Betsson boss upbeat despite half-year margin drop
Betsson has blamed a run of bad sports results in main markets for a drop in half-yearly sports margins to 7.9%, from 10.5% in the six month period to the end of June.
Betsson has blamed a run of bad sports results in main markets for a drop in half yearly sports margins to 7.9%, from 10.5% in the six month period to the end of June.
The Swedish gaming and betting operator’s margins also dropped on a quarterly basis, to 4.7% from 9.8%.
However Betsson chief executive Pontus Lindwall was upbeat. He said: “There is no marketing like happy customers. The activity and customer deposits have never been higher that in the second quarter, which indicate a continued good growth.”
Revenues for the six month period rose 29% to SEK600m ($80m, 56.3m), from SEK464.7m during the same period last year, and were up 20% to SEK284.6m on a quarterly basis, from SEK236.9m last year.
Pre-tax profits rose 1% to SEK62m from SEK61.4m during the three month period and 22% to SEK145m from SEK118.9m on the six month period.
The company added that customer deposits had increased 32% during the second quarter and gross sportsbook turnover rose 73% to SEK644.8m, from SEK373.2m during the same period last year.
Betsson also signed a licensing agreement with scratch card supplier Neo Games to integrate instant win games on its platform. The company will also launch a white label platform in partnership with Nordic Entertainment to exploit the format.
Casino revenues accounted for 70% of total gross profit for the three month period compared with 60% last year, poker 14.2%, from 19%, last year and sports’ share of gross profits rose to 11.5%, from 7.5% last year.