SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Updating the market on its H1 2017 interim results, the governance of Stockholm-listed online gambling group Cherry AB is confident of hitting its full-year targets and corporate expectations, following a strong opening six months of trade.
An enlarged Cherry would report H1 2017 group revenues of SEK 1 billion (€106 million), up 192% on like-for-like 2016’s SEK 370 million.
Aided by an improved period operating margin of 16.3% (2016:11%), Cherry would report an EBITDA increase of 334% to SEK 176 million (€18 million – H1 2016: SEK 40 million).
Closing a busy H1 2017, Cherry governance would declare group operating profits of SEK 51 million (€5.2 million) doubling H1 2016’s SEK 25 million.
Detailing highlights to investors, Cherry governance reported a period of strong KPI gains across its product portfolio. The company further states that its online gaming division will deliver stronger results once it fully incorporates European operator ComeOn’s assets which its fully acquired last May.
Presenting his first set of interim results as Cherry AB CEO Anders Holmgren detailed that the company had the capabilities of becoming the fastest growth multi-product firm in the online gambling sector.
“Cherry continues to be a profitable, fast-growing company, even if the integration of ComeOn! has not yet reached full positive effect. By further diversifying and consolidating our operations, we strengthened our platform and thus the conditions for long-term leverage. Cherry showed strong growth in the second quarter and revenues increased 179% to MSEK 536, of which 37% was organic. We continue to grow with good profitability. EBITDA increased by 524% to MSEK 93 and the EBITDA margin was 17.3%.” Holmgren detailed
“Game development and Performance-based marketing are the stand-out performers, but Online gaming has not quite been delivering in line with our plan. However, the Online gaming business continued to develop positively. Revenue grew by 241% to MSEK 437, with organic growth of 31%. EBITDA improved from MSEK 5 to MSEK 62 compared with the same quarter last year and the EBITDA margin increased from 4% to 14%. The rapid merging of ComeOn!’s activities has led to a strong focus on integration, affecting growth. It is worth mentioning that marketing efforts have not yet had the expected effect. At the same time, there is a high level of activity with a variety of initiatives that strengthen both the business area’s organization and the offering as a whole. We assess that the future of ComeOn! looks bright, but that integration will take a little longer than initially anticipated.”
