Super Group revenue and EBITDA dip in FY22

Super Group’s revenue was down by 2.1% year-on-year.

During the year, Super Group made a number of strategic moves. Its $4.75bn merger with SEAC was completed in January 2022, following shareholder approval. In June, four of its brands – which included its main gaming brand Spin – received approval to launch in Ontario.

In the early days of January this year, Super Group received approval to launch in the US after it acquired Betway’s local operations there.

Neal Menashe, CEO of Super Group, said the company was interest in expanding its global footprint – particularly in the US.

“Super Group is a leading global pure-play sports betting and online casino company seeking to continually optimise and grow our global footprint, including in the US,” said Menashe. “We continue to efficiently invest in our brand, enhance our technology platform and benefit from our consistent cash generation.

“We feel we are well positioned to apply our well tested strategies to the US markets and capitalise on what we see as a multi-year investment opportunity.”

Alinda van Wyk, CFO of Super Group, said that going forward investments would focus in the areas of technology and marketing in order to support the company further in 2023.

“Super Group remains financially strong, and we continue to run our business profitably while investing in technology and marketing to support future growth,” said van Wyk. “We remain focused on operating more efficiently in 2023 in order to improve scale and our operating margins going forward.”

Full-year results

The full revenue for 2022 consists of net revenue and other revenue, which includes brand licensing revenue.

It was made up mostly of online casino revenue, which totalled at €816m. This was a fall of 5.4%. year-on-year.

Sports betting revenue came to €439m, 12.2% higher than in FY 2021. Other revenue at €41m – a drop of 42.2% – made up the remaining revenue.

Direct expenses for the year totalled €473m, slightly higher than the €455m recorded in 2021.

Marketing costs fell slightly, coming out at €344m compared to €351m in 2021. General and administrative expenses also grew, by €52m to €270m.

Pre-tax profit for the year totalled at €233.7m, a rise of 3.4%. Following finance income at €2.2m, finance expense at €920,000 and depreciation and amortisation expense at €65.7m, the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year hit €298.1m, a decline of 5.2%.

A range of other costs – including transaction fees, share-based payment expense and foreign exchange on revaluation of warrants and earnouts – as well as some gains brought the adjusted EBITDA to €199.2m, a decline of 31.1% year-on-year.

After unrealised foreign exchange at €2.6m, non-recurring and non-current operating adjustments at €7.7m and pre-acquisition loss at €1.1m, the operational EBITDA hit €208.4m, a decline of 31.1%.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter of the year ended 31 December saw revenue of €329m, a loss of 3.5% from Q4 2021.

Once again, online casino made up a majority of the revenue, at €209m. Sports betting generated €113m in revenue, while other revenue contributed €7m.

For the quarter, direct expenses came to €120m, ticking up by €2m compared to Q4 2021. Marketing costs also remained relatively stable, increasing by €1m to €95m. Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses hit €72m for the quarter, a significant rise of 24.1%.

Profit before tax came to €38.2m, down by 38.8% yearly. Finance income at €1m, finance expense at €86,000 and depreciation and amortisation expense at €18.8m brought the EBITDA to €56.1m, down by 32.5%.

Various other costs brought the EBITDA total down significantly. In particular, change in fair value of earnout liability at €43.3m provided a blow to the total. However, restricted stock unit expense at €10.5m provided a boost.

Following these and other gains and costs, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was €17.9m, a loss of 73.8%.

After unrealised foreign exchange of €22.1m, non-recurring and non-current operating adjustments at €3.5m and pre-acquisition loss of €1.3m, the operational EBITDA for the quarter was €42.3m, a loss of 39.1% year-on-year.