Lower spending was the result of a number of cost-saving measures including two successive restructuring programs during 2022. These reduced staff headcount and pushed personnel costs down.
Marketing spend were also lowered year-on-year, while as other operating costs were down, allowing Bet-at-home to flip an EBITDA loss in Q1 of 2022 to a positive.
Chief executive Marco Falchetto said that while some costs may increase during the year, the operator remains on course to hit certain full-year targets, including revenue forecasts.
This was despite Q1 revenue reaching €13.3m (£11.5m/$14.3m), down 5.0% year-on-year.
“Gross betting and gaming revenue in the first quarter 2023 was €13.3m and is thus within expectations for the full 2023 financial year,” Falchetto said.
“Due to a high level of awareness of our brand in German-speaking countries, the strategic focus in terms of revenue in the 2023 financial year will be on expansion in the core markets of Germany and Austria. In the 2023 financial year, the group will offer all products in Germany based on national licences.”
Q1 revenue
Breaking down revenue performance for the three months to 31 March, net online sports betting revenue reached €9.7m, up marginally from €9.6m in 2022. However, revenue from online gaming fell 36.1% to €500,000.
Operations were impacted year-on-year by Bet-at-home’s decision to exit the British market shortly after its licence was suspended. The operator last year also wound down its online casino activities in Austria.
Another key development in Q1 was Bet-at-home launching its Malta-licensed offering with the EveryMatrix platform. The outsourcing of its German-licensed platform to Bet-at- home.de is currently being finalised and is due for completion soon.
“Bet-at-home intends to have key corporate functions performed by the outsourcing partner in the course of the 2023 financial year,” Falchetto said. “In doing so, the group will focus exclusively on those customer-relevant components that cannot be sourced or operated externally, or only to an insufficient extent.
“The outsourcing order volume will be based on the net gaming revenue generated from online sports betting and is expected to reach a low single-digit million Euro amount per year going forward.”
Cost savings
Turning to spending and expenses were down across the board as a result of the cost-saving measures. Personnel costs were cut by 43.3% to €2.5m, marketing spend fell 22.9% to €2.7m and other operating expenses were down 31.4% to €3.5m.
Amortisation and depreciation costs reached €467,000 and Bet-at-home also noted €29,000 in other financial income. This left a pre-tax profit of €1.3m, compared to a €2.0m loss last year.
The operator paid €539,000 in income tax, leaving a net profit of €775,000, in contrast to a €2.7m loss in 2022. In addition, EBTIDA was transformed from a loss of €1.4m to a positive figure of €1.8m.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/quarterly-results/reduced-spending-leads-to-q1-earnings-growth-at-bet-at-home/
