Fortuna grows online sports betting offering for Q1 2017
Online and retail sportsbook operator Fortuna Entertainment has announced growth of its online sports betting but a drop in overall earnings of 36.6% during the first quarter of 2017.
The Central and Eastern European company’s amounts staked for the first quarter of 2017 equalled €302.2m (£255.3m/$328.5m), a 20.1% increase from the same period in 2016.
Online sports betting gross win for the first quarter of 2017 increased by 18.5% year-on-year to €28.3m and total gross win went up by 12.2% to €42.7m.
Meanwhile, EBITDA was €3m, a 36.3% decrease from the first quarter of 2016.
Per Widerström, chief executive of Fortuna Entertainment, said: “In the first quarter of 2017, the Company continued to deliver robust growth in Amounts Staked and we accepted total bets in the amount of €302.2m, which is 20.1% more than last year.
“The amounts staked grew double digits in all our key markets, primarily driven by the online betting growth and in particular mobile sports betting while retail grew low single digit. We also recorded in this quarter the first bets from the recently launched online casino in the Czech Republic of which we started as the first regulated operator at the end of February.
“Our operating profitability measured by EBITDA was impacted by lower margins due to unfavourable sports results across all markets and the planned increase of operating costs in connection with building operational excellence and CEE expansion.”
In February, Fortuna Entertainment brokered a deal to acquire sports betting solutions provider Hattrick Sports Group.
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