SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
XLMedia Plc has completed all corporate adjustments to transform its business into an exclusively focused iGaming media network for North American markets.
During H1 trading, the London AIM media group sold its Euro and Canada assets to Gambling.com Group for a fixed fee of $37.5m, with potential earnouts of up to $5m based on the revenue performance of assets from 1 April 2024 onwards.
As detailed in Q1, XLMedia detailed that it sold assets including Freebets.com, WhichBingo.co.uk, Nettikasinot.com, and Vedonlyonti.com, alongside “smaller Europe and Canada properties.”
Completing the transaction, XLMedia now reports financials solely from North American revenues and minor residual income from unsold legacy network assets.
In H1 trading, XLMedia generated $10.4m from its ‘continued business’ (H1 2023: $16.9m), while group accounts registered an impact of $5.2m from discontinued assets.
North American assets produced $9.8m of income, down 40% compared to 2023’s $16.2m, aligning with management expectations due to corporate adjustments.
North America revenues in H1 2024 were below the same period in 2023, mainly because of the major launch of online sports betting in Ohio in January 2023 during the NFL season and Massachusetts’ launch in March 2023 after the season had ended.
XLMedia highlighted a stronger cash balance, having received an initial payment of $20m and expecting a $10m payment in October. Cash at the end of June stood at $19.4 million after a payment of $3.5 million for the final tranche of the CBWG acquisition.
We estimate the adjusted EBITDA for the Continuing Business, excluding revenues and ongoing costs of the Discontinued Business, to be approximately $5.0 million for the full year. This estimate benefits from four months of the NFL season and reductions in the central cost base supporting the Continuing Business in the second half of 2024.
As previously announced, XLMedia expects to return capital to shareholders from the net sale proceeds in Q4 2024, with further details to be announced in due course.
Looking ahead to North America, we will focus on preparing for the upcoming NFL season and optimising performance in existing legalised markets. We will also prioritise diversifying revenues through our network of daily fantasy sports, paid media, advertising, and sponsorship.
