Betsson AB

STO:BETS B

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q2

[Operator]

Welcome to Betsson Q2 Report 2023. [Operator Instructions].

Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Pontus Lindwall; and CFO, Martin Ohman. Please go ahead. This call is being recorded.

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Betsson's earnings presentation for the second quarter 2023. My name is Pontus Lindwall, and I'm the CEO of Betsson. With me today is also our CFO, Martin Ohman; and Jesper Svensson, Operational CEO of Betsson.

Here's the outline of today's presentation. We will start with an update about the business, highlighting some key financials and interesting activities in our markets for the quarter. Then we will comment on some recent regulatory developments in markets that are relevant for Betsson. Martin will then present our financials in more detail. After that, we will provide a trading update for the start of the third quarter 2023, and then we will round off the presentation with a summary of the quarter. After the presentation, we will take questions from the audience.

The geographic and product diversification continue to serve us well. I'm pleased to see another record quarter for Betsson, with continued high customer activity and strong financial performance. This slide shows some key figures for the second quarter 2023. In the second quarter, group revenue increased by 27% and operating profit by 87% compared to the same quarter last year. This means new all-time high levels for group revenue and the EBIT at EUR 237 million and EUR 55 million, respectively.

New records were also reported for both B2C and B2B. Revenue increased in all regions during the quarter. Organically, total revenue growth was 43% for the quarter. The EBIT margin increased to 23% from 15.7%. New quarterly records were also set for casino turnover, up 47% year-on-year; and for casino revenue, which was up 35%. Customer deposits across all gaming solutions were also at new all-time high levels for the quarter, growing 47% year-over-year. Sportsbook turnover was up 32% year-on-year, and the Sportsbook margin was 8.2%, which was slightly below the level recorded in the second quarter last year. Net-net, this meant 13% growth in Sportsbook revenue for the quarter.

This slide illustrates some interesting activities in the second quarter. I'm proud to see that Betsson involvement in sports continues together with clubs, athletes, fans and customers. In June, an important sponsorship was agreed with a Classic Argentinian Football club, Boca Juniors. The sponsorship was announced in connection with a friendly match between Boca and the Argentinian national team in front of a sold-out stadium in Buenos Aires. Under the agreement, Boca Juniors' match shirts will feature the Betsson logo in all matches until the end of 2024.

This sponsorship is one of the largest ever for Betsson and will serve to strengthen Betsson's brand and rapid expansion in Argentina and throughout the entire Latin American region. During the quarter, Betsafe sponsorship of the Lithuanian National Basketball Team was also renewed, and the sponsorship deal was entered with the Argentinian Football Team Racing Club.

In June, we announced the acquisition of betFIRST for EUR 120 million. betFIRST is a leading sports betting and gaming operator with online and off-line presence in Belgium. In 2022, the company had revenue of EUR 51 million and adjusted EBITDA of EUR 10 million. The deal value is equivalent to 10x betFIRST projected EBITDA for 2023. At the same time, in June, a new strategic partnership was entered into with the publicly listed French casino operator, Groupe Partouche, to offer online casino games in some regulated markets, and Belgium being the first country for this collaboration.

Groupe Partouche operates land-based casinos in France and Switzerland and also holds an off-line casino license in Belgium, which can be extended to an online casino license. With such a license, combined with the licenses held by betFIRST, a full range of online casino products can be offered to the Belgian market. Subject to the required licenses being granted by the Belgian regulator, the aim is to launch the online casino in Belgium in the latter part of 2023.

Speaking of Benelux, a decision was made to withdraw the license applications for the group subsidiaries in the Netherlands. The decision was based on significant delays in the licensing process and resource allocation considerations given the current attractive project pipeline for Betsson in other markets. The group will still maintain the possibility of reapplying for license in the future.

Betsson continues to focus on investing in product and technology to make sure that the product offering is competitive and that the technology platform is scalable for all its markets. Geographical expansion continued to be a strong focus during the quarter as well as strengthening of the product offering. For the Sportsbook, more events sources and sports were integrated, further enriching the total offering. In particular, new content in esports and stream events were added to match high customer demand. During the quarter, development and launch of native apps build to perform on iOS or Android, have continued in several markets like in Sweden and Malta.

And now a brief regulatory update. In Norway, in the pending matter regarding the cease-and-desist order of the Norwegian Gambling Authority against Betsson's subsidiary, BML Group. All of the changes previously agreed with the NGA has been implemented, including the currency change to euro. BML Group informed the Norwegian Gaming Authority of these changes and stated that, in its view, has now complied with the cease-and-desist order.

