Scout says strategy working despite mounting losses in 2019
Fantasy sports solutions provider Scout Gaming said its long-term strategy is paying off as revenue and new client sign-ups grew in 2019, though losses for the year increased.
The Scandinavia-facing supplier of B2B daily fantasy sports saw revenues almost double during the 12 months to 31 December 2020, while it was also able to decrease its loss in terms of adjusted earnings.
Revenue for the full year grew to SEK25.7m (£2.1m/€2.4m/$2.7m), which was up 76.0% year-on-year, with most income derived from gaming related services that Scout Gaming provides to its clients. This followed a SEK10.0m fourth quarter contribution, an 117.4% advance on the prior year.
Scout said it benefitted from new client sign-ups, something that has continued into 2020 with Norsk Tipping and Bet Entertainment its latest new clients.
Total costs for the full year were SEK78.5m, which was an increase of 31.5% on the previous year. Scout said its outgoings mainly consist of personnel, marketing and sales related expenses which it does not expect to increase going forward.
Personnel expenses were the biggest outgoing at SEK39.8m. Its operating loss came in at SEK52.8m, up 17.1% from 2018.
With tax of SEK66,000 – down on the SEK89,000 in 2018 – Scout’s total loss for the period came in at SEK52.2m, a 14.0% year-on-year increase.
Scout chief executive Andreas Ternstrom said: “We are experiencing an accelerating global demand for Scout Gaming’s products, which has resulted in an increased client activity both in terms of number of clients and number of products launched on each client.
“Scout's product offering is expanding continuously according to our product roadmap. We aim to beta launch live, a bet builder and cashout functionality for our player odds-related markets during the year.
“We are constantly growing the prize money in our pool games and this spring we will offer the largest prize money on European fantasy football ever. Ahead of the final rounds of the Premier League, Scout's network will offer the opportunity to compete for € 500,000.
“Furthermore, during the year we have plans for several major tournaments in various sports with prize sums in the million-euro class.”