most recent annual report. However, the firm seems undeterred by the impact and has since reduced the limit even further after calling voluntary player limits “worthless”.
40. Betfred (46)
Betfred has never quite hit the online heights of some of its UK retail bookmaking counterparts and is still reeling from the FOBT fallout and additional regulatory pressures. However, the firm’s digital business does appear to show signs of growth. According to its most recent accounts, group turnover increased 15% to £727.6m in the 12 months to September 2018, which put its online business somewhere between £80m-£100m. Having recently sold the UK Tote, Betfred has also set its sights further afield with expansion in the US and other European markets on the horizon.