BML Group has requested that the NGA make a new overall assessment of BML Group's gambling offering. The NGA has pending this assessment granted a further suspension of the cease-and-desist order until mid-September. In Peru, the Congress approved the bill in May that modifies the law regulating remote games and sports betting. On June 29, the new law was officially published. The law will be enforceable 120 days after the technical regulation is officially published, which has not yet happened.

In Finland, there is now broad political support for removing the gambling monopoly. The new government stated in its program published in May that the licensing model for online casino games and sports betting shall be introduced before 2026. In May, the Finnish National Police Board issued a prohibition order on marketing gambling services to the Betsson Group's operational subsidiary. Following this, the company removed all content mentioned in the order and filed an appeal against the order, including a request for an injunction from the court.

On the 2nd of June, the local court issued an interim injunction decision in favor of the company, prohibiting the enforcement of the order until the court decides on the appeal. For this time being, the Finnish National Police Board must refrain from adding BML Group to the blacklist. The court decision on the merits of the dispute is not expected before the end of this year.

In Sweden, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in May that fines issued by the Swedish Gaming Authority should be based on gross gaming revenue and not on the annual gaming turnover of the operator. From now on, any sanctions issued by SGA will have to be based on the operator's [ GGR. ] It remains unclear whether the SGA will also review fines issued in the previous years, but operators previously fined on the annual gaming turnover basis will regardless be interested in having their fine amounts reviewed.

And now I will hand over to Martin, who will take a closer look at the financials in the quarter.

[Martin Öhman, executive]

Thanks for that, Pontus. I will now give you some more details on the financials of the second quarter, which, again, was a good quarter and the sixth consecutive quarter with revenue and EBIT growth, and the best quarter ever in Betsson's history in terms of revenue, operating profit and operating cash flow.

The result is underpinned by year-over-year growth of 47% in deposits or EUR 1.2 billion in deposits in the quarter, which makes it all-time high in deposits as well as all-time high in casino turnover and casino revenue. Active customer decreased by 10% year-on-year, but is slightly up compared to Q1 and is mainly explained by changes in the offering in the Lat Am region. This defined the right customer acquisition strategy and to make the offering more sustainable in the long run, which is part of our ongoing work to improve our operations across the business and especially in new markets.

Reported revenue for the second quarter amounted to EUR 237 million, an increase of 27% year-on-year and organic growth of 43%. Both the B2B and the B2C business contributed to the growth with EUR 172 million in revenue coming from B2C and EUR 65 million coming from B2B. Casino turnover increased by 48% year-on-year and casino revenue was EUR 165 million, an increase of 35% year-on-year. The gross turnover in Sportsbook across all bets and gaming solutions was EUR 1.3 billion, which is an increase of 32% compared to the second quarter last year.

Sportsbook margin was 8.2%, which is lower than the 8.3% margin in the second quarter last year, but slightly higher than the 2-year rolling average margin of 7.8%. Sportsbook revenue increased by 13% compared to last year and amounted to EUR 70 million, being the second highest revenue for a single quarter ever after Q4 last year, which was impacted by the World Cup in footfall. Sportsbook revenue represented 29% of the group's total revenue in the quarter and casinos 70%.

Breaking down revenue by region, we see growth in all regions. Denmark reported all-time high revenue in the second quarter, driven by growth in both Sportsbook and the casino products. Finland also reported growth driven by casino. Sweden and Norway reported decreased revenue in the quarter. In the case of Norway, the offering has been modified to comply with the Norwegian authorities' requirements where all Norwegian names, words and associations to Norway have been removed from websites, and the language and currency have been changed to English and euro, respectively.

The Nordic region represented 22% of the group's total revenue in the second quarter. Revenue from Western Europe increased by 9% year-on-year and sums up to EUR 27 million. The Italian market is continuing to perform well and reported all-time high in deposits and showed revenue growth compared to the same period last year. Revenue from the German market is following the same trend as in the past quarters and years, and continued to decline for Betsson, driven by the market restrictions that have been implemented in the past years. The Western Europe region represented 11% of total revenue in the quarter.

