Unibet Records Record Growth Across All Verticals
Unibet Group plc, the owners of many online gaming brands including Unibet, Stan James, and iGame, reported record growth to its investors in its Unaudited Interim January - March Report.
Gross winnings revenue reached a record high for the group to £122.4 million in the first quarter of 2016 representing a huge growth of 61 percent when compared to £76.1 to the first quarter of 2015 and a modest 10-percent gain on the £111.4 million reporting during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Showing strength as a company, the group reported revenue increases in every vertical this past quarter when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Sports wagering gross winnings revenue increased by an astounding 52 percent from £35.5 million in the first three months of 2015 to £54.1 million during the first three months of this year.
Showing even more strength was gross winnings revenue produced by the group's casino and games vertical which increased by 76 percent from £34.9 million in the first quarter of 2015 to £61.3 million in the first quarter of 2016.
Casino and games (50 percent) and sports wagering (44 percent) accounted for 94 percent of the total gross winnings revenue for the group. That being said, growth was also shown for its poker segment whose gross winnings revenue increased by 45 percent from £2.2 million in the first quarter of 2015 to £3.2 million in the first quarter of 2016.
While some of the revenues were a result of a pair of acquisitions last summer including iGame and Stan James, Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnstöm shared in the financial report that significant growth would have taken place regardless.
"Unibet Group’s growth continued to develop strongly in the first quarter, with an increase of gross winnings revenue in GBP of 61 percent and 58 percent in constant currency compared to the first quarter last year," Tjärnstöm explained in the earnings release. "This is again significantly higher growth than the overall market and indicates that we are continuing to take market share across the board. Organic growth excluding last year’s acquisitions and in constant currency was 41 percent compared to the first quarter last year.”
Other signs that Unibet is healthier than ever before are significant increases in both Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) and profit after tax. EBITDA for the group increased by a huge 80 percent from £14.4 million in the first quarter of 2015 to £27.6 million in the first quarter of 2016 with profit after tax doubling from £10.0 million in Q1 2015 to £20.0 million in Q1 2016.
Tjärnstöm credits these increases in the press release to operating more efficiently stating that, "Scalability and cost control has enabled EBITDA to grow by over 80 per cent. The profit after tax has doubled to GBP 20.0 million which shows how we are adapting our business model to absorb increased betting duties from core markets."
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