The highlights of the quarter January – March 2025 include:
• Group revenue was EUR 293.7 (248.2) million, an increase of 18%. Organic increase of 20%.
• Casino revenue increased by 18%. Sportsbook revenue increased by 22% and the sportsbook margin was 8.0% (6.6%).
• EBITDA was EUR 77.7 (71.6) million, an increase of 9%. The EBITDA margin was 26.5% (28.8%).
• Operating income (EBIT) was EUR 64.0 (57.9) million, an increase of 11%. The EBIT margin was 21.8% (23.3%).
• Net income was EUR 48.4 (42.8) million and earnings per share was EUR 0.35 (0.30).
• Operating cash flow was EUR 86.4 (50.0) million.
• Net debt was EUR -177.8 (-68.1) million.
• Active customers amounted to 1.4 (1.3) million.
Regarding the results of the period, Group’s CEO Pontus Lindwall stated:
“The start of the year has been strong with continued high customer activity and profitable growth for Betsson. Despite fewer days and seasonal effects, new record levels were reached for customer deposits and gaming turnover during the first quarter. The Group's revenue increased by 18 percent and operating income (EBIT) increased by 11 percent during the quarter. The sequentially lower levels compared to the previous quarter can be explained by the lower sportsbook margin, which was 8.0 percent compared to 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Betsson's ambition is to create long-term stable profit growth through geographical diversification and growth initiatives in existing and new markets. Latin America, in particular, continues to be an important growth region where we are continuously strengthening our positions. The region accounted for 25 percent of the Group's total revenue during the quarter. In January, we extended our significant partnership as jersey sponsor with Boca Juniors for another four years. The sponsorship is important for our presence in Argentina but also strengthens Betsson's brand across the entire South American continent. In March, we opened a new office in Buenos Aires to be able to even better capture the growth potential in Argentina.
Recently, we obtained a local license and launched our offering in the newly regulated market in Brazil. In addition to this, we carried out a technical launch in February in the regulated market in Paraguay, after having obtained a local casino gaming license there at the end of 2024. This means that we now have operations with local gaming licenses in 25 countries around the world. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 60 percent and accounted for 59.0 (43.6) percent of total revenue for the quarter.
We continue to invest in the product and our technology – anything from new payment solutions and AI-supported processes to a strengthened sportsbook – and when we compare ourselves with competitors, we can see that in our focus markets we now have a market-leading offering in sports betting.
I am proud of our continued commitment to sports. We had reasons to celebrate the sporting success of some of our partners during the quarter. Jersey-sponsored Racing Club from Buenos Aires managed to repeat the past autumn's South American Cup win by winning the prestigious Cup Winners' Final for the continent, the Recopa Sudamericana, against Botafogo from Brazil. At the same time, after 35 years of waiting and also with Betsson-featured match shirts, Greek OFI Crete FC managed to go all the way to the final of the Greek Football Cup, which goes under the name of Betsson Greek Cup.
The world around us is currently characterised by great uncertainty and concerns about reduced world trade, higher inflation and a weakening economy. We are closely monitoring macroeconomic developments, but at the same time we note that demand for gaming products has historically been relatively unaffected by the general economic cycle. Betsson operates in an attractive sector with structural growth driven by the continued online migration of gaming. The share of online gaming in the world will continue to increase for many years to come and we have a clear vision to deliver the best customer experience in the industry. With a scalable, global business model and proprietary products and technology, we are well positioned for continued profitable growth going forward.”
Source: GMB
