Behold, yet another assortment of quarterly earnings reports from European gaming firms, accompanied by a selection of Euro babes to keep your eyes from glazing over. Without further ado..
BET-AT-HOME
A subsidiary of French gaming outfit Betclic Everest, Bet-At-Home reported revenue up one-third and earnings up one-half through the first nine months of 2014. Advertising expenses were up 38% thanks to international campaigns during this summer’s FIFA World Cup, but the company figures it was worth it due to the resulting “significant expansion” in customers. Operating expenses were flat year-on-year despite betting turnover rising nearly one-fifth, so the company figures the efficiency program it launched last year is paying off big-time.
By the way, this is Marion Cotillard (pictured right), an Academy Award-winning actress and a very good reason for even atheists to utter ‘mon dieu’ now and then. She’s set to play Lady Macbeth in an upcoming production opposite Michael Fassbender (the really nasty plantation owner in 12 Years A Slave). By the pricking of my thumbs, something sultry this way comes….
MYBET
Crossing the Rhine into Germany, we find Mybet holding 6% more revenue than it was holding at this time last year. In the three months ending Sept. 30, Mybet’s sports betting vertical was up nearly a quarter to €30.1m and horseracing gained nearly one-third to €5m, but casino and poker fell 6% to €16.4m. The company posted earnings of €214k versus a €4m loss last year.
Mybet has since shed its money-losing Mybet Italia and Spanish-facing Digidis operations and Mybet CEO Sven Ivo Brinck says the revenue rise is proof the company is back on track. Brinck says the company has received a lot of partnership offers since being one of the lucky 20 recipients of a German online sports betting license in September (although the licenses may not be issued for years).
MR GREEN
Leaping north to Scandinavia, Mr Green saw both revenue and profits rise by more than one-third in Q3 as the company looks to branch out of its core Nordic markets. Revenue rose SEK 44.1m to €168.5m (US $22.8m) while earnings rose SEK 10.9m to SEK 42.4m. The gains exceed those of the overall European online casino market, which CEO Mikael Pawlo says is proof that Mr Green is capturing market share.
Mobile casino accounted for 24.1% of Q3 revenue and Mr Green intends to keep investing heavily in its mobile channel. The quarter saw Mr Green acquire DSRPTV Gaming Ventures Ltd., owner of the female-focused Garbo.com, which operates primarily via mobile devices. The company also acquired Social Holdings Ltd., makers of the Facebook game Spin Tower Casino. Mr Green used the acquisition to offer real-money gaming in the UK market via Facebook log-in on iOS devices.
Pawlo says Mr Green has submitted an application for a UK Gambling Commission license, the first time the company has felt the need for any addition to its Malta-issued license. Mr Green earned 53.6% of its Q3 revenue via Nordic countries but Pawlo says it’s “strategically important that we are not solely dependent” on any one region. In Austria, Mr Green is contesting suggestions that it owes the taxman a 40% slice of its operations in that country but has warned that the accumulated liability could total SEK 100m ($13.5m).
We like to include Sweden in any Euro-roundup, as the roster of Viking goddesses is infinite. Pictured left is Katia Winter, the Swedish-born actress who played a Ukrainian stripper on serial killer drama Dexter and is currently appearing on TV’s Sleepy Hollow. (And in our dreams.)
GTECH
From the ice and snow we head south to sunny Italy, where lottery and gaming technology outfit GTECH saw revenue fall but earnings increase. Revenue dipped slightly to €727.8m in Q3, dragged down by North America, where revenue dropped 6.5% to €234m on lower multistate jackpots. (The quarter saw the Illinois Lottery cancel its contract with Northstar Lottery Group, a joint venture of GTECH and Scientific Games.) Regardless, earnings rose 15% to €252m and operating income rose one-third to €133m.
GTECH’s interactive gaming revenue rose 2% to €23.8m. Italy’s share of online revenue fell 6% year-on-year to €16.6m, while the Americas and international markets grew 45% and 24% respectively. GTECH’s online presence is currently a drop in its revenue bucket, but GTECH’s $6.4b acquisition of US gaming device maker IGT – which runs the extremely popular social gaming operation DoubleDown Casino – will change all that. GTECH says it hopes to complete the acquisition by the second quarter of 2015.
SNAI
We close with Italian gaming operator SNAI, which also experienced online troubles in its home market. Overall revenue rose 12% to €394m in the first nine months of the year and earnings rose 26% to €81.2m, but the online picture wasn’t as rosy. Online sports betting fell 4% to €100m while poker and casino fell 20% to €15.1m. Snai says it’s looking to establish “commercial agreements with significant industry players” to bolster its sagging online fortunes.
We end our torrent of totty with this shot of the infamous breast-off between Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield. Ms. Loren recently let Entertainment Weekly in on her thought process as she got a stink-eyeful of Jayne’s mammalian protuberance. “I’m staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate. In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow — BOOM! — and spill all over the table.”
