The company’s first results of 2025 show significant top-line growth, improved profitability, and a continued investment drive in its core North American market. 

Gambling.com EPS Rises 60% In First Quarter

Key statistics from the company’s first quarter are as follows for the three months ended 31 March 2025:

• Revenue of $40.6 million, up 39% from $29.2 million in Q1 2024
• Net income of $11.2 million, up 54% year-over-year
• Operating profit of $10.0 million, up from $7.9 million in the prior year period
• Basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.32, up 60% from $0.20 in Q1 2024
• Cash generated from operations totaled $11.4 million

The affiliate emphasized that the acquisition of Odds Holdings Inc. was pivotal to Q1’s performance. “The principal reason for this acquisition was to accelerate U.S. expansion,” Gambling.com stated. The deal generated $8.6 million, or approximately 22% of group revenue in the quarter. 

Catena Media, which also heavily focuses on the North American market, posted poor financials last week and outlined plans for 50 more job cuts as it aims to optimize costs. 

Another affiliate, Gentoo Media, also posted results below expectations and is undergoing strategic restructuring and making redundancies.

Gambling.com Product Diversification Paying Dividends in Q1

This is not reflected at Gambling.com, where Q1 sales and marketing spending is up 58%, technology expenses are up 62%, and general and administrative expenses are up 22%. 

While this shows higher operating costs, it aligns with the group’s strategy to aggressively pursue market share globally through both organic and merger and acquisition-led growth. 

The Gambling.com group diversified its product portfolio, with subscription revenue growing 405.2% year-over-year to $9.9 million and making up 24.4% of total first-quarter revenue. 

Revenue from CPA, Rev Share, and Hybrid models was still the predominant revenue driver, comprising 63.3% of Q1’s topline. Advertising on site and other revenue generated 12.3% of total revenue, generating $5.0 million for the three months to March 2025. 

From a debt perspective, the group’s borrowing rose significantly to $88.5 million in Q125, up from $22.9 million in the previous quarter. The increase is owing to the drawdown of a $165 million syndicated credit facility, led by Wells Fargo. The facility includes a $90 million revolving credit line, of which $70.5 million (78%) remained undrawn. 

The filing outlines that “the proceeds from the Wells Fargo Credit Facility are being used for working capital, to settle deferred consideration, for permitted acquisitions, and for general corporate purposes.” 

Competitors Weakened by Google Policy and Search Slump

Investor confidence in GAMB is significantly stronger than that of three public competitors. Catena, Raketech, and Gentoo have all had topline revenue hit by Google policy change and underperforming search-related revenues. 

Gambling.com has shown, particularly through recent revenue diversification and continued investment, that growth is still possible in a tricky affiliate market. 

The group still saw a decrease in share price following its earnings announcement, but the trend over six months is 3.23% growth, compared to -60.97% for Catena, -43.45% for Raketech and -40% for Gentoo Media.

The post Gambling.com Group Bucks Affiliate Reporting Trend With Q1 Growth appeared first on CasinoBeats.

The affiliate also announced a reduction in EBITDA margin from 48% to 33%. The company reported a 127.8% reduction in profit, moving from €9.7 million in Q124 profit to €2.7 million in Q125 loss. 

Gentoo Share Price Hit Despite Management Reassurance

Gentoo’s leadership has asserted that the company is “well-placed to resume growth in the second half of the year” and expects to see full-year revenues “broadly in line with 2024” and an annual EBITDA margin between 40% and 45%. 

However, Gentoo shareholders do not share management’s optimism. The share price fell to its lowest value year-to-date, falling by over 16.8% in reaction to the company’s results.

Last week, CasinoBeats reported that the Malta-headquartered business was in the process of laying off approximately 100 employees. This followed leadership’s implementation of a “broader strategic reorganisation,” which also saw the departure of the Chief Sales Officer and Chief Technology Officer. 

Sources close to the company suggested the underperformance of two flagship Gentoo properties was a significant factor in the company’s proposed restructuring.

The quarterly report outlines that “recovery efforts continued for Casinotopsonline.com and Time2play.com.” CasinoTopsOnline saw a €1.9 million revenue decline year over year. 

