Organic growth at Unibet
Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnström has said he was ‘proud’ to deliver a third quarter of ‘excellent results completely driven by organic growth’ at the online operator. He commented: “Compared with the same period last year gross winnings revenue grew by 22 per cent and profit from operations grew by 47 per cent. Espe- cially pleasing is the success for Maria which is continuing to deliver excellent results. Revenues for October are ahead of the same period in 2010, partly as a result of more favourable sports margins, but more importantly through a continuation of the underlying positive trends from previous quarters.”
take market share. In the UK, we will be trialling second- generation Storm gaming machines, new self-service betting terminals and high- definition video walls in the shops before the end of the year. Across Europe, we are now investing in a highly focused way in key territo- ries such as Italy and Spain for the long-term benefit of the business.”
THE WORLD CUP GENERATED TOUGH COMPARATIVES FOR THIS QUARTER
ANALYSIS
A busy few months for William Hill has seen the sportsbook suffer from World Cup comparatives last year. On top of the cost of investment in ‘product, pricing and innovation’ and the poor economic outlook, this is the first stumble that the company has made for quite some time. Ralph Topping is unrepentant though: “Investing does mean that we are affecting the bottom-line in the short term, but this has to be the right move for this business and, ultimately, for our shareholders. Otherwise, sensible opportunities are going to be missed.”
Retail net revenue was down 3 per cent, with OTC net revenue down 9 per cent. The firm reported that its retail operation has ‘particu- larly benefitted’ from improvements to its football offering, with a 24 per cent increase in football amounts staked since the start of the English domestic season in August. OTC gross win margin was below the prior year at 16.6 per cent (2010: 18.2 per cent), driven by less beneficial football results, but the company said that the horse racing margin held
up well during the quarter. The firm added that gaming machines had again improved. It reported: “Sus- tained growth continued to be seen from gaming machines, with net revenue up 6 per cent and gross win up 8 per cent, which shows the underlying performance before accounting for the increased VAT costs. Gross win per machine per week increased year-on-year to £890 (Q3 2010 - £844).” Unusually, the company cited high roller perform- ance in losses sustained by its telephone channel, which saw a weak gross win margin of 4.1 per cent in the quarter. It added: “The Group views this as an important channel, which also offers a niche service for certain high value customers. We are investing in offers such as Best Odds Guaranteed which, while impacting the business in the short term, are neces- sary to remain competitive.”
PMU celebrating French deregulation PMU F
rench betting operator PMU has revealed that fifteen months after the
deregulation of the online betting market in France its horse betting business has grown and declared its new sports betting and poker markets as a success. Reporting on the third
quarter, the PMU said overall stakes had risen by 7.2 per cent to 2.46bn euro, reflecting a 7.5 per cent rise in gross overall betting income, a 6.4 per cent growth in horse racing stakes to 2.34bn euro and a 7.1 per cent rise in gross horse betting income. The state operator said:
“PMU’s growth continues to be supported by horse betting thanks to the com- bined effects of aggressive marketing and significant investments in the POS network (11,200 at end-Sep- tember). In addition, the pro- found transformation of the company’s image contin- ues to bring benefits and draw in new customers.” Away from retail the PMU has also grown, with a boost to its internet activity attrib-
uted to an animated website and the quality of the cus- tomer browsing experience. Overall, quarterly growth of online stakes measured 33.4 per cent, with horse betting up by 37.2 per cent. The firm commented: “For the first time since deregulation of the online betting market in June 2010, it is possible to make period comparisons for sports betting and poker. These new businesses registered 41.6 per cent growth for sports betting and 23.3 per cent for poker.
PMU.fr con- tinues to increase its market share for sports betting (around 20 per cent cur-
rently) and poker (an approximately 5 per cent market share) thanks to its innovative approach: com- petitive offer, live video of events, poker tournaments, sports sponsoring partner- ships, etc.”
The company said that online activity is also ‘pow- erfully driven’ by products developed for mobile phones and tablet comput- ers, where PMU has regis- tered 194 per cent growth of stakes. It added: “Diversi- fied activities already account for 13.8 per cent of online gambling income and 42.2 per cent of its growth.”
PMU HAS SEEN GROWTH SINCE DEREGULATION
www.beetag.com
www.iomegaming.im
BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2011 45
ACTION IMAGES / SCOTT HEAVEY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48