SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
FL Entertainment has highlighted the importance of its Betclic business, as the Pan-European media group maintains growth despite encountering ‘seasonal difficulties’ impacting its content and distribution units.
Publishing its Q1 2023 trading update, the Amsterdam Euronext group matched corresponding 2022 revenue results of €900m.
The stagnant revenue results were attributed to FL’s Content Production unit, registering a 5% decrease in income to €553m, reflecting “a return to normal seasonality trends in European media compared to Q1 2022”.
The slowdown in Content Production was overcome by FL Entertainment’s iGaming unit of Betclic and bet-at-home AG generating a 14.5% rise in revenue to €244m (Q12022: €213m).
A breakdown of its iGaming activity saw Sportsbook serve as FL’s biggest growth contributor, amassing revenues of €195m which were primarily attributed to “Betclic continuing to benefit from its strong World Cup performance”.
FL’s sportsbook performance was further supported by online casino achieving a 31% increase in revenues to reach €31m, alongside a 23% uplift in online poker and other segments climbing up to €15m.
Of significance, the growth of sportsbook and online casino saw FL’s iGaming unit grow its EBITDA contribution to 43%, generating €63m of €144m.
Betclic sportsbook was detailed as the group’s top performing asset, maintaining double-digit growth despite being matched against record comparatives.
Outlining its commitment to responsible gaming, FL noted that the proportion of revenue derived from regulated markets increased to 98.4% from 96.5% in the previous year – largely due to the expansion of bet-at-home operations in regulated markets.
However, accounting from changes to financial instruments and non-cash expenses, FL posted a 78% decline in corporate net profits to €8.4m – down from €42 reported in Q1 2022.
As of March 31, 2023, the Amsterdam group’s net financial debt stands at €2.08bn, with a cash liquidity position of €452m, reflecting a debt leverage ratio of X3.1.
François Riahi, CEO of FL Entertainment, said: “FL Entertainment enjoyed a positive start to 2023, with solid financial results and strong business momentum.
“Our online sports betting & gaming business continued to perform well, carried by the increase in Unique Active Players secured during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which resulted in double-digit revenue growth across all activities.”