As previously outlined, Time2Play has seen a 94.25% decrease in traffic from its peak, with CasinoTopsOnline attracting under 5,000 monthly visitors. Traffic markedly declined after Google’s Fall 2023 Core Review updates, which penalized sites using SEO strategies such as content-scraping, cloaking, and auto-generated content. 

Despite previous Google updates heavily impacting the company’s portfolio, the first quarter report suggests that the March core update has had a “net positive impact across Gentoo Media’s publishing portfolio.” 

The report also reveals Gentoo has initiated a targeted consolidation of its portfolio, which now focuses on 70 high-potential websites in “key long-term growth markets.” 

During the earnings call, the CEO revealed that regulatory shifts in Brazil saw some websites lose 90% of players, and the disruption was heavier than anticipated. 

EBITDA Down 40% at Catena Media

Cost-optimization measures are a trend across multiple affiliates, with Catena Media also reporting poor first-quarter results. The company is initiating 50 additional redundancies in response to the 40% reduction in EBITDA for the first quarter. 

The Catena Media share price has hit a historic low, settling at just over 13% down at the time of writing. 

Speaking on the company’s earnings call, CEO Manuel Stan stopped short of promising no further cuts. “While we cannot commit that this will be the last cuts we make, I think we genuinely believe that this puts us in a very good place to deliver significantly improved profitability in the following quarters,” stated Stan.

This was after Stan assured investors on the November 2024 earnings call that the company did “not foresee any further staff cuts in the near future.” 

The post Gentoo Media Revenue Drops 11%, Share Price Plunges appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Looking ahead to the call on 7 November, the affiliate booked a non-cash impairment charge of €40m. 

Catena cited the authorising of a writedown of “specific sports betting assets” for the impairment charge as it transitions to a new operating model.

As disclosed in H1 trading, Catena modified its remaining US media network, taking the “strategic decision to focus product development efforts on a cluster of core brands.”

Preliminary figures for the firm indicate that Q3 revenues will stand between €10.5-€11.0m (Q32023: €15m). Catena expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of €1.0-€1.5m (Q32023: €3.2m), corresponding to a margin of 10-14%.

CEO Manuel Stan commented: “It is important that our balance sheet reflects current realities. In sports betting, we have been operating at a loss for an extended period. We have responded to market challenges by shifting resources away from loss-making products and into those that we believe have the best potential to generate long-term value. I believe that this strategy will position us for success in the coming quarters.”

Staff redundancies will see Catena pay severance costs of approximately €400,000, with Catena projecting cost savings of €2.2m, effective from 1 November 2024.

Stan added: “As part of our drive to embed our new product-led organisation, we are optimising the operational teams to achieve a flatter structure that is more closely aligned with our product goals. Today, our priority is to support all the individuals who are affected by these changes.

“We are keenly aware that the market is looking for signs of a return to revenue growth. Although the figures reported today do not yet show that improvement, we see positive signals from the changes we have made in recent months, such as a leaner cost base and improved search rankings, and we remain on course to achieve our objectives.”

The post Catena announces content and marketing redundancies ahead of Q3 call   appeared first on CasinoBeats.

CasinoBeats’ key takeaways brings some of the highlights from the week’s run of shows, with this edition placing a microscope on betting’s relationship with fintech and why the fallout from the UK government budget continues to rumble on. 

Betting on Fintech

As Open Banking continues to grow in importance, the battle for supremacy when it comes to mass adoption of the tech increases amongst global markets. 

When it comes to gambling, the discussion centred on how vital the tech can be as it bolsters the approach to affordability and player protection as operators continue to adapt to new regulatory frameworks. 

It also identified the pivotal role it can play in boosting the overall user experience – enabling faster and more efficient transactions and withdrawals. 

The discussion then shifted to AI and whether it can be embraced by the gambling sector in order to boost the player experience and improve player retention.

Budget backlash in focus 

Ted Menmuir and Danny Lee shared their insight on the latest government budget and the validity of BGC backlash over what is being described as a ‘stealth tax on the industry’. 

There was agreement that the BGC battling back on the front foot is a positive thing for the industry, specifically as the land based sector continues to recover from what has been a challenging period since the pandemic. 

As the government looks to position itself as being for the working people, it is, however, of the utmost importance that the industry’s perspective is framed in the right manner.

