Online gambling operator Unibet continues to set new records in what is shaping up as a banner year for the company.
Figures released Wednesday show revenue rising 57% year-on-year to £126.6m in the three months ending June 30. Earnings totaled £22m, up from £19m in the same period last year, but profit after tax was up only £100k to £13.5m due to heavy marketing surrounding the Euro 2016 football tournament.
The revenue gains were aided by £14.7m in contributions from recent acquisitions Stan James Online and iGame Group. Absent these contributions, revenue was up 39% while earnings would have fallen 8% to £17.4m.
Euro 2016 betting generated revenue of £19.6m and a hefty 14% betting margin. The tourney also helped drive active customer numbers to 1.13m at the end of Q2, nearly twice the 603k at the end of Q2 2015. Around 216k of these new customers came via the Stan James and iGame acquisitions.
Sports betting revenue rose 61% to £56.2m, while casino enjoyed a similarly significant bump, rising 57% to £64.7m. Even poker got into the spirit, rising 37% to £2.6m, while ‘other’ verticals were flat at £3.1m. Mobile revenue more than doubled during the quarter, representing 63% of overall revenue.
The new acquisitions helped boost business outside the Stockholm-listed Unibet’s core Nordic markets. While Nordic revenue was up 48% to £54m, Western Europe jumped 71% to £59.4m while Central, Eastern and Southern Europe also gained 71% to £10.8m. Only the ‘other’ markets were down, falling 14% to £2.4m.
KAMBI TRIPLES PROFIT, SIGNS R. FRANCO
Unibet’s former B2B technology division Kambi Sports Solutions had an equally boffo Q2, reporting revenue up 28% to €13.7m as operator turnover rose 46% year-on-year. Kambi’s operating profit rose from £800k to £2m while profit after tax more than tripled to £1.8m.
The quarter saw Kambi launch sportsbooks for three new operators – LeoVegas, Rank Group and Mr Green – in time for Euro 2016. Kambi also successfully implemented its HTML5 client, which the company says will allow its licensees greater capacity to differentiate their front-end user interfaces.
On Tuesday, Kambi announced it had signed a sportsbook deal with Spanish operator R. Franco, which holds a 40% market share in Spain’s retail amusement with prizes (AWP) sector. R. Franco also services Spanish arcades, bingo halls and casinos, and recently launched a regulated Spanish gambling site, Wannabet.es. Kambi says it will also contribute to R. Franco’s Latin American expansion plans.
