Q2
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Betsson has reaffirmed a long-term ambition of outgrowing the market, as the online gambling group lauds the “strength of our business model” upon reporting its financial update for the year’s second quarter.

After reporting that the company was “not fully satisfied” with its performance through the first quarter earlier in the year, the group has cited scalability and geographic spread as key facets to Q2’s “strong growth”.

The period has seen Betsson report a 14 per cent revenue uptick to SEK 1.75bn (2020: SEK 1.53bn), with gross profit 22.3 per cent ahead at SEK 1.17bn (2020: SEK 958.5m), and net income at SEK 337.9, 75.1 per cent ahead of last year’s 192.9m. Active customers grew 25 per cent to 1,027,635 from 820,512.

“The second quarter is proof of the strength of our business model,” said Pontus Lindwall, Betsson CEO. “We have achieved an all time high profit based on our scalability and geographic spread, we have strong growth in Latin America, and we have strengthened our B2B-offering through the agreements that have been entered with Strive Platform Limited and Masterpiece Gaming.”

Revenue gained during Q1 from the casino segment, which released 240 games and 17 of which came via a period of exclusivity, dropped five per cent to SEK 1.22bn (2020: SEK 1.28bn). Casino represented 70 per cent (2020: 84 per cent) of group revenue. 

Mobile casino revenue was SEK 899m (2020: 925.6m), and accounted for 74 per cent (2020: 72 per cent) of total casino revenue. 

Sportsbook revenue during the quarter reached an all-time high of SEK 510.1m (2020: SEK 226.5m) and represented 29 per cent (2020: 15 per cent) of group revenue. Mobile sportsbook revenue was SEK 419.4m (2020: 174.4m), representing 82 per cent (2020: 77 per cent) of total sportsbook revenue. 

Revenue from other products, including poker and bingo, was SEK 19.4m (2020: 20.1m), a decrease of three per cent, representing one per cent of total revenues. 

On a regional basis, revenue in the Nordics climbed 13.5 per cent to SEK 550.4m (2020: SEK 485m), with the Swedish market continuing to develop well and showing “the highest revenues since the reregulation of the Swedish gaming market in January 2019”.

Western Europe declined 26.8 per cent to SEK 402.9m (2020: SEK 550.2m), with Betsson citing a decrease in the UK, low revenue levels in Germany and an Italian slowdown.

Revenue from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia increased 38 per cent to SEK 501.9m (2020: SEK 363.6m), and the group’s rest of the world segment, buoyed by Latin American developments, increased 121.3 per cent to SEK 296.5m (2020: SEK 113.9m).

“During the quarter, we gained market share in many important markets, not least in our home market Sweden, but also in the Baltics and Croatia,” Lindwall added.

“Establishments in new markets is also bearing fruit, not least in LatAm which has performed strongly thanks to marketing activities in selected markets. Betsson is now the market leader in Peru and in Brazil a marketing campaign has gone viral by a sponsorship of the ‘world’s worst’ football team.

“Betsson was also the official regional sponsor of CONMEBOL Copa América, which contributed to strong growth in new active customers in the region during the quarter. Our overall business is performing well but we see potential challenges coming up, often based on local initiatives to regulate markets.”