Catena doubles down on US growth ambitions 

As Catena Media completed an 18-month long corporate strategic review, the firm has continued to progress with ambitious plans for US growth. 

It came alongside the publishing of its Q3 results, in which it landed €76m from the sale of European media assets – proceeds that will fuel the group’s ability to shrink debt and strengthen its long-term commercial prospects in North American markets.

The iGamingDaily analysed how such a slim-line Catena will now focus its entire business strategy on North American growth, in which the company continues to shift its commercial model onto rev-share based contracts – deemed better for long term cost controls and sustainable growth.

Reshuffling the SBC deck 

Lastly, there was exclusive insight into an SBC reshuffle as Payment Expert and CasinoBeats both have new editors heading into the new year. 

The iGamingDaily took a look at what the future holds for both sites and the key subject matters that will shape both news sectors.

The post iGamingDaily Takeaways – Catena’s US ambitions and UK budget backlash  appeared first on CasinoBeats.

31

Flutter Entertainment and the Fox Corporation are in the process of a phased closure of the pair’s joint sports betting business, almost four years after the entity first came to market.

The decision to close the FOX Bet platform is being undertaken over the course of the next month, with a phasing out of operations to begin today (Monday 31 July) and last under August 31, 2023.

As a result, Flutter, which operated FOX Bet as part of the Stars Group, will retain ownership of PokerStars, in addition to one of the leading lights of the US’ sports betting space in FanDuel.

FOX will hold the right for all future usage of the FOX and FOX Bet brands, including FOX Bet Super 6, and intends to launch a new game associated with the latter later this summer.

888

888 is looking to make further “significant” progress across the African continent after its part-owned 888AFRICA entity detailed the purchase of BetLion to accelerate “huge ambitions”.

The online casino and sports betting operator is currently licensed in Kenya, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is headquartered in Nairobi, the capital city of the former. This adds a further hub for 888AFRICA, building on an existing base in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Through the addition, 888 is expecting to drive further scale in the business, as well as deliver a notable number of new customers. BetLion counts more than three million registered users.

2

Twitch added further context and depth to its ban on the streaming of gambling content, in addition to swelling its list of sites that are prohibited from the platform by two.

In October 2022, the streaming platform issued a ban on content from websites offering slots, roulette or dice games that aren’t licensed in the US or other jurisdictions that “provide sufficient consumer protection”, with an approximate 75 per cent drop in viewership reportedly felt in the immediate aftermath. 

Offering an update, Twitch noted that these consumer protections include the likes of deposit limits, waiting periods, and age verification systems.

“After monitoring the update’s impact for the last year—as well as hearing directly from you—it became clear that some people were circumventing those rules, and that further steps were necessary,” a statement read.

Furthermore, a list of prohibited sites that was established almost ten months ago included the likes of Stake, Rollbit, Duelbits, and Roobet, with Blaze and Gamdom becoming the latest additions.

6

Catena Media initiated a €6m sale of its UK and Australian online sports betting brands amid an ongoing focus on the North American online sportsbook and casino affiliation market and business wide strategic review. 

The divestment to sports betting affiliate Moneta Communications, which itself was purchased by Seven Star Digital last year, marks “a further step forward” in refocusing the business for the aforementioned market.

The transaction is anticipated will close during the current quarter, and covers the sale of all assets in the group’s UK business, including Squawka and GG.co.uk, and all shares in the Catena’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary.

11

Star Entertainment added to a lengthy list of financial penalties after being found guilty of 11 offences and being ordered to pay a A$140,000 sanction.

Following an investigation by Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation, the embattled casino operator had entered a guilty plea in the Brisbane Magistrates Court earlier in the year.

Seven of the charges relate to state-wide casino legislation that prohibits the purchase gambling chips with a credit card, with $170,000 worth of wagers to this effect said to have been accepted between 2017 and 2022. 

The remaining four relate to the distribution of promotional or advertising material in February 2022 to individuals that were banned or excluded from the company’s Queensland-based properties.

3.94

MGM Resorts reaffirmed its commitment to a host of long-term growth opportunities, which include a maintained digital expansion as well as ongoing development efforts in Japan and New York.

The comments came from CFO and Treasurer Jonathan Halkyard, with the former following the Entain joint owned BetMGM venture reporting that it is on the “path to profitability” after following a US trend of achieving positive EBITDA for the second quarter.

