Prague-listed fixed-odds betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group announced third quarter results on Thursday showing a 9.2% year on year (y/y) increase in Gross Win at €23.08 million, with Gross Win from Online Betting up 37% y/y in first three quarters of 2011. The total Amounts Staked reached €92.64 million in the quarter, up 9.7% y/y.
However, the company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) dropped to €2.3 million in 3Q, down 58.4% y/y. EBITDA decreased in the first nine months of 2011 by 17.3% to €14.2 million; this decline came from lottery results which was fully “planned and anticipated” it said. EBITDA from sports betting amounted to €18.3 million in the first nine months of 2011, up 6.4% y/y.
“In the third quarter our sports betting business continued to grow due to a strong performance of online segment, despite a lack of attractive sports events this year. The further development of on-line segment of sports betting business is crucial for our future performance,” Fortuna Entertainment Group CEO Jiří Bunda said in a press release, adding that the Czech-founded company should be able to launch online betting in Poland based on local license shortly.
“In addition, we reported new revenues from sale of the scratch tickets as well as from numerical lottery Fortuna Loto launched in July. We are very pleased that with the successful roll-out of our lottery products and we are confident to meet our targets set for this year,” Bunda said.
“This is a result of higher Amounts Staked and strict operating cost management, primarily in the Czech Republic. In the same reporting period, EBITDA from lottery came to negative €4.1 million, primarily due to start-up costs and new marketing campaign,” the company said.
For complete details on Fortuna’s results for the first nine months of 2011 click here.
