Lottomatica ups 2024 guidance as SKS365 aids online growth in H1

Revenue growth over the six months to 30 June 2024 was down to a 37% increase in online revenue to €338.3m, with omnichannel operator SKS365 incorporated into Lottomatica’s results from 1 May.

The €639m acquisition closed in July, adding online brand PlanetWin365, B2B payments business PlanetPlay365 and retail footprint of 1,000 sports betting outlets to Lottomatica’s business.

Lottomatica: We are Italy’s online market leader

“We have successfully completed the acquisition of SKS and are progressing with the integration at a fast pace, having secured to date circa 40% of the synergies announced,” chief executive Guglielmo Angelozzi said.

Thanks to PlanetWin365, Goldbet, Lottomatica.it and Betflag, the operator now has a 29.1% share of Italy’s online gaming market. This sets it apart from the competition as the clear market leader, Lottomatica said.

This means online is close to surpassing the operator’s gaming unit in terms of revenue. In-person gaming across the operator’s network of amusements with prizes (AWPs) and video lottery terminals (VLTs) generated revenue of €379.8m in H1, up marginally year-on-year.

A further €213.7m came from sports betting, comprising Better, GoldBet, Intralot and PlanetWin365 betting shops and kiosks. An improved performance over the three months to 30 June helped the vertical recover from a weak Q1, Lottomatica said.

Expanded operations eat into Lottomatica bottom line

Adjusted EBITDA was up 6% year-on-year to €317.3m, a 34.1% margin. High sports betting payouts in Q1, coupled with the integration of the lower-margin SKS365 ate into earnings margins in H1, Lottomatica said.

That acquisition also resulted in increased costs, which resulted in pre-tax profit declining 18.4% year-on-year, while net profit was down 36.6% to €23.7m.

However, adjusted net profit, adding non-recurring costs and amortising higher value assets, resulted in a €105.3m figure, although this was still down 13.1% year-over-year.  

Lottomatica upgrades full-year guidance

But with SKS365’s integration progressing quicker than expected, Lottomatica has increased its full-year guidance for revenue to a range of €2.03bn to €2.08bn, above its previous guidance of €2.02bn to €2.07bn.

Adjusted EBITDA is now forecast to be in a range of €700m to €730m, up from €680m to €700m.