Casino performance the driving force as Betsson’s revenue grows

kholm-headquartered Betsson AB has reported solid growth in revenue for the first three months of 2017, climbing 10% to a total of SEK 1.1bn.

Gross profit grew at a similar rate, increasing 8% to SEK 806m compared to SEK 746m in 2015.

However, the operator noted the negative impact of currency fluctuations on its finances, which hit Q1 EBIT to the tune of SEK 19.1m.

Net income also dropped, falling 8% to SEK 214m, while earnings per share for the period amounted to SEK 1.55.

Casino revenue rose 23% year-on-year to SEK 823m, although a high proportion of “player friendly” sporting results impacted sportsbook revenue, which fell to SEK 250m from SEK 292m in 2015.

Betsson CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said: “Casino continues to develop well with growth of 23%. Total revenue increased by more than 10 percent, compared to the same period the previous year, of which most was organic growth.

“As we indicated before, region Western Europe is back to a healthy growth. The region grew by 15.6% compared to the same period previous year.

“The second quarter is normally seasonally weak. The quarter has started with higher revenues than the daily average for the second quarter last year, but lower than the daily average revenue for the first quarter 2017. The underlying activity remains strong."