Betsson adds 20% more players in new markets as Q1 revenues rise 54% 29/04/2008

Jake Pollard

Pontus Lindwall, chief executive of Betsson, said he felt the company had achieved value in its investment to acquire and monetise customers across new and established markets; and this would stand it in good stead for the forthcoming European football championships in Austria and Switzerland this summer.  

“We have prepared for the event by building up our customer base. Our marketing costs increased but it has been worth it because we got the customers registered and playing with us. This will enable us to make the most of the football tournament this summer,” Lindwall said.

First quarter 2008 revenue for Malta-based betting and gaming operator Betsson increased 54% to SEK227.8m (£19m), compared with SEK148m in the same period in 2007, the company announced this morning.  Pre-tax profits rose to SEK56.8m, from SEK45.5m last year. The number of active customers rose 43% to 153,000 on the fourth quarter of 2007.

Lindwall added that Betsson had “increased focus on customer acquisition and growth. I conclude that the investment has been successful and as a result we laid down a solid foundation for future growth during the year to come”.  

Betsson invested and marketed its products in five new markets: France, Greece, Germany, Italy and Spain, and the intake of depositing clients from those particular markets was 20% higher than the average intake of clients in Norway, a relatively well established market for the company.   

Lindwall added that Betsson’s casino products had continued to perform well and were less volatile than sports events. Casino games made up 53.7% of Betsson’s gross profit, compared with 46.3% during the same period in 2007, poker made 25% of the amount, on 2007’s 38.4%, while sportsbook revenue accounted for 18% of the overall gross profit, compared with 15% last year. Other gaming products made up the remaining 3.3% of the amount.     

Betsson said the outlook for 2008 was very positive and the internet gaming market would continue to grow rapidly. On a regulatory front, pressure from the European Commission in EU countries to stop protecting their state gambling monopolies would lead to more major markets opening up, allowing operators such as Betsson to expand. 

The company said new legislation aimed at protecting the Turkish state monopoly IDDAA would “aggravate” its operations in the Turkish market, while Norway’s plan to ban online games would be difficult to implement, although would affect the company in a negative way in the short term if it was implemented as it is one of its three largest markets.   

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Posted: 29/04/2008