Gambling.com Group hails record Q4 as it snaps up XLMedia assets in $42.5m deal
Affiliate notes revenue for final three months of the year at a record $32.5m as company details FY24 expectations
Gambling.com Group has reported record Q4 revenue of $32.5m after a 52% year-on-year (YOY) surge in top-line growth for the affiliate.
Revenue for the final three months of the year leapt from Q4 2022’s return of $21.3m on the back of growth driven by new state launches, same-state sales, and media partnerships.
North American operations returned a 103% YOY increase in revenue to $20.3m, with a strong contribution from Kentucky following the launch of online sports betting in September.
EBITDA for the reporting period jumped 54% YOY from $6.9m to $10.6m, with a corresponding margin of 32%.
Operating profit soared almost 3,000% from a previous $305,000 loss to a positive return of $8.2m, while total comprehensive income amounted to $11.3m, up 142% YOY.
New depositing customers broke the 159,000 barrier during Q4, with management noting a 56% increase in the number of NDCs in 2023 compared to 2022.
In terms of full-year 2023, revenue increased 42% from $76.5m to $108.7m as EBITDA improved 53% compared to 2022’s $24.1m to land at $36.7m.
Elsewhere, the affiliate confirmed the acquisition of various European and Canadian assets from XLMedia in a deal that could be worth up to $42.5m.
A fixed fee of $37.5m, along with $5m in performance related payments, will see the likes of Freebets.com and WhichBingo.co.uk come under the group’s umbrella.
Gambling.com Group said the acquisition should return $10m in revenue during 2024 along with $5m in EBITDA.
Charles Gillespie, Gambling.com Group CEO, said: “This acquisition will provide us with another big brand and assets that complement our existing website portfolio in a number of our key-focus markets, enabling us to drive further growth which is both high margin and highly accretive.
“By operating these assets on our technology platform, we expect to unlock their full potential. We are confident that this latest acquisition will create incremental shareholder value in the same way we have done with previous acquisitions,” he added.
Looking ahead to 2024, Gambling.com Group has pegged full-year revenue to land between $129m and $133m, with EBITDA between $44m and $48m.
The firm expects North Carolina, which launched online sports betting this month, to be the only new state launch during the year.