In Osaka, the group, together with joint-venture partner Orix, have been selected by Osaka as the region’s integrated resort partner for a proposed $10bn development, with the race heating up in the Big Apple to secure one of three available commercial casino licences

This enthusiasm for future prospects followed a second quarter financial report that saw the group declare an “all-time record for consolidated net revenue”, with this metric growing 21 per cent year-on-year to $3.94bn (2022: $3.26bn). 

3

GambleAware began an application process to establish a system stabilisation fund to make sure gambling harm prevention, support and treatment services receive financial aid as the industry transitions to a statutory levy.

The independent charity introduced the fund to make sure organisations across England, Scotland and Wales who rely on funding streams to operate still receive the support they need.

The ‘system stabilisation fund’ will be in place as gambling harm prevention funding enters a transition period from a voluntary to a statutory levy as part of the UK government’s gambling review white paper, which was published earlier this year in April.

Last month, the UK Gambling Commission allocated almost £33m to GambleAware to form a system stabilisation fund for the transition period from voluntary funding to a statutory levy.

3.5

Spiffbet divested its games development arm to Million Games amid decreasing focus and investment, with the group to become fully focused on its own casinos and associated services.

This will see the company end its time within this segment of the industry, citing that funding has not been sufficient to continue running the business successfully, in addition to the games having “not contributed positively over the past year.”

The transaction includes all shares in STHLM Gaming Sweden, as well as the Rhino Gaming portfolio and associated related intellectual property rights, for a fee that can amount to a maximum of SEK 3.5 million (£260,000).

12

GAMSTOP reported a 12 per cent increase in sign-ups to its self-exclusion service in the first half of 2023 in comparison to the previous year, including a 30 per cent uptick in sign-ups from 16-24 year olds.

The UK’s online self-exclusion scheme stated that it saw over 48,000 consumers register for the scheme in the first six months of the year, with sign-up monthly records set in March and May. 

2023’s figure for the first half of the year is a 12 per cent increase on over 43,500 reported registrants during the first six months of 2022.

Diving further into the data, GAMSTOP noted that there was a 30 per cent increase in sign-ups to the scheme from 16-24 year olds, which in total represented 21 per cent of all new registrants during the first six months of 2023.

The post Twitch, FOXBet, M&A, Australia & stabilisation: <br> the week in numbers appeared first on CasinoBeats.

With restructuring measures slashing the firm’s European headcount by more than 25 per cent at a €5.5m per annum saving, Michael Daly, CEO, also noted that “certain grey-market assets” had also been offloaded as part of a wider restructuring effort. 

This, it is reiterated, is intended to transition Catena into an organisation “focused on the Americas and other regulated and stable markets”.

In August the company first touched upon potential divestments to raise funds for M&A activities in North and Latin America, with Daly providing an update in a Q3 CEO statement.

“The strategic review is nearing completion at the time of writing. Certain assets are currently in a divestment phase,” he stated. 

“Amid significant interest from multiple parties, this process is being managed by an external adviser and is approaching a conclusion. I look forward to making a fuller announcement in the near future. 

“The measures being taken, and to be taken, as part of the strategic review are optimising the business to capitalise on the growth of online sports betting and casino in North America, where a wave of regulation continues to open new markets to licensed operators and create exciting openings for Catena Media. 

“The reorganisation inevitably consumed a great deal of operational energy during the period”

“Other future opportunities include Latin America and esports, both of which offer high potential for profitable growth over the longer term.”

Despite voicing much optimism about the group’s future performance, third quarter revenue dropped two percentage points to €32.27m (2021: €33m), with organic growth at negative four per cent, or one per cent lower when excluding the German online sports betting and igaming arena. 

Adjusted EBITDA fell 29 per cent to €11.65m (2021: €16.4m), with new depositing customers closing the three month period at 116,746, down 24 per cent year-on-year from 153,701.

“For the group, revenue decreased slightly and the EBITDA margin narrowed,” Daly continued. 

“I am nevertheless encouraged by our overall performance given macroeconomic challenges in multiple markets, our heavy growth-oriented investments in North America, and considering the internal engagement that the ongoing strategic review demanded from the business throughout the period.”

