Latin America now Betsson’s largest market
Latin America accounted for €45.7m of the total revenue reported by the Swedish operator in the second quarter of the year.
Sweden.- Betsson has reported its second-quarter results, and the most notable detail is that Latin America is now the Swedish operator’s biggest market, overtaking Europe. While revenue from Western Europe dropped by close to 40 per cent year-on-year in Q2, Latin American revenue rocked by 86.2 per cent.
Betsson reported total Q2 revenue of €186.3m, up 7.8 per cent from Q2 2021. Casino revenue accounted for €122.2m, up by €1.6m, and sportsbook revenue accounted for €61.6m, up by 22.4 per cent. When it comes to regions, Latin America accounted for €45.7m. Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia also did well, up 23.4 per cent to €61.1m. These were record highs for both regions.
However, revenue in the Nordics was down by 5.7 per cent at €51.2m. And revenue in Western Europe fell by almost 40 per cent to €24.8m.
Betsson blamed the decline in revenue from Europe on its withdrawal from the Netherlands after the launch of the regulated Dutch igaming market last year. The company also noted that the German market was struggling due to “low levels of channelisation, due to extensive restrictions, high taxes, and an unclear licensing process”.
In Germany, Betsson has just one online casino licence via its Zecure Gaming subsidiary. Meanwhile, the decline in the Nordics was affected by particularly high activity in 2021 due to the 2020 Euros.
CEO Pontus Lindwall said: “Betsson’s second quarter featured continued good growth with all-time high revenue and further investments to support our expansion The group’s organic growth was 13%, mainly driven by Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where we see long-term growth potential as these markets still have a low share of online gaming.
“The sportsbook business showed a strong development in the quarter – gross turnover increased by 20 per cent and the margin was 8.3 per cent – leading to all-time high revenue.”
Betsson had nearly 25 million registered customers in Q2, and 1.2 million active customers. Operating expenses for the quarter were €89.6m. Operating income was down 22.7 per cent yearly to €29.2m. Net income was down 14.1 per cent to €28.6m, EBITDA was down 16 per cent at €39.3m.
For the year to date, revenue is €356.4m, up 7.9 per cent year-on-year, gross profit is down 3.5 per cent at €225.8m and EBITDA is €72.7m, down 11.6 per cent.
In March, Betsson AB confirmed the election of Johan Lundberg as company chairman and has named three new executive directors: Eva de Falck, Louise Nylén and Tristan Sjöberg. It also appointed Roland Glasfors as its new vice president of corporate communications, sustainability and investor relations.
The board reshuffle came after the resignation of Patrick Svensk from the role of chairman last year after being told he no longer had the confidence of the group’s biggest shareholders. It had been announced that Betsson’s founder and chief executive Pontus Lindwall would leave the company but Lindwall finally remained as CEO.