The CEECA region increased by 68% year-on-year and report new all-time high of EUR 103 million in revenue. This is driven by strong underlying activity in both Casino and the Sportsbook operations. Croatia and Greece showed continued positive trends in activity and reported all-time high revenue. Georgia reported growth both compared to the corresponding period last year and the previous quarter driven by the casino product. The Baltics continued to develop well, and all markets reported growth in revenue compared to the corresponding period last year. The CEECA region represented 43% of the group's total revenue, making it the largest region by revenue.

Reported revenue in the Latin America region amounts to EUR 51 million, representing an increase of 13% compared to same period last year. Argentina and Colombia reported growth, both year-on-year and compared to previous quarter. The growth in Argentina is mainly driven by the Casino product, whilst the Sportsbook product drives the Colombian growth in the second quarter. Peru reported decreased revenue compared with the corresponding period last year, explained by lower Sportsbook margin in the period. The Latin America region represented 22% of the group's total revenue.

Revenue from the Rest of the World increased by 19% compared to the same period last year and is mainly driven by the Nigerian operations. Revenue from markets where Betsson pay local betting duties increased by 32% compared to last year and constituted 36% of total revenue in the second quarter.

Digging into more details of the composition and development of EBIT year-on-year, we see that revenue has increased by some EUR 51 million, and following that also cost of services provided. Gross profit increased by EUR 44 million compared to the same period last year, corresponding to a gross profit margin of 68.6% compared to 63.8% last year. Changes in margin is a result of increased revenue and the mix of revenue, but also explained by decreased affiliate and partner commission marketing costs and decreased payment provider costs.

Marketing spend was slightly higher compared to the same quarter last year, but lower than previous 2 quarters due to the World Cup in football in the end of 2022. Focus in the second quarter has been towards the LatAm region and specifically in the new markets, such as Argentina. Marketing costs in percentage of B2C revenue amounted to some 19%, which is in line with previous year. Personnel expenses increased by EUR 4 million in the second quarter compared to the same period last year due to increased number of employees, yearly salary revisions, performance-related compensations, geographic expansion and increased investments in product technology and development.

Depreciation and amortization increased by EUR 3 million, explained by depreciation following the acquisition of KickerTech Malta Ltd. that was consolidated into the group in the fourth quarter last year, but also by a one-off depreciation adjustment of EUR 1.4 million related to a gaming license in one market. Other costs increased by EUR 10 million, where of EUR 3 million on nonrecurring costs related to advisory costs following the acquisition of betFIRST. Some EUR 2 million of the increase is explained by unrealized currency effects on intercompany balances, and the remaining increase is driven by sustained increased investments in product development and technology, specifically from increased investments in cloud-based environments and from expansion of the Sportsbook offering.

EBIT amounted to EUR 55 million, which is all-time high, and an increase of 87% compared to the same period last year. Adjusted for the EUR 3 million in nonrecurring costs related to the betFIRST acquisition, EBIT amounts to EUR 58 million, representing an adjusted EBIT margin of 24.3%.

Shifting focus a bit from the profit and loss items towards the cash flow and financial position, we can conclude that operating cash flow is the highest ever in a single quarter, amounting to EUR 89 million, driven by operating income and changes in working capital. Positive impact from working capital of EUR 28 million is mainly driven by decreased accounts receivable and decreased payment provider balances. Cash flow from investing activities amounted to EUR 15.7 million, of which the largest part relates to investment in capitalized development costs and some EUR 4 million to earnout paid out in relation to the acquisition of KickerTech Malta Ltd.

Cash flow from financing activities impacted the cash flow by EUR 34 million, where EUR 29 million relates to dividend paid out to shareholders in June. Betsson has, as end of June, a net cash position of EUR 139 million and an equity ratio of 65%.

And by that, I hand over to you, Pontus, again to take us through the trading updates.

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Thank you, Martin. Now let's have a brief look at how the third quarter of 2023 has started. The average daily revenue, up until including the 16th of July, was 20% higher than the average daily revenue of the full third quarter in 2022. Organically, the average daily revenue during the start of the third quarter has been 30% higher than the average daily revenue of the full third quarter last year. During this period, the Sportsbook margin has been higher than the historical average margin. betFIRST has been included for the entire period in July 2023.

So finally, here is a summary of the second quarter 2023. Betsson reported all-time high levels for revenue, EBIT and cash flow in the second quarter. The organic revenue growth was 43% year-on-year. New record revenues were reported in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business. We saw a strong performance across the business with all-time high levels for Casino turnover and Casino revenue. Revenue increased in all regions and customer deposits were up 47% year-over-year.

