LeoVegas Reveals Big Revenue Rise
LeoVegas, the Swedish online casino and gambling operator, has announced its financial results for Q4 2017, showing an increase in revenues of almost two-thirds.
The results round off a strong and eventful year for LeoVegas. © Pexels.
Revenues for the three months leading up to the end of 2017 rose to €67.8m.
However, both earnings and operating profit fell sharply. Earnings fell by 39% to €6.1m, while operating profit fell by a massive 78% to €2.1m.
The results were expected by the operator however. LeoVegas has embarked on a string of acquisitions over the last few years, with the latest – the acquisition of Royal Panda in October – accounting for the sharp downfalls in both earnings and operating profit experienced in Q4 2017.
For the year of 2017, the operator increased revenue by 43%, with adjusted earnings also up 31% and operating profit rising 36% from 2016, up to €19.9m. The number of customers also increased by 44%, with 253,299 total customers depositing online.
Speaking about the results, Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas, said:
Q4 2017 was one of our best quarters ever, with very strong underlying growth. Compared with Q4 2016 and excluding markets that we closed in 2017, our organic growth was an incredible 82% during the quarter. We even set a record for new depositing customers.– Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas
Royal Panda was just the latest in a string of acquisitions for LeoVegas, who bought online casino provider Intellectual Propery & Software Limited (IPS) for £65m in January.
The operator has also started 2018 off on the right foot. Net Gaming Revenue grew by 76% to €24.8m, while they also acquired 51% of the shares in the company behind CasinoGrounds.com, a streaming network.
LeoVegas acquires German facing licence
The operator is also looking to position itself in the German market, having acquired World of Sportsbetting Ltd on Wednesday.
The group owns HappyBet, which holds casino and sports betting licences in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. This licence allows the brand to operate across Germany, which Hagman hopes will expand the group’s payout options and raise the firm’s credibility.
To accompany the deal, LeoVegas has signed ex German footballer Lothar Matthäus, as well as German handball star Stefan Kretzschmar, as the group’s ambassadors.
Speaking about the deal, Hagman said:
Our new ambassadors also increase the local touch in our marketing, which we know creates loyalty and increased brand awareness… We can now also be even more local on the product side and, especially, add important payment solutions that are important for the German market.– Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas
You can read the full financial report at the operator’s investor relations page.
