GTECH sports betting boosted by World Cup

GTECH’s sports betting operations in Italy grew by 26.6% in the last quarter, which the firm has attributed to the FIFA World Cup, the introduction of virtual betting in the country and a stable payout percentage. Sports Betting saw revenues grow to €40.1m in Q2 from €31.7m for the same period in 2013, with turnover also jumping 22.9% to €218m.

Sports betting as a whole was performing well for the first half of the year, with a 15% increase in revenues to €102.4m on a 20.3% increase in turnover to €469.6m. But the jump in figures for the second quarter suggests that the World Cup really ramped up interest in the sports betting division, despite the poor showing by the Italian national team in Brazil.

For the rest of GTECH’s Italian business, higher Lotto revenues almost fully offset lower instant-ticket revenues and lower Machine Gaming and Interactive revenues were offset by the growth in sportsbook.

Despite lower late number wagers, total Lotto wagers for the quarter were up approximately 2% to €1.56 billion, compared to €1.53 billion in the second quarter of 2013, driven by 10eLotto wagers. Instant-ticket wagers were €2.31 billion compared to €2.37 billion last year. Machine gaming revenues were €141 million versus €144 million in the previous year, due to lower productivity.

For the whole group, incorporating GTECH’s large Americas business and the International division, EBITDA was down slight for the quarter to €267 million, compared to €273 million, although at constant currency, EBITDA was €270 million.

“We delivered good results in the second quarter,” said Alberto Fornaro, CFO of GTECH S.p.A. “Cash generation was better than anticipated and we continue feeling very positive about the underlying trend in Net Financial Position (NFP).”