Net profit up 52.2% year-on-year at Sportradar in 2021

Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2021 amounted to €561.2m, up from €404.9m in the previous financial year.

Breaking down its performance, Sportradar said its rest of world betting segment remained its primary source of revenue, with this area of the business generating €309.4m in revenue, up 31.5% on 2020.

Rest of world audio-visual betting revenue also increased 32.4% to €140.2m, while revenue in the US jumped by 108.4% from €34.4m to €71.1m.

Sportradar noted a number of key achievements during the year including the extension of multi-year partnerships with major sports organisations such as the National Hockey League, International Tennis Federation, German football’s Bundesliga and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The wider agreement with the NBA led to the league being issued warrants to purchase 3% of the outstanding shares in Sportradar for $0.01 each.

In addition, Sportradar agreed new deals with the International Cricket Council and the Union of European Football Associations (Uefa).

Turning to expenses, spending was higher across a number of areas including personnel, purchased services and licences, other operating expenses, but such was the impact of revenue growth, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 32.6% to €102.0m.

However, Sportradar also noted €129.4m in depreciation and amortisation costs, as well as €6.0m in impairment loss on trade receivables, contract assets and other financial assets. Foreign currency net gain reached €5.4m and finance income €5.3m, but finance expenses amounted to €32.5m.

This left a pre-tax profit of €23.8m, up 8.2% on the previous year, while Sportradar paid a total of €7.3m. This left an initial profit of €12.8m, which was 13.5% lower than 2020.

However, Sportradar also noted €1.2m in remeasurement of defined benefit liability, after deferred tax expense, as well as €13.5m worth of foreign currency translation adjustment attributable to its owners. 

As a result, net profit for the year reached €27.4m, up 52.2% year-on-year.

Looking at the fourth quarter, revenue for the final three months of 2021 was €152.4m, up 41.1% on the previous year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 13.8% higher at €21.4m, but higher costs across certain areas of the business meant pre-tax profit declined by 66.4% to €4.5m.

Sportradar paid €313,000 in Q4 income tax, leaving an initial profit of €4.2m, down 52.3% year-on-year.

However, after including €1.2m in remeasurement of defined benefit liability, after deferred tax expense, and €14.2 in foreign currency translation adjustment attributable to its owners, this left a net profit of €19.6m, which was 83.2% up from €10.4m in 2020.

“I am very pleased with our strong results, which illustrate how well we are delivering on our operational and growth plans. Importantly, we have good momentum going into our next fiscal year,” Sportradar chief executive Carsten Koerl said.

“We are continuing to invest in content, technology and people that will allow us to deliver profitable growth in line with our goals. 

“We are particularly pleased about more than doubling our year-over-year revenues in the US, which continues its explosive sports betting growth story. Sportradar has been a leader in this market since 2014, and we’re now seeing the results of our early investment.

“We continue to see the enormous opportunity as sports betting becomes an increasingly integral part of the media entertainment fabric in the US.”