Q&A: Kambi CEO on setting foundations for future success

Facing the media after the publication of Kambi’s Q4 report, the first full quarter of Werner Becher’s reign, the supplier’s CEO insists there are plenty of positives on the horizon.

Having taken up the post at the end of July and replacing long-term CEO Kristian Nylén in the process, the former Sportradar head set about putting his stamp on the company.

Kambi’s Q4 and full-year 2024 report made for interesting reading. Revenue for the final three months of the year was up from €44.3m (£36.6m) to €44.5m, while adjusted EBITDA dipped to €7.1m.

However, trading margin hit 10.1% and bosses ramped up the long-term target for margin across the group. Deals with Svenska Spel, LiveScore Group, Stake, KTO and Hard Rock Digital were all mentioned as key drivers for 2025.

Coupled with an efficiency programme which has seen around 65 permanent and consultancy roles cut, Becher insists the supplier is in lean shape for 2025. The year will be characterised by LeoVegas Group and Kindred Group leaving the full Kambi stack, but the CEO insists the foundations are in place to tackle the challenges put before the group.

EGR: Q4 was your first complete quarter as Kambi boss after joining mid-July. How are you finding the experience?

Werner Becher (WB): We closed out the year with robust financial performance. We initiated an efficiency programme and will continue to reduce costs going forward. But I’m personally most excited about the great commercial momentum across our product portfolio we see with a lot of new partner signings like Hard Rock, Stake and, only announced on Monday, the Ontario Lottery.

I think all these elements demonstrate that we building a strong foundation for future success.

EGR: Could you talk a bit more about the efficiency programme, and what departments in the business the redundancies are due to come from?

WB: Kambi is a 14-year-old business, and I think it’s very normal when a new CEO comes in to look at the cost base of the company. So, we streamlined the organisation a little bit. We’re implementing a high-performance culture. Being keen on our costs and how to manage them is one of my priorities, but more importantly is to get back to top-line growth.

It’s an ongoing process. As mentioned, we are implementing a high-performance culture at Kambi to reduce our cost base. Leveraging AI, especially, is clearly one of our goals.

EGR: The report mentioned the headwinds of LeoVegas and Kindred coming off the full Kambi stack in 2025. The company has had experience in the past with major operator departures, so is there confidence in the ability to manage that?

WB: Absolutely. There are some short-term challenges, and that Kindred will move away from our turnkey is well known for a few years now already, so this isn’t new. But with Hard Rock, with Stake and with Ontario Lottery now signed, only in the last few months, I think we continuously show that we bring in a lot of new business.

Churn is always to be accepted, I think in all businesses, and also for Kambi. So, we’re very confident about our long-term success.

EGR: In the past you’ve spoken about modularisation as being a key driver for the business. Is that still the case and does it ever replace turnkey commercial deals?

WB: I think that’s the wrong thinking. We have no plan to replace anything with modularisation. With modularisation, we can address new markets. In-house sportsbooks, which were closed for us as a turnkey-only supplier in the past, we can now open up a completely new TAM there.

These are additional revenue streams, but we’re still very focused on our turnkey solution.

EGR: Is there one part of the modularisation strategy that is baring the most fruit? Such as OddsFeed+, Tzeract and Shape Games?

WB: It is OddsFeed+, clearly. We launched the product at end of September. We have signed with Hard Rock and Rei do Pitaco, and we have a very nice-looking pipeline.

I think this is a gamechanger, also for the industry, because our odds feed is not a normal odds feed. It’s not only based on event data but also traded on our €17bn betting liquidity we have on our turnkey. There are only very few companies like us that have enough data points to effectively trade, also using AI, and manage risks going forward. We’re in a very good position. We’re very confident that we have a big edge over our competition with our OddsFeed+.

EGR: You’ve mentioned the deals with Stake and Rei do Pitaco to take footholds in Brazil. How has the market shaped up for Kambi since its launch in January?

WB: I think it’s no surprise that the market has started not very fast. First of all, it’s the summer break in the football season in Brazil. The new season will start end of March. All the customers have to go through a, let’s say, difficult KYC process.

Everyone, having been in newly regulated markets, already knew that it will be not an easy one. But we see week-on-week, turnover is growing, so the long-term perspective for the market is still very, very good.

Some companies were a little bit disappointed about the speed. We are licensed in more than 60 jurisdictions. So, we anticipated already before that the start will not be a hockey stick growth.