For the second quarter, a significant increase in the EBIT margin was reported compared to the same quarter last year. Adjusting for one-off costs related to the acquisition of betFIRST, the EBIT margin reached above 24% in the second quarter. Betsson business continues to generate strong cash flows, and we ended the quarter with a strong balance sheet and a significant net cash position.

Looking ahead, we maintain our focus on profitable growth, and the third quarter has started well, with average daily revenues up 20% compared to the average daily revenues in the full third quarter 2022. So we are optimistic for the second half of this year.

Thank you, everyone, for listening in. And now we are open for Q&A.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Georg Attling from Pareto Securities.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

Congrats on the very strong quarter. My first question relates to the acquisition of betFIRST and the partnership with the Groupe Partouche. So what I'm wondering here is if Groupe Partouche extends the casino license they have to online, will betFIRST be able to offer online casino on that license?

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Yes. And that's the purpose with this -- that's the initial purpose with the cooperation with Partouche is to enable betFIRST to operate casino in Belgium, which they haven't been able to do so far. It's an extension of the offering. So we're optimistic about that.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

Okay. Good. And if I understood it correctly, the Sportsbook margin in LatAm this quarter was below the historical average, is that correct?

[Martin Öhman, executive]

Yes, [indiscernible]. Correct.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

So I mean, do we have any comments here on the gross Sportsbook turnover, so we can get sort of an understanding of the underlying growth in LatAm Sports.

[Martin Öhman, executive]

No, we haven't included that as part of the report. So it's unfortunately not something we can reveal right now.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

Okay. And then on the Dutch application, you said you're shifting focus here and therefore withdrawing the application. But I'm wondering if you could just expand on that reasoning. And also, if you have any assets with the Dutch focus that you -- like brands or stuff like that, that you could divest from not entering or reentering Netherlands.

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Yes. We have withdrawn the application because we have been in application process for over a year now, and it's consuming some resources, which we want to reallocate to other projects where we see higher growth potential for the time being. This doesn't mean that we have shut the door for the Netherlands market for the future. So for the time being, we are not into divesting any assets that we have in relation to the Dutch market.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

Okay. And then just my final question. I mean customer activity here is down, but -- active customers, I should say, but deposits are really contributing to growth. Could you just help add some color to that dynamic? You said that you improved the offering and that drives deposits, but could you just be a little bit more specific in those improvements?

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Yes. I think you referred to the number of active customers, which is lower, but that's mainly due to marketing activities and what this -- the kind of activities that we do in certain markets. But in general, the activity for the group is higher than ever, and that is what is resulting in the higher revenues and EBIT that we see. So I think the number of active customers, it will keep on fluctuating between quarters depending on what kind of commercial campaigns we are doing and what kind of events that are occurring in certain quarters. But the main thing is that the total activity for all our services is increasing over time.

[Georg Attling, analyst]

Okay. And if I could just have a final question on the trading update. It's quite a lot higher here for Q3 compared to the press release last week in terms of the growth. So I'm wondering the change here, is it impacted by Wimbledon or just a very high Sportsbook margin here in the latter part of the trading update?

[Martin Öhman, executive]

I think as we said, when we send out the press release, it was based on a very, very few number of days. And we always say in trading updates, it's just an indication. But longer the period goes, the better the indication will be for a longer period of time. So I think 9 days as was included in the press release was a quite a short period of time.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Oscar Ronnkvist from ABG.

[Oscar Ronnkvist, analyst]

And so I came in a bit late, so I'm sorry if you need to repeat anything. But first of all, I just wondered, the betFIRST acquisition, so are you planning to integrate that into your PAM and Sportsbook?

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

We haven't made any such decisions for the time being. That is for later decisions.

[Oscar Ronnkvist, analyst]

Okay. Just next one I have, marketing spend as a percentage of B2C sales seems to be coming down a little bit. So I just wondered if there's any change in your strategy here or if that's sort of a one-off as it is a more quiet quarter in terms of like sporting events and so on.

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

Yes. There is no change in our strategy. We want to maintain our high growth, which I think is exceptionally strong, and that is based on marketing investments. But the marketing investments will differ between quarters depending on what kind of activities are ongoing and availability in certain markets and things like that. So -- but our strategy remains.

[Operator]

There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions from the webcast or any closing comments.

[Pontus Lindwall, executive]

If there are any written questions, no. No more questions, and then we will not take up more of your time. And thank you for listening in to today's presentation and see you in 3 months' time. Bye-bye.