Sports betting technology supplier Kambi’s revenue grew while profits slipped as it continues its rapid U.S. market expansion.
Figures released Wednesday show the Stockholm-listed Kambi generated revenue of €21.6m in the three months ending June 30, a 23% improvement over the same period last year. But operating profit rose only €100k to €2.5m and profit after tax dropped €100k to £1.6m.
Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén said his company’s Q2 performance had benefited from its betting operator clients’ turnover rising 26% year-on-year, while their 8.2% trading margin was slightly higher than the average. Kambi’s ongoing efforts to sign new customer agreements also helped sustain its “positive commercial momentum.”
Kambi launched its first U.S. operations last August with DraftKings in New Jersey and Nylén said Kambi had since “built a robust U.S.-facing business with a fantastic portfolio of partners.” Nylén noted that its U.S. sports betting clients had enjoyed “immediate success, and long may that continue.”
The quarter saw Kambi launch Pennsylvania’s first online sportsbook (PlaySugarHouse) on behalf of Rush Street Interactive (RSI), along with RSI’s BetRivers betting brand and the Parx Casino’s sportsbook. Since the quarter ended, Kambi and RSI launched New York’s first legal land-based sportsbook at the Rivers Casino in Schenectady.
The U.S. market expansion hasn’t been all gravy, as Kambi’s Q2 operating expenses were up more than one-quarter year-on-year to €19.1m. But Nylén said these investments would “put us in a good position to convert the best” of its U.S. market opportunities as they develop.
Outside the U.S., the quarter saw Kambi launch a Moldova sportsbook for Bulgaria’s National Lottery, and supported the launch of a sportsbook for William Hill’s rebranded Swedish-facing Redbet business.
Later this year, Kambi plans to launch a Latin America-focused sportsbook for BetWarrior, the new online gambling brand founded by former PokerStars directors Morten Tonnesen and José del Pino. Kambi doesn’t expect this launch will result in any great impact to its own bottom line this year, but hopes abound for the future.
Kambi already powers the Rank Group’s Grovesnor Sports betting product in the U.K. and Kambi says it will “soon” add its sportsbook to Rank’s Spanish-facing Enracha brand.
