Sky Bet surges in first half

Sky Betting and Gaming saw huge rises in revenue and earnings during the first half of its financial year.

The group identified successful promotions, favourable sports results and improvements in customer service as reasons for its 47% rise in group revenue, to £339m, for the 26 weeks to the end of December 2017. 

Overall EBITDA was up 92% to £118m, with Sky Bet revenue up 58% to £210m. Sky Gaming revenue was up 31% to £117m.

Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Betting & Gaming, said: “The business continued to perform very well in the first half of 2017/18. Our focus on the customer, and delivering quality experiences, offers and promotions continues to differentiate our brand, and we extended our lead as the UK’s most popular online betting brand.

“During the period, we continued to enhance our range of markets, products and offers, with more betting options than ever and over 20 exclusive new games launched on our gaming brands.”

Total customer count increased by 19% to two million, while 230 net jobs have been created.

During the period, Sky Bet launched its second international site live, with skybet.de for German sports betting customers.

Flint added: “Our investments in data science are delivering greater personalisation to our customers, with the home page tailored towards the individual, and recommended games and bet options delivering relevant and appealing content.”

In January iGamingBusiness reported that Sky Bet could be set for an IPO in the near future after its majority owner hired investment bank Rothschild to lead the process.

Related article: Sky Bet linked to IPO