SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Stockholm-listed Better Collective A/S has posted Q4 revenues of €19.6 million, up 61% from the €12.1 million in the corresponding period of 2018.
The igaming affiliate’s record revenue performance was helped by in excess of 118,000 new depositing customers (NDC’s) during the period (55% growth, most of which was organic). EBITA before special items increased by 32% from €5.4 million to €7.1 million.
Despite recording strong growth, Better Collective explained that Q4 trading was negatively impacted by low sports margins, which hit the firm’s earnings capacity by an estimated €2 million.
Closing its Q4 2019 accounts, it declared an operating profit (EBIT) of €5.5 million (Q42018: €4.2m), while maintaining profits after tax of €3.3 million (Q42018: €3.1m).
“In Q4 Better Collective delivered the highest revenue and operational earnings in company history despite very low sports win margins during the quarter,” said Better Collective CEO Jesper Søgaard.
“On the other hand, Q4 was a seasonally strong quarter with high player activity including big events like the European football tournaments, the NFL and the Euro 2020 qualifications.”
Last year’s closing period also saw Better Collective restructure its credit facilities with Finnish investment bank Nordea after securing an €80 million extension option.
In his statement, Søgaard added that Better Collective will be further diversifying its asset portfolio as it enters the late stages of a “significant acquisition” of an esports enterprise for €34 million. It has stated while there is no guarantee, there is a “likelihood” that it will be completed in the first half of 2020.
Further 2019 highlights also saw Better Collective establish a media network within the nascent US market by taking a 60% stake in leading sports betting publisher RotoGrinders, as well as acquiring both Vegasinsider.com and Scoresandodds.com.
For the full year, Better Collective recorded a 67% increase in revenues to €67.4 million (FY2018: €40.4m). EBITA before special items came in at €27.2 million (FY2018: €16.1m), while net profit after tax more than doubled to €13.9 million (FY2018: €5.5m)
Søgaard concluded: “For the full year 2019, we landed well in line with our financial targets, with an annual growth of 67%, of which 26% was organic, along with an NDC growth of 66%. All this combined makes me very satisfied with this year’s performance.”
