Betclic Everest posts strong growth despite Bet-at-home woes in Q3
FL Entertainment, which owns the group, said its Betclic and Bet-at-home brands generated €718.5m ($765.8m/£626.4m) in revenue during the year to 30 September. That nine-month figure was up 21.3% year-on-year at constant currencies. For Q3, revenue was up 17.3%.
All segments contributed to this performance with double-digit growth across the board. Sportsbook remains its largest segment by far, comprising 78% of revenue. However, it was the area that grew least during the period.
Sportsbook revenue was up 16.7% at constant exchange rates to €558.4m. FL said this performance was particularly solid given the comparison with a strong Q3 2022 where the UEFA Champions League started earlier than usual due to the Fifa World Cup at the end of 2022.
Online casino was the biggest area of growth with a 48.7% uplift to €106.9m. While still its smallest segment, poker was up 25.3% to €43.7m during the period.
Betclic up, Bet-at-home down
The Betclic brand was the driver of growth, with Bet-at-home having recently cut its revenue guidance for the 2023 financial year. This was attributed to a run of unfavourable sports results.
At current currencies and excluding Bet-at-home operations that have been discontinued, revenue was up 22%. This was driven by the continued solid performance of Betclic, which was up 24%, while Bet-at-home was down 14%. Bet-at-home had its GB licence suspended in July 2022 and withdrew from Austria and Malta in 2021.
The group continued to record strong player momentum with new unique active players up by 34%.
Adjusted EBITDA of €472.9m was up 8.1% and 6.9% by constant currency and current currency respectively.
Earnings were impacted by a 7.5% increase in overall group expenditure to €1.4bn. This was impacted by higher betting taxes.
The gaming business contributed €132m to the group’s operating profit, in line with the first nine months of 2022.
Betclic expects returns from new app
Looking ahead, FL expects its betting arm’s positive momentum to continue in Q4 2023. This will, it said, be driven by ongoing growth and retention of unique active players and the expected impact of the new Betclic app. While October saw adverse sports results, which affected the wider sector, it said the impact has already started to reverse.
The FL group as a whole, which owns global TV production company Banijay, saw revenue grow by 5.6% to €2.9bn. Adjusted EBITDA was up 6.9% to €472.9m.
François Riahi, CEO of FL, said: “We delivered solid results in the first nine months of 2023, with top line growth and profitability reflecting the strengths of our entertainment businesses.
“In online sports betting and gaming we maintained strong, double-digit growth across all activities. Our continued focus on growing and retaining unique active players, was supported by the successful launch of a highly rated new app that enhances our product offer and user experience.
“Betclic has also become the first player to achieve the GamCare Safer Gambling certification outside the UK, demonstrating our total commitment to responsible gaming.”