Unibet today published its latest set of results and will be throwing quite the pile of merde in the direction of the French. Gross winnings revenue dropped by 10% in Q1 2011 compared with the same period last year. Much of the blame for this can be found at the door of the French market they abandoned over the last year. CEO Henrik Tjärnström, commented, “France represented 23 percent of the gross winnings revenue last year.”
Elsewhere in the release, profit after tax increased from £9.5m to £10m but net cash showed a small decrease from £24.5m to £21.9m. In terms of the markets that they consider to be major the group saw a growth fully in line with their strategy. The Nordics in particular saw growth of 24% year-on-year and they hope to continue with this going forward. In addition they’re wise to the fact that the gaming industry is experiencing a period of drastic change.
Tjärnström said, “I expect consolidation within our industry to develop further, and we continue to evaluate opportunities that enhance shareholder value. Options for controlled growth in new regions are also constantly under review, with Unibet focusing on regions with high potential for long-term profitability.
“The cash reserve being built up combined with the Group’s strong profitability and cash flow gives us flexibility to consider strategic opportunities including acquisitions. The cash reserve may be distributed to the shareholders should these opportunities not materialise in due course. That could be either as a share buy back programme, through a share redemption programme or as a cash dividend.”
After already making sure their Facebook status remained firmly fixed to single late last year, many will be interested to see if the company make any moves in terms of an acquisition. Sportingbet doesn’t look like staying single for much longer though so there’ll be no more sleeping in their bed Unibet!
