SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Better Collective said acquisitions in the US and Sweden had positively impacted its total growth in Q3 2019 (1 July to 30 September) after posting record quarterly revenues of €17.13 million – up 54 per cent from €11.13 million in the corresponding period of 2018.
The industry affiliate added that organic revenue growth was 25 per cent. EBITA before special items increased by 43 per cent to €6.8 million, with EBITA margin up 4 per cent.
This was despite the expected impact of -4 per cent on EBITA margin from new US acquisitions. Better Collective paid $21 million for a 60% stake in Rical LLC – the operating company of the RotoGrinders network – and completed the dual acquisition of Florida-based Vegasinsider.com and Scoresandodds.com for a total $20 million.
Newly acquired US-businesses had, according to the company, “on a consolidated level reached a low, positive operating result in this first full quarter”.
Better Collective also confirmed that new depositing customers (NDCs) had exceeded 85,000 in the quarter (growth of 27 per cent from 2018). This was down on recent quarters (111,000 in Q3 2019), which was expected given the lack of big sporting events.
“Q3 is normally a seasonally weak quarter with lower player activity and with most major sports leagues pausing in July and part of August,” said CEO Jesper Søgaard. “With that in mind, I am happy to see such strong business performance with the highest quarterly revenue in the history of BC and continued strong NDC-intake.”
Better Collective also completed a number of acquisitions outside of the US – where it has now established offices in Nashville, New York, Fort Lauderdale – including all shares in UK-facing betting odds comparison site mybettingsites.co.uk.
The company also strengthened its UK market profile by entering an agreement with The Daily Telegraph for the delivery of both technology and content that engages and educates readers on igaming and betting verticals.
Better Collective concluded with a list of financial highlights for the first nine months of the year including total revenues up 69 per cent to €47.87 million. EBITA before special items increased by 88 per cent to €20.11 million which – after adjustments to earn-out payments and M&A costs – resulted in year-to-date (YTD) earnings (EBITA) after special items of €19.51 million, up considerably from €6.72 million in 2018.
