Betsson has concluded 2024 with all-time highs across the board, with record levels seen across several measuring points, including casino revenue, during the fourth quarter.
Potential further growth in 2025 could be in Brazil, but CEO and President Pontus Lindwall has said that the company will take its time in terms of launching in the market.
“We foresee a competitive landscape. We want to enter that market in a slow fashion and analyse and learn,” commented Lindwall when speaking to investors during Betsson’s earnings call.
“We don’t want to risk any part of our PNL and our profitability by going all-in in that market, so we will do a slow start during the year in Brazil.”
Q4 and 2024
Reflecting on Q4 and 2024 overall, Lindwall was very positive about both financial periods for Betsson, as group revenue increased by 22% year-over-year during the quarter to €306.8m (Q4 2023: €251.9m) and by 17% YoY across the full year to €1.1bn (2023: €948.2m).
Active customers at the end of the quarter stood at 1.3 million (2023: 1.3m), but the number of registered customers dropped to 29.4 million (2023: 29.7m) which Betsson said was due to their “decision to exit some markets”.
For Q4, EBITDA rose by 20% YoY to €86.4m (Q4 2023: €71.9m) with a margin of 28.2% (Q4 2023: 28.6%). For the full year, EBITDA increased by 20% YoY as well to €316m (2023: €262.7m) with a margin of 28.6% (2023: 27.7%).
Operating income increased by 23% YoY during Q4 to €70.2m (Q4 2023: €57m) with a margin of 22.9% (Q4 2023: 22.6%). For 2024 overall, the figure increased by 22% YoY to €256.7m (2023: €210.5m) with a margin of 23.2% (2023: 22.2%).
Net income stood at €53.1m at the end of the quarter (Q4 2023: €43.3m) and at €183.7m at the end of 2024 (2023: €173m). Operating cash flow was €84.6m at the end of Q4 (Q4 2023: €47.6m) and €272.9m for the full year (2023: €230.4m).
At the end of the quarter, net debt stood at minus €139.8m (2023: minus €59.6m). Betsson’s Board has also proposed an ordinary dividend of €0.657 (2023: €0.645) per share and a special dividend of €0.10 per share.
“As we put 2024 behind us, we can conclude that it was the best year ever for Betsson, where we continued to strengthen our position as one of the global leaders in gaming and betting,” said the CEO.
“The year was characterised by high growth, strengthened profitability and strategic investments in line with our long-term goals and our vision to offer the best gaming experience in the industry.”
Lindwall continued: “Our investments to strengthen the product offering and increase brand awareness contributed to the excellent results for the year. For the full year 2024, we passed €1bn in revenue for the first time, which was 17% higher than the previous year.
“At the same time, the EBIT margin strengthened to over 23% thanks to our scalable business model and continued cost control. The cash flows of the business and the robust balance sheet enable us to keep paying attractive dividends to our shareholders while we continue investing in future growth.”
All-time highs across casino and sportsbook
Casino revenue grew by 17% YoY during Q4 to a new all-time high of €213.9m (Q4 2023: €182.8m) and by 18% YoY across the full year to €795.4m (2023: €672m).
Sportsbook revenue in Q4 rose by 36% YoY to an all-time high of €91.3m (Q4 2023: €67m) with a margin of 9.8% (Q4 2023: 6.2%) and by 14% YoY for the full year to €303.4m (2023: €267m) with a margin of 8.1% (2023: 7.4%).
Other products – poker, bingo and other – revenue stood at €1.6m at the end of the quarter (Q4 2023: €2.1m).
Lindwall said: “During the fourth quarter we saw sustained high customer activity in both casino and sports betting. New records were set across the board on a Group level – customer deposits, gaming turnover, revenue and EBIT were the highest ever in a single quarter.
“Revenue increased by 22% and hence passed €300m for the first time in a single quarter. At the same time, EBIT increased by 23% compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.”
Regional performance
Regionally during the quarter, operations in Central & Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) increased by 23.8% YoY to a new all-time revenue high of €132.2m (Q4 2023: €106.8m), driven by “sportsbook product that benefitted from a high sportsbook margin”, but casino reported growth as well in comparison with the previous year and Q3.
Latin America operations revenue also hit a new all-time high during Q4 with €78.2m, an increase of 46.8% YoY (Q4 2023: €53.3m) following “a strong development in the casino product” with Peru and Argentina reporting growth.
Western Europe revenue rose by 26.3% YoY to €52.7m (Q4 2023: €41.7m) with operations in Italy continuing to “develop well”. Nordics revenue decreased by 13.8% YoY to €40m (Q4 2023: €46.4m) “primarily driven by lower activity in the casino product”. Rest of the world’s revenue declined in comparison to the previous quarter but stayed flat YoY at €3.7m.
Lindwall stated: “Our investments in the Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) regions continue to be a key driver of the Group’s growth, and we have successfully built a strong position in several key markets using our expertise in online gaming and our proprietary technology platform and sportsbook.
“Our commitment to sports and marketing through strategic sponsorships has also played an important role in strengthening Betsson’s brand and engaging our players globally.”
Outlook
Looking ahead, Lindwall expects growth to continue for Betsson in 2025, as he concluded: “We continue to forge new paths and act as pioneers in everything we do and look forward to continuing our growth journey in 2025. Geographic expansion and diversification remain key words for us, and we have a full pipeline of activities to support continued growth.
“With disciplined capital allocation, promising strategic initiatives and our commitment to strengthening the customer experience, we are confident that we can continue to create long-term value for our shareholders and customers.”