In Europe, where Catena noted “the current high-inflation environment is most pronounced and the squeeze on player spending is most acute,” a scaling back of operations has been undertaken.

This has seen a focus placed upon “a smaller core of strategic high-margin brands” that are said to primarily be across regulated online sportsbook markets, and casino to a lesser extent, that it is hoped will deliver stable near-term growth potential in the UK and Italy. 

“The reorganisation inevitably consumed a great deal of operational energy during the period, so I was especially pleased to see positive signs in Q3 from the new European core, led by solid growth in our Italian online sports betting business,” Daly said.

“This ongoing commitment positions us to take full advantage of forthcoming launches”

“I look forward to developing our high-performance Italian and UK assets as we move ahead.”

In North America, revenue increased 11 per cent to close Q3 at €18.63m (2021: €16.82m), boosted by launches across New York, Louisiana and Ontario earlier in the year and Connecticut in Q4 2021.

Looking ahead, Catena has detailed that “we have advanced plans in place” regarding Ohio, Maryland and Massachusetts, the former of which is slated to commence legalised online sports betting at the turn of the new year. 

“In North America, the Kansas launch in September coincided with a successful start to the new NFL season and met our expectations for player engagement,” the Catena CEO noted.

“Credit for this goes to our North American team, in which we have invested heavily both in terms of personnel and technology. This ongoing commitment positions us to take full advantage of forthcoming launches and will also provide a springboard to grow in our established markets.”

On a segmented basis, casino revenue dropped 10 per cent to €17.9 (2021: €19.89m), with AEBITDA down 30 percentage points from 2021’s €11.56m to €8.13m. The division occupied 56 per cent of total revenue.

Despite double digital growth across North America, Catena reported headwinds in New jersey, a second successive drop in Japan and continued struggles in Europe headlined by the aforementioned German challenges

Sports revenue grew 13 per cent €14m (2021: €12.43m) but AEBITDA dropped 21 per cent to €3.82m (2021: €4.83m).

“We continue to build for the future, and do so from a position of unprecedented strength”

North America tracked a six per cent revenue uptick through the reporting period, however, regulatory uncertainty and an economic slowdown dampened player engagement and operator spending across Europe.

The group’s financial trading division saw revenue decline 51 per cent to €367m (2021: €749m), with AEBITDA swinging to a loss of €308m from an income on €7m one year earlier.

“Once the strategic review is behind us, I look forward to the organisation redoubling its focus on the highly promising Latin American market. 

“I fully expect that we will soon begin to see this dynamic region take on a significant role in our Americas story. Another exciting area is esports, where our Esports.net brand reported exceedingly rapid user growth in Q3 and where I see rich opportunities ahead. 

“We continue to build for the future, and do so from a position of unprecedented strength. Our low debt, strong cash flow, organic search know-how and lean organisation make Catena Media uniquely placed to set the pace in lead generation for online sports betting and casino – in North America and beyond.

The post Catena to redouble Americas push as strategic review nears completion appeared first on CasinoBeats.

An igaming decline was offset by significant sporting increases as the group generated a best quarterly revenue performance of €45.2m, up 11 per cent year-on-year from €40.7m.

Revenue across North America, reported as the global prime focus for Catena, increased 32 per cent to €29.5m (2022: €22.3m) to occupy 65 per cent (2021: 55 per cent) of the group total.

Organic growth dropped nine per cent, or six per cent excluding German headwinds, as adjusted EBITDA rose fractionally to €25.62m (2021: €25m). New depositing customers totalled 171,918 (2021: 157,546), an increase of 9 per cent

Despite detailing “strong headway” being made in North America via the debuts of Louisiana and New York, which become Catena’s largest market by revenue in the region, Ontario is said to have “proved unspectacular as restrictions on advertising by operators suppressed initial activity”.

However, Michael Daly, CEO of Catena, noted: “As a result, we launched with only a handful of operators in place, though this number has since risen as more operators have entered the arena. 

“I am confident in our market position and see Ontario as a long-term relationship for Catena Media – both in terms of the market itself and our relations with operators. 

“We anticipate stronger revenue inflow as the year unfolds, especially in conjunction with the NFL season start in September.”

On a segmented basis, casino revenue dropped 25 per cent to €18.89m (2021: €25.26m), with AEBITDA down 44 percentage points from 2021’s €17.82m to €10.04m. The decision occupied 42 per cent of total revenue.

