Stockholm-listed online betting operator Unibet enjoyed a record performance in Q3 as revenue shot up nearly two-thirds.
Figures released Wednesday show Unibet generating revenue of £142.3m in the three months ending September 30, a 65% improvement over the same period last year and a new company record. Earnings nearly doubled to £33.1m while profit after tax spiked 63% to £21m.
Unibet credited the surge to “pure activity growth” following a successful customer acquisition program ahead of this summer’s UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament. Recent acquisitions Stan James Online and iGame Group contributed revenue of £14.8m and earnings of £5.7m to Q3’s totals. Discounting the new additions, organic revenue growth was 27% higher year-on-year.
Casino & Games revenue rose 62% to £68.5m to claim the lion’s share of the overall pie. Poker more than doubled to £3.2m, allowing Unibet to humble-brag that its poker division was “the fastest growing licensed poker site in the industry” following the debut of its new Unibet 2.0 software.
Sports betting drove the Q3 numbers, with revenue rising 67.5% to £66.7m. Pre-game wagering reasserted its dominance by rising nearly five points to 51.6% of all wagers while in-play slipped back to 48.4%. Mobile revenue more than doubled in Q3, accounting for 64% of overall revenue.
Unibet’s core Nordic markets continue to dominate the regional split, albeit just barely. Nordics accounted for 45% of all revenue, down from 47% last year, while Western Europe’s share rose two points to 44%, the Central, Eastern & Southern Europe category rose one point to 9% and Other markets dipped one point to 2%.
Looking ahead, Q4 has started off on similarly sure footing, with average daily revenue in the month of October “close to 50% higher” than the same month last year.
KAMBI CELEBRATES “OUTSTANDING” EURO 2016
In keeping with tradition, Unibet’s former B2B sports betting division Kambi Sports Solutions released its own Q3 numbers on the same day. Kambi’s Q3 revenue gained 15% year-on-year to €14.8m while earnings rose 25% to €3.1m and profit after tax totaled €2.7m, €600k higher than last year.
Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén said clients enjoyed 37% turnover growth in Q3 thanks to “outstanding” results from the tail end of Euro 2016. Nylén said the company is seeing “tangible results” from its retail service, which is being rolled out in select regions.
Nylén said he was “highly encouraged’ by Kambi’s recent announcement of a tie-up with Novomatic Lottery Solutions to offer a sports betting product to state-run lotteries. Kambi also recently extended its contract with Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp, with plans to expand the scope of the OTC sportsbook at the NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh.
On a less positive note, Kambi said its contract with Spanish operator Luckia would not be renewed when the original term expires at the end of November.
