Swedish online gambling operator Betsson reported the 2014 FIFA World Cup generated betting turnover of SEK 827m (US $120.9m). The Germany v. Argentina final attracted SEK 38m ($5.5m) in wagers, nearly three times the SEK 12.9m average per match over the month-long tournament. Betsson CEO Magnus Silfverberg said the World Cup betting activity had “exceeded our expectations” and expected great things for the future thanks to a significant uptick in new customer registrations during the tournament.
Silfverberg also said World Cup sportsbook margins had been in line with margins experienced across the company’s entire second quarter, the results of which the company released on Friday. Revenue in the three months ending June 30 rose 30% to SEK 752.3m ($110m) while net income rose 37% to SEK 176.6m ($25.7m).
Sports betting revenue came to SEK 166m ($24.3m), representing 27% of Betsson’s overall revenue pie. B2C sportsbook revenue rose 33% to SEK 78.6m ($11.5m) and B2B sportsbook rose 30% to SEK 88m ($12.9m). Turnover across all sports betting operations rose 20% and margins improved to 7% from 6.5%. World Cup betting generated 4% of overall revenue during the quarter.
Betsson’s casino vertical saw revenue rise 37% to SEK 433.6m ($63.4m), representing 69% of the company’s net income. The recently acquired Dutch-facing Oranje and Kroon Casino operations contributed SEK 87.8m ($12.8m) to overall revenue and SEK 55.3m ($8.1m) to net income. The poker vertical reported revenue of SEK 18.5m, down from SEK 22m a year ago, for which Betsson blamed “continued decreased level of activity in poker networks” and the company “terminating its cooperation with unprofitable customers.”
The total value of customer deposits in Betsson accounts rose 30% to SEK 2.6b ($380.3m), despite the number of active customers falling 11% to 318k. The company says the decline is attributable to its focus on “value-adding players, rather than on free spin promotions.” Attracting those high-value players boosted expenses, with marketing costs rising 28% thanks to the World Cup and personnel costs up 22% thanks in part to those Dutch acquisitions.
Mobile continues to be a strong performer for Betsson, accounting for 17% of overall revenue, an increase of 28% from Q1. Betsson.com’s new mobile product was up 26% from Q1 and up a hefty 809% from Q2 2013. Mobile wagers accounted for 46% of Betsson.com’s World Cup sportsbook revenue.
On the B2B front, Betsson says it will “continue to further develop its cooperation” with a still unnamed Chinese state-owned firm for online sports lottery opportunities. Betsson said there’d been no “concrete new information” regarding new online licensing regulation but the company maintained “a continued positive outlook on future market opportunities.”
