SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Bet-at-home enjoyed a successful third quarter in part due to the European Championships, but it still saw its marketing expenses outpace gross gaming revenue growth for the nine months to September.
The Austrian, German and Eastern European-facing operator saw gross gaming revenues for the nine-month rise nearly 15% to €100.4m. Net revenue after gaming taxes and VAT rose 13.5% to €81.8m.
However, the revenue increase failed to keep pace with marketing expenditure, which rose 27% over the period to €34.2m. The company said the spending ‘further strengthened the brand recognition’ during the past summer’s European Championships in France.
Bet-at-home also said it embarked upon TV and online media campaigns over the period and agreed new sponsorship agreement with German football clubs Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04.
The company said that at the end of the third quarter it had over 4.5 million registered customers, up from 4.2 million in the same quarter last year. It did not divulge active player numbers.
In terms of product split, gaming accounted for just over 50% of total gross gaming revenues at €51.1m while sports-betting generated €49.3m.
The marketing push made a dent in EBITDA, which went backwards over the nine months to €21.3m from €22.1m in 2015. However, a record EBITDA figure was achieved in the third quarter of €12.3m, showing that most of the marketing expense came in the first half.
The company guided for gross gaming revenues to hit €134m for the year and EBITDA of circa €30m.
According to the last annual report, Bet-at-home makes just 25% of total revenues in Austria and a further 45% in western Europe. The remaining circa 30% comes from Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.
