Bet-at-home GGR Sank by 11.4% in 2020
In its recently released financial report covering the year 2020, Betclic Everest subsidiary Bet-at-home AG has revealed that its gross gaming revenue experienced an 11.4% year-on-year-decline, dropping down to €126.9 million (£108.7m/$150.9m). The operator’s disappointing results are a result of the impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Betclic Everest subsidiary Bet-at-home AG has revealed that its gross gaming revenue (GGR) experienced an 11.4% year-on-year-decline in its recent financial report charting its performance in 2020. ©pixel2013/Pixabay
Resumption of Sporting Events Failed to Offset Q3 2020 Loss
Betclic Everest brand Bet-at-home’s disappointing 2020 revenue results saw the operator’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) drop by 11.4% year-on-year, leveling out at only €126.9 million (£108.7m/$150.9m).
In its latest financial report covering the year 2020, Bet-at-home attributed the loss in its gross gaming revenue to reasons that should not surprise many observers — the widespread impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
In particular, the subsequent cancellation and postponement of virtually all major sporting events and leagues from March 2020 onwards as a result of the pandemic had a particularly damaging effect on the operator’s performance.
As certain sporting events gradually returned to some sense of normalcy during the summer months of 2020, such as for example national European football leagues and select international competitions, Bet-at-home subsequently reported a positive impact on its revenue.
This proved noteworthy seeing as the summer months are generally weaker in terms of revenue performance, according to the operator.
Nevertheless, this slight uptick in sporting activity was not enough to fully make up for the operator’s initial revenue losses during the spring of 2020.
German Online Gambling Restrictions Negatively Affected Revenue
While Bet-at-home’s online gambling verticals, which include casino and live casino offerings, were not particularly negatively hit by the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the process of online gambling legislation in Germany did in fact lead to some restrictions in the online sphere, according to the operator.
These restrictions, it claimed, negatively impacted Bet-at-home’s casino revenue, particularly in German jurisdictions where online gambling licensing processes remain arcane and have yet to be finalized.
Bet-at-home’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in 2020 totaled out at €30.9 million, putting these results 12.2% behind the operator’s earnings in 2019.
While 2020 delivered largely disappointing earnings and revenue results for Bet-at-home, it is worth noting how the operator’s initial published EBITDA guidance put the company’s expected earnings between €23 million and €27 million.
In January 2021, the operator then increased its EBITDA guidance to €30.9 million, on the heels of 2020’s fourth quarter which it described as “supremely positive.”
This means that Bet-at-home’s EBITDA of €30.9 million still significantly exceeded the operator’s expectations — or indeed met its exact expectations, depending on how one wants to view it.
Its marketing expenses for 2020 were also lower when compared to 2019, dropping down to €30.9 million from €39.8 million.
The postponement of the UEFA European Football Championship to 2021, as well as the cancellation of sporting events for which it had prepared marketing plans, was the main contributing factor to this drop.
Moving forward, Bet-at-home’s management board expects the operator’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the financial year 2021 to fall somewhere in between €106 million and €118 million.
Bet-at-home Also Experienced Revenue Drop in Q3 2020
As more sporting events returned to action during the summer of 2020, Betclic Everest brand Bet-at-home experienced positive impacts to its revenue during the third quarter of 2020, especially when compared to the year’s preceding quarter — though not when compared to the same period in 2019.
Bet-at-home’s revenue generated over the nine months leading up to September 30th came out to €93 million (£84.0m/$110.6m), which was nevertheless down 12.9% year-on-year.
Based on the first half of 2020’s generated revenue being €62.3 million, this figure suggests that the operator generated €30.7 million in the three months leading to September 30th.
Total stakes generated by betting in the third quarter of 2020 alone generated €636.1 million, along with €210 billion for the first nine months of the year — representing a 13.9% year-on-year decline.
When breaking down its performance by gambling vertical, Bet-at-home claimed that the resumption of major sporting events in Q3 2020 greatly benefitted its sports betting vertical, during what is typically a quiet period for the sports industry.
Be that as it may, the widespread sporting cancellations in the first half of 2020 saw both stakes and revenue for betting fall precipitously year-on-year.
During this period, customers waged €303.9 million and won €269.5 million, while gross gaming revenue came out to €34.4 million, representing a 21.1% drop.
Bet-at-home Awarded German License in November 2020
Betclic Everest brand Bet-at-home is relatively new to the German gambling scene, after being granted a sports betting license in Germany by the Regional Council of Darmstadt as recently as November 2020.
The awarding of a sports betting license to Bet-at-home effectively ended a legal stalemate in Germany concerning the issuing of new gambling licenses.
This development followed a notorious legal challenge mounted by Austrian bookkeeper Vierklee in April 2020, which resulted in a temporary freeze on new licenses being issued.
With its newly secured sports betting license, Bet-at-home joined fifteen other brands currently operating in the somewhat limited German market, such as for example Bet365, Tipico, Tipwin, a subsidiary of Cashpoint Malta, and four GVC Holdings brands.
Though online gambling also remains somewhat constrained in Germany, recently ratified legislation might finally see the legal framework surrounding iGaming become finalized — after which essentially all forms of gambling will become legalized nationwide.
