Kambi CEO hails record end to 2017

Kambi Group has reported significant increases in key financial metrics for the final quarter of 2017, with chief executive Kristian Nylén praising how the firm finished the year “on a high”.

Revenue increased by 33% year-on-year to a record €19m ($23.5m) in the fourth quarter and from €56m to €62.1m in 2017 as a whole.

Operating profit spiked in Q4 to €5m, up from €1.8m the previous year, with the margin doubling to 26 per cent.

Profit after tax amounted to €3.9m for the quarter – up from €1.2m – with Kambi signing long-term extensions with LeoVegas, Paf and Napoleon Games and agreeing a new multi-channel deal with South Africa-based casino group Sun International in the final three months of the year.

“I'm delighted to report Kambi ended 2017 on a high, with the fourth quarter delivering record revenues, a new customer signing and three customer contract extensions; we are entering 2018 with strong momentum,” Nylén said.

“The period's headline figure was the 33 per cent increase in revenues to €19m, Kambi's largest quarterly revenue to date. This sizeable increase was primarily due to an extended run of favourable sporting results, which started in Q3 but continued into Q4 with even greater regularity, resulting in a high operator trading margin of 9.7%.

“While the Q4 result is pleasing, it is important to view operator trading margin with a long-term perspective. Our 12-month operator trading margin was 7.4%, a figure more in line with our previously communicated expected range of 6.5-7%.

“Therefore, just as we weren't overly concerned by below average margins in the first two quarters of 2017, we are not getting carried away with the higher than average margins of recent quarters.

“A consequence of a higher operator trading margin is lower operator turnover growth – when results favour operators, as they frequently did in Q4, players have less money in their betting accounts to play with.

“Despite this suppressing factor, Kambi operator turnover grew year-on-year.”

Related article: Kambi renews with Napolean Games