Danish iGaming tool provider Better Collective posted revenue of €9.7 million ($11.3 million) during the second quarter of 2018, up 93% from last year’s €5 million ($5.85 million) for the same period.
In its interim report, company CEO Jesper Søgaard said, “Q2 2018 not only turned out to be the best performing quarter in the company’s history. It also saw Better Collective’s entry on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange, our largest M&A deal to date, and a breakthrough in sports betting legislation in the US.”
Revenue for the first half of the year was €17.2 million ($20.1 million), up 68% from January to June 2017.
The company, however, posted a second-quarter loss of €1.26 million ($1.47 million), in contrast with last year’s €1.47 million ($1.72 million) profit for the same quarter. The loss was attributed to “special items of -3,854 tEUR,” which “include certain IPO-cost and M&A cost that were expensed over the P&L.” For the entire first half of the year, the loss was limited to €123,000 ($144,000).
Second-quarter earnings before interest, taxation and amortization (EBITA) before special items increased to €3.8 million ($4.4 million), compared to 2017’s second-quarter EBITA of €2 million ($2.34 million), a 90% increase.
Looking ahead, Søgaard said Better Collective will pursue “growth in the markets where we are established, but also explore the new opportunities that have opened in the U.S.”
Last May, the Supreme Court lifted a federal ban on sports betting, which Søgaard said has led to the company focusing its acquisitions on leaders in the sports betting industry. Last April, Better Collective bought Danish sports and casino affiliate SpilXperten. Then in June, it purchased Austria-based Bola WebInformation, which owns wettbasis.com, for €42 million ($49.1 million), a move seen to secure Better Collective’s position in German-speaking markets. The same month saw the company have its initial public offering in Sweden, which it said led to €65 million ($76 million) in net cash proceeds.
Just last month, the company took over Greece-based WBS P.C., which is considered the leading sports affiliate in Greece, as well as Malta-based KAPA.
