Czech Republic betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group saw its online gambling revenue rise nearly one-third in 2014.
Fortuna’s combined operations in its home market as well as the Slovak Republic and Poland reported overall gambling turnover up 18.5% to €672.4m, while sports betting turnover rose 19% to €655.7m largely due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Lottery stakes rose 4.1% to €16.7m.
Fortuna’s revenue rose 13.9% to €132.6m thanks to a 31.7% rise in online betting revenue to €67m. The online numbers were goosed by enhanced live betting offers and live streaming courtesy of a Bwin.party feed project. By contrast, retail betting revenue was up only 0.5% to €58m. Lottery operations contributed the remaining €7.5m.
Fortuna’s 2014 earnings rose 6.4% to €28.4m and would have been up 13.6% were it not for a one-off value-added tax claim in Poland. Profit rose 2.3% to €15.9m, slightly below analysts’ expectations.
Despite the largely positive numbers, Fortuna’s shares fell 13% on Thursday – its biggest one-day decline in two years – after the company said it would review its dividend policy. Fortuna has been returning 70% to 100% of its profits to shareholders but warned of a “substantial reduction” in this rate as it stores up cash to fund “investments into future growth.”
Analysts suggested Fortuna’s dividend rate could fall as low as 30%, resulting in a 2% dividend yield. Fortuna promised to reveal specifics of its revised dividend scheme before the company’s annual general meeting in May.
Fortuna has been funneling around €3-4m per year into growth investments but CFO Jaroslava Hirschova said this figure would be “at least two to three times more” in 2015. Hirschova said Fortuna had no plans to increase its debt to fund these investments, but will rely on cash flow.
Fortuna also warned that it expects 2015 earnings to tumble by as much as 25% as a handling fee in its Slovak operations comes to a close.
