888 H1
The top line
Revenue rose 39% to $528.4m while adjusted EBITDA was up 39% to $97.4m. B2C gaming was up 35% to $428.8m, B2C betting up 82% to $80.3m (B2C total up 41%) while B2B rose 8% to $19.3m.
UK revenues up 57% to $222.6m, Italy up 82% to $67.9m, the rest of EMEA up 9% to $165.8m and US/Americas up 60% to $65.1m (US up 7% to $10.7m). The rest of world was down 5% to $7m.
Current trading (July and August) revenues up “mid-single digit percentage” and company says full-year revenues and EBITDA expected to be “slightly ahead” of prior expectations.
Sports, illustrated: 888 has largely completed the rollout of its news sports-betting offering (based on the previously acquired BetBright tech) with CEO Itai Pazner lauding what he claimed was a “cutting-edge” proprietary platform. The biggest development, of course, comes with the imminent launch of the SI Sportsbook in Colorado later this month, the first fruits of the partnership with Sports Illustrated. Other than a peak at a (somewhat lacklustre, to these eyes) new ad (no big star name for the campaign), the company said little about the upcoming launch other than to say its long-term aim was to be in between 12-15 states within three years.
I’m a believer: Analysts at Peel Hunt suggested the modest revenue rise in July and August was to be applauded given the backdrop of more leisure options as Covid restrictions tailed off and the impact of regulatory and compliance changes. This includes the previously acknowledged headwind of Germany where 888 previously said revenues in Q1 had fallen by between 40-50%. 888 offered little further detail though Pazner did say the company was “still making some” German gaming revenue. He added the firm was focused on the launch of the newly-licensed German-facing sportsbook. “We still believe Germany will be a big and significant market in Europe,” he added. As for other regulatory headwinds (including the UK), CFO Yariv Dafna said the weighting of the previously advised $70-100m revenue reductions would be weighted more towards H2.
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