Operator Betsson said a record performance in the fourth quarter, driven by high activity and new customers, helped the group to its “best ever year” in 2022.
Reflecting on the past year, president and chief executive Pontus Lindwall (pictured) praised the group for achieving record results despite having to contend with an “uncertain” macroeconomic and geopolitical global environment.
Lindwall said while this is likely to continue to impact all operators moving into 2023, he is confident that Betsson’s diversification into markets around the world will allow it to pursue more profitable growth over the coming year.
“We can look back at the best year ever for Betsson with strong growth and profitability, driven by disciplined capital allocation, geographical diversification and investments in new markets, as well as continuous strengthening of the tech platform and product offering,” he said.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our employees for all the hard work put in during the past year. Together we will continue to deliver the best customer experience in the gaming industry and create long-term value for our shareholders.
“Even if the macroeconomic and geopolitical situation in the world remains uncertain, we remain optimistic about 2023 thanks to our geographical diversification, focus on profitable growth, strong balance sheet and our sustainable gaming solutions.”
Q4 results
Focusing on the record Q4 performance first, revenue for the quarter reached €220.6m (£194.9m/$236.8m), up 40% from €157.5m in the previous year.
Breaking this down, casino accounted for €146.1m, or 66%, of total revenue, an increase of 27% on 2021. This was helped by the addition of 230 new casino games, 14 of which were developed exclusively for Betsson.
Sportsbook revenue was €70.7m, representing 32% of all revenue. This was 76% higher than in the previous year and an all-time quarterly higher, primarily due to the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which took place during November and December.
The remaining €3.8m in revenue, making up the other 2% of overall revenue, came from poker, bingo and other products. This was 68.5% higher year-on-year.
Betsson also said that customer deposits across all operational subsidiaries were 40% higher at €1.10bn for the quarter, while active customer numbers increased 23% to 1.4 million.
In terms of geographical performance, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) remained Betsson’s most active market with €85.4m in revenue, up 53% and representing 38% of all revenue for the quarter.
Elsewhere, Nordic revenue was €53.1m, up 2.4% on the previous year and accounting for 24% of all revenue, while Latin America revenue was €52.3m, a 101.6% year-on-year rise and also represented a 24% share.
Western Europe revenue was 26.4% higher at €25.8m, taking a 12% share of total revenue, while rest of world revenue climbed 17.3% to €4.0m, or 2% of all revenue.
Turning to costs, operating expenses for the quarter were 36% higher at €104.8m, while financial expenses stood at €4.2m. As such, this left a pre-tax profit of €35.8m, up 87% year-on-year.
Betsson paid €3.1m in tax, leaving a net profit of €32.7m, an increase of 75% on 2021. In addition, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 68% to €51.1m.
Full year
Turning the full year and while Betsson did not go into as much detail as it did with Q4, it did reveal that revenue increased 18% year-on-year to €777.2m.
Operating expenses were 21% higher at €373.2m and financial expenses reached €6.6m, which meant a pre-tax profit of €124.6m, up 11% year-on-year. The operator paid €9.9m in tax, resulting in a net profit of €114.7m, up 10% on 2021, while EBITDA also increase 12% to €172.4m.