Betsson’s Revenue Grows in Q1 Despite Swedish Challenges

Betsson AB, a Swedish company that offers a number of online gambling products through more than 20 online gaming brands…

…announced a nice growth in revenue during the first quarter of 2019 despite having problems in the Swedish market.

This betting industry titan also reported year-on-year growth in gross profit and record results during Q4 of 2018. The total revenue for the last year came up to $581.9 million, which is a 15% growth comparing to the results during the same period in 2017.

Revenue Report for Q1

On Tuesday, Betsson representatives revealed the company’s financial results for the first three months of 2019. According to the report, the company’s revenue came up to SEK1.33 billion, or $138.7 million.

The revenue grew 10% in comparison to the results from the same period in 2018, while the organic growth was up 8%. Also, all of Betsson’s geographic markets showed a nice yearly growth.

Speaking about operating income, it also had a 21% growth to SEK255.2 million…

…while the company’s net income grew 22% to SEK229.3 million.

A Word from CEO

CEO of Betsson, Pontus Lindwall, commented that he is happy that the company managed to note the growth in its revenue despite having challenges with the newly-regulated Swedish gambling market.

Betsson had to face some challenges in this Nordic country at the beginning of the year due to unfair competition among operators in this market…

…but he also noted that the things began to cool down somewhere around the end of the first quarter of the year.

“Long-term we expect the market to grow in a sustainable manner and overall we remain positive about industry growth in regulated market,” CEO, Lindwall, commented on the company’s results in 2018.

“A year ago we announced the plan that involved the entire organisation. Since then, the focus has been on the development of products and technology to continue to deliver the best customer experience. At the same time, there has been a strong determination to improve efficiency in marketing and in internal processes to increase profitability,” he added.

More on Revenue

When it comes to the turnover coming from sports betting operations, Betsson also had a 10% increase to SEK6.35 billion…

…while, on the other hand, betting revenue was up 13% and came to SEK297.8 million.

The company’s revenue from online casinos rose 10% to slightly over SEK1 billion, while two-thirds came from mobile channels. Mobile was actually responsible for 80% of the betting revenue, and was up 11% year-on-year.

The Nordic markets are still Betsson’s main source of income, but the company’s revenue coming from this part of the world was up only 2% year-on-year, and down 1% organically.

Western European markets showed much better results, while its revenue rose 10% to SEK430.8 million. The Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia, grew 15% to SEK248.2 million.

Source:

“Betsson posts solid Q1 growth despite Swedish headaches”, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, May 7, 2019.