German difficulties lead Bet-at-home to slash earnings projections

In February 2021, the operator predicted that gross betting and gaming revenue would lie between €106m and €118m for the full year. This has now been reduced to €100m and €110m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was projected to fall between €18m and €22m, is now expected to fall between €8m and €10m.

Bet-at-home addressed the influence of Germany’s newly regulated sports betting market on the results predictions, stating that many customers have not completed the mandatory re-registering service required to use the new platform.

The operator also suggested that this was why betting numbers for the European Football Championship were lower than expected.

Online sports betting was introduced nationwide in Germany in October 2020. It was the only form of online gambling allowed in Germany until the implementation of the Fourth State Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStv), which took effect this month and allowed the offering of casino games.

However, operators must abide by a number of strict rules, including a 5.3% tax on turnover, a €1,000 per month spending cap and a €1 per spin stake cap on slot games.

Bet-at-home has also faced difficulties in Poland, where authorities intercepted its services by blocking IP addresses and payment methods. In response, Bet-at-home took legal action and applied for a sports betting license in Poland.

The operator also asserted that in Austria, customer claims for loss reimbursement has had a profound influence on the full-year prediction figures. It revealed that at the close of the first half of 2021, a total of €11m worth of legal proceedings were pending in the country.

The most recent ruling, in lower Austrian courts, came favour of the customers, though these cases may be raised to higher courts.