North America declined compared to an “extraordinarily successful quarter,” with a yet to increase German market and continued impacts of Dutch regulations continuing to hamper the firm. Japan was up in each month of the quarter, with Catena’s AskGamblers brand fractionally down through Q1 despite an all-time high March.

Sports surged 77 per cent and 127 per cent to €25.47m (2021: €14.36m) and €15.45m (2021: €6.81m) in revenue, to occupy 56 per cent of the total, and AEBITDA, with a North American market that more than doubled offsetting European struggles.

The group’s financial trading division saw revenue and AEBITDA drop 24 per cent and 68 per cent to €842,000 (2021: €1.11m) and €128,000 (2021: €398,000), respectively, due to “challenging conditions on financial markets in stark contrast to an exceptionally strong first quarter of 2021”.

“After our solid start to 2022 we are well positioned for a busy year ahead and to keep delivering on our financial targets,” Daly added. 

“We are investing strongly in personnel to prepare for future market launches and growth. Our people-focused culture and innovative strength equip us to continue capturing the outstanding opportunity in North America while remaining adaptable and responsive to market conditions at global level.”

The post ‘Well positioned’ Catena Media buoyant on North American prospects appeared first on CasinoBeats.

This came on May 20, 2022, as Catena noted “strategic interest from third parties” to purchase certain assets, including assets in its financial trading segment and the AskGamblers brand as well as certain other aspects of the firm’s global portfolio.

In a most recent update, Catena has said that it “continues to evaluate multiple options for certain parts of its business” regarding potential offloads.

The company has also been keen to emphasise that the board evaluates strategic initiatives, including potential transactions, structural changes and other strategic initiatives with a view to achieving the best outcomes for the company and its shareholders in the long term.

“The focus remains on ensuring that the company is well positioned to fully capture the opportunities on offer in North America and other high growth markets as it seeks to maximise value for shareholders,” Catena’s latest update noted.

In August, the company delivered an update alongside a H1 update, which confirmed that a potential sale of European assets, such as AskGamblers, could be undertaken to raise funds for M&A activities in North and Latin America.

“The review was originally planned to conclude by the end of September,” the company added. “The review outcome will be communicated as soon as the process has been completed. Catena Media expects that this will be in the near future but can give no specific date at this point.”

The post Catena Media evaluating ‘multiple options’ in strategic business review appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Following the announcement of a strategic review to tighten its belt on non-North American operations, the comments come in an earnings call for a H1 that saw the aforementioned region offset European difficulties.

As Michael Daly, Catena CEO, asserted that “regulatory conditions in Germany and the Netherlands have not and will not improve at any dramatic pace,” an in limbo UK regulatory situation and increasing inflation and fuel pressures could bring a fundamental change.

With these anticipated to impact Europe more than North America, Daly commented: “This led to a paradigm shift on how to think about our European businesses going forward. 

“We started our strategic review concerning our financial trading and our larger AskGamblers products. 

“These products we’re seeing some interest in the markets, and we thought it prudent to explore what the future of those assets would be in our business with our shift focusing towards wide European gambling markets and North America versus the cash that might be raised for M&A activities in North America and LatAm from selling some or all of these assets.

“That review continues. As we open it up, we have more interest and that leads to more simulations, et cetera, that have to be run to figure out what is best for the company and our investors. 

“This paradigm shift in Europe also led to further review being started in the last few weeks concerning margins and efficiencies in other parts of that business.” 

“Regulatory conditions in Germany and the Netherlands have not and will not improve at any dramatic pace”

In a bid to determine the optimum outlook in a period of economic uncertainty, this process targets at least $5m a year that could begin to be felt across the final quarter.

Despite “forging ahead” in the Americas, Catena witnessed a five per cent Q2 revenue drop that is aligned to a less active sporting calendar as well as “normal slowing casino periods”.

Peter Messner, Catena Media CFO, noted: “Historically, casino has always been the biggest segment in our portfolio, but whenever new states in North America launch, particularly what we have seen in the first quarter with New York and Louisiana, that might temporarily shift. 

“So following the strong sports Q1 with these launches in New York and Louisiana, casino returned to that dominance with 59 per cent of total group revenue as a share.”

