Sports division set to drive XLMedia growth in FY21 results

Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2021 is expected to reach $66.6m (£49.5m/€59.3m), which would be 21.5% higher than the $54.8m reported for the prior year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is also expected to increase 41.0% from $12.2m in FY20 to $17.2m.

This was aided by a strong performance from its sports vertical, for which revenue is set to jump from $11.3m to $25.2m, aided by the acquisition of Sports Betting Dime in March last year, as well as a number of publishing partnerships.

XLMedia also said its sports segment was helped by expansion in the US. The business is now active in 15 states and plans to launch on other markets as and when they regulate.

This will offset a dip in European casino revenue, with the segment set to report a 26.8% decline to $23.2m thanks to the impact of tighter regulations. In particular its Finnish casino assets will be hit by the revamped Lottery Act, something XLMedia said would hinder its performance in the coming year.

Personal finance revenue is expected to climb 4.8% year-on-year to $8.8m, though XLMedia said trading in this area would also be challenging over the coming year. 

“Continued progress has been made rationalising and reorganising the company to further capitalise on the North American market opportunity and to materially reduce risk from legacy areas of the business,” XLMedia said. “This initiative is well advanced, with additional costs to be incurred until mid-2022 as expected.

“While the group expects the US sports vertical to deliver strong growth in FY22, this will be, in part, offset by the managed decline of the European casino vertical and restructuring of the personal finance vertical.”

XLMedia plans to publish the full results for its 2021 financial year in March 2022.