SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
bwin.party published its H1 interim results for 2014, the operator saw total revenues fall to €317.1 million, down from €342.5 million year on year, for their opening six months of 2014 (reporting period ending 31 June).
The operator has described its performance as mixed, seeing sports betting revenues increase by 7% to 127.4 million (H1 2013 – €119million), whilst reporting declines in all other verticals.
During the period bwin.party had witnessed a decline of 31% in total revenues generated from its online poker division (H1 2014 €44.1 million – H1 2013 €63.9 million).
Further bad news saw its online casino and games division decline by 8%, reporting total revenues of €103.3 million (H1 2013 €112.2 million).
The operator, stated that the decline in certain verticals, was due to a change in corporate and gaming strategy, with the operator now focusing on value rather than volume for its future growth strategy. Furthermore bwin.party revenues during the period had been impacted on by the operators withdrawal from grey listed markets, such as Greece. The operator stated that it would be looking at new market entries in the coming in order to recover its lost revenues and market positions.
The group said clean EBITDA of €46.4m (2013: €60.7m) has reduced primarily due to €7.3m of operating losses in New Jersey and closure of Greek operations.
Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger
“Trading during the first half of 2014 was mixed with a solid performance from sports betting more than offset by year-on-year declines in casino and poker, particularly in countries that were no longer a core area of focus. We are on-track with our current cost saving measures, however it is clear that a more fundamental approach is needed to turnaround our commercial and operational performance.
“This requires a major change: we are simplifying our structure to accelerate the execution of our plans to drive revenue growth, increase our focus on customers in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, and further reduce infrastructure costs. This new approach will also allow us to consider alternative financing and corporate structures in order to create additional value.
“We are confident that the steps we are taking will underpin our financial performance and remain confident about the full year outlook.”
Performance Overview
