SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Stockholm listed gambling operator, Cherry Gaming AB has returned to full year (2015) positive EBITDA recording group earnings of SEK 35.9 million (£3 million).
The operator continues its strong online performance, which contributed 69% of 2015’s FY SEK 528 million (£43 million) group revenues, up 56% on 2014’s SEK 340 million (£28 million).
The results presented by Cherry governance, represent a performance turnaround for the operator who reported 2014 EBITDA losses of SEK 18 million (£1.4 million).
Highlighting the strong performance of its digital assets, Cherry governance detailed that its online gaming division had contributed earnings of SEK 21.8 million (£1.8 million), recording a FY growth of 91%.
Further corporate highlights, would see Cherry governance detail the performance of digital content provider Yggdrasil which had grown 357% in earnings to SEK 5.2 million.
In 2015 the operator was able to complete five acquisitions, (Game Lounge, Almor, the domains and agreements of a leading Finnish affiliate, Moorgate Media Ltd and NorgesSpill.com) which governance detailed would strengthen its positions within core markets.
Fredrik Burvall, Cherry AB CEO commented on corporate performance
Cherry’s Online Gaming business achieved very strong growth of 109 percent and substantially improved earnings for the period. The activity on our gaming sites increased substantially and the number of active players increased by 219 percent compared with Q4 2014. Online Gaming is well positioned today, with a platform that makes it possible to quickly and efficiently add new products and skins. In addition to the licences the Group already holds, Cherry will continue to look for local licences in markets where we can expect strong growth, and has therefore initiated an application process to obtain an operator’s licence in the UK.
In December, Jonas Wåhlander was appointed CEO of Cherry Malta, adding enhanced leadership and experience working with business models involving large numbers of consumer-focused transactions. The Online Gaming teams were also proud to receive two awards at the International Gaming Awards, when we were recognised as the “Online Gaming Operator of the Year” for the third year in a row, while EuroLotto.com was awarded the “Lottery Operator of the Year”.
