2019 would have been a pretty ho-hum year for bet-at-home, but unexepected tax bills changed that. The company released its yearly financial report on March 9, keen to note they had reached their highest betting and gaming volume in the history of the company, surpassing €3.2 billion.
They also reported gross betting and gaming revenue reaching €143.3 million, which was just short of the €143.4 million in gross betting and gaming revenue for 2018. This gave the company a ‘static corporate performance’ for 2019.
There were additional positive numbers for the company. Net betting and game revenue increased by 2% over 2018, going from €115.1 million to a total of €117.5 million.
However, some numbers declined. Betting fees and gaming levees decreased slightly from €21 million to a total of €20.9 million, while EBITDA went from €36.2 million down to €35.2 million this last year.
The company focused quite a bit on marketing in 2019, with a focus on European football leagues, ice hockey, beach volleyball, basketball, and volleyball. Marketing expenses increased by €1.5 million, with a correspoding increase in their customer base from 5.0 million at the end of 2018 to 5.2 million registered customers to end 2019.
A number of factors have the company believing that total revenues will decline in the upcoming year. The management board at bet-at-home expects that gross betting and gaming revenue should come in at somewhere between €120 million and €132 million for 2020.
But the entire thing was ruined by one large tax bill. The company absorbed a $14 million “tax back settlement” charge with both Austrian and Maltese authorities this last year, which came as a result of unaccounted subsidiary wagering charges. There is no such expectation for any type of similar charges for this year. As a result, total profits declined to €18 million from €32.6 million, a 45% decline.
Profits weren’t helped by losing the Swiss market either, and seeing a significant decline in the Polish market. bet-at-home are eyeing the possibility that German regulation may cut into their profits in 2020 as well.
With all of these factors in play, the management board expects an EBITDA of somewhere between €23 million and €27 million for 2020.
