Lottomatica H1 revenue nears €1bn as 40% of SKS365 synergies already realised
Italian operator pushes online market share towards 30% despite net profit falling by a third in the first six months of the year
Lottomatica Group has reported H1 revenue of €931.8m, a 14% increase against H1 2023, as its online division drove the business forward in the first six months of the year.
Online operations returned €338.3m in revenue, an increase of 37% compared to the same period last year, with €187.9m in revenue derived from Q2, a 53% year-on-year (YoY) jump.
Bosses said Goldbet, Betflag and the eponymous Lottomatica.it brands all grew market share during the reporting period.
In turn, Lottomatica Group’s online market share in Italy stood at 29.1% in Q2, an increase of two percentage points against Q2 2023.
On the retail front, sports betting revenue rose 4% YoY to €213.7m and land-based gaming revenue landed at €379.8m, a 3% YoY uptick.
Retail sports betting market share now stands at 29.7%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points against Q2 2023 while retail gaming market share has risen 2.4 percentage points YoY to 29.5%.
Alongside increases in revenue, group adjusted EBITDA improved by 6% YoY from €298.8m to €317.3m, with a corresponding margin of 34.1%.
However, net profit fell by about a third from €39.9m to €26.5m as costs relating to the group’s IPO and acquisition of SKS365 came into effect, amounting to €52.4m.
Lottomatica Group completed the €639m purchase of fellow Italian firm SKS365 in April, with the results update also revealing it already completed roughly 40% of total planned synergies.
As a result, 2024 cash synergies are sitting at approximately €13m, which Lottomatica Group said was about two times ahead of plan.
The integration of SKS365 is also “well underway”, with a new organisational structure in place, Italian operations relocated to Lottomatica’s HQ in Rome and the migration of the tech stack due to be completed before the start of the new football season.
The Milan-listed business also revealed there was an additional M&A pipeline “in the works”, with operating cash flow sitting at €228m.
As a result of the H1 performance, along with the accelerated integration of SKS365, Lottomatica Group also revised its guidance for full-year 2024.
Revenue is now expected to land between €2.03bn and €2.08bn from previous guidance of €2.02bn-€2.06bn.
Adjusted EBITDA range has also increased, up from €680m-€700m to €700m-€730m.
Guglielmo Angelozzi, Lottomatica Group CEO, said: “In the second quarter of 2024 we have continued our path of organic growth, supported by solid market share gains in online leading to a sustained double-digit growth in revenues and EBITDA.
“We have successfully completed the acquisition of SKS365 and are progressing with the integration at a fast pace, having secured to date [around] 40% of the synergies announced.
“Also, we have opportunistically refinanced notes worth €900m in May resulting in material interest savings. In light of the strong performance, the delivery in cost synergy realisation, and expected bolt-on acquisitions, we upgrade our guidance for FY 2024.”