Zeal Network revenue rises 40% in H1

Revenue was up in both lottery and gaming.

Germany.- Zeal Network has reported a 40 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue for the first half of the year, with growth in both lottery and its new gaming segment. Group revenue hit €76.8m as customer numbers rose by 70 per cent. 

Lottery brokerage revenue was up 33 per cent at €68m: €33.7m from ticket fees and €34.2m from commissions. Monthly active users (MAU) for the lottery segment rose by 21 per cent to a new record of nearly 1.4 million. Zeal said the result could partly be attributed to favourable jackpots attracting more players as it increased marketing around Eurojackpot.

As for Zeal’s online gaming division, which it launched just over a year ago, revenue was €4.5m amid a diversified offering now with 107 games. Monthly active users reached 21,000. Outside Germany, Zeal generated €2.8m, a rise of 7 per cent, from ONCE in Spain.

The marketing spend rose by 28 per cent to €25.5m, and direct and indirect operating costs were higher. This left an operating profit of €16.1m, up 73 per cent. Pre-tax profit was €14.9m, up 70 per cent and net profit of €36.9m, up 561 per cent. EBITDA was up 46 per cent at €20.1m.

Zeal CFO Sebastian Bielski said: “The very strong development of revenue and EBITDA reflects our excellent operating performance. We are particularly pleased that we have been able to acquire over half a million new customers since the beginning of the year. 

“The acquisition of new customers has not only been exceptionally successful this half year, but also particularly efficient thanks to the significant reduction in acquisition costs per registered new customer. We are thus benefiting from the continuous investment in brand development in recent years.”

In May, Zeal Network announced that Peter Steiner would step down from his position as chairman of the Supervisory Board at the company’s 2025 Annual General Meeting. The independent auditor has been on the board for 12 years, having joined as chairman of the Audit Committee in 2013.

Steiner became chairman of the Supervisory Board in 2017. He also chaired the Supervisory Board of Zeal acquisition Lotto24 AG in 2019.