Revenue challenges versus initial forecasts were also encountered in Ontario, while Japan was labelled as “another unpleasant surprise”.

“That market was growing steadily for us over the last few years, bolstered by COVID restrictions and the strength of our teams. Those dynamics changed this quarter. 

“We had some expected reverse COVID effect as a countrywide travel opened, but also press around an individual event that blossomed into an election level topic, stemmed the flow of new customers and impacted current customer spend rate due to payment providers backing away at least temporarily. 

“This should correct, but will take a bit of time for the news to abate and SEO to return to expected trends.”

A further unplanned item witnessed through the period was macroeconomic conditions, which Catena noted has “particularly starting to show themselves” across Europe.

“Revenue deterioration impacted faster than cost control measures could”

“We are seeing the first parts of impact from consumer spend levels, decreasing rev share in some markets,” Daly said. “And this will be felt going forward into the winter months.

Adding: “As we saw macro conditions start to deteriorate, we started even before the recently announced strategic review to tighten the belt for our non-North American operations compared to original plans. 

“Revenue deterioration impacted faster than cost control measures could. Again, more to cover on cost controls and the strategic review in a bit. All this said, while Q2 below our targets, we’re still in a solid financial position.”

Post quarter, a 33 per cent North American increase has been felt through July despite a slow sporting schedule, which has help push the group forward ten per cent when excluding the “still stagnating” German market.

“In Germany, I am very excited that we’ve started working with operators who have received or are imminently receiving their casino licenses, which means growth during the second half when compared to where we ended H1,” Daly said.

“Speed of growth will still remain unclear as operators enter, test the waters, determine sustainable levels of marketing in the new environment. But the takeaway is a new German business is now starting for Catena and the investment done there this last year will start to pay off.”

With year-on-year comparisons “pleasing,” Daly also highlighted Kansas, which will commence sports betting next month, as well as Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, and a growing Ontario as causes for optimism through H2 and into 2023. 

However, with Kansas moving at a much quicker pace than other states on the path to regulation, Daly closed: “This is what makes North America so exciting is the dynamic that varies separately from state to state. This also makes it so difficult to forecast.”

The post Catena exploring potential offloads to fund maintained Americas push appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Despite acknowledging that “a variety of temporary factors” impacted the quarter’s bottom line, Michael Daly, group CEO, asserted that the October to December period brought “healthy progress as we invest for long-term growth”.

Catena says that revenue pressure on European sports betting operations and an easing of COVID restrictions affected revenues, however, a positive uptick in Italy, strong growth investment across North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and parts of Africa, and a North American business that “continued to thrive” was praised.

“Year-on-year performance remained buoyed by the legalisation during 2021 of online sports betting and casino gaming in Michigan and online sports betting in Virginia, Arizona and Wyoming,” Daly said of the group’s US efforts. 

“In each case, our approach of investing substantially in the market prior to launch paid off handsomely. We successfully deployed similar tactics in New York and Louisiana prior to the legalisation of online sports betting in both states in January 2022. New York is likely to be our largest sports market going forward.”

Revenue through the year’s final quarter for the company increased 20 per cent to €31.9m (2020: €26.6m), with earnings up four per cent to €12.8m (2020: €12.3m) .

It is noted that revenue from North American sports betting and casino rose by 97 per cent, and accounted for 51 per cent (2020: 31 per cent) of group revenue.

On a divisional basis, casino, which occupied 62 per cent of Q4 revenue with €19.9m (2020: €16m), saw adjusted EBITDA rise nine per cent to €10.1m (2020: €9.3m), with new depositing customers down one per cent.

With German and Dutch headwinds reportedly continuing for the company, Catena’s performance was buoyed by a “solid” North American quarter,, as well as aforementioned progress within both Italy and Japan.

Sports revenue increased 20 per cent to €11.m (2020: 9.3m) to occupy 35 per cent of the total, with the firm’s financial trading segment comprising the remaining three per cent with revenue of €876,000, a 12 per cent drop from €995,000.

For the full-year, revenue increased 28 per cent to €136.1m (2020: €106m), adjusted EBITDA was up 32 per cent to €68.8m (2020: €52m), and NDC’s surged 32 per cent to 586,522 (2020: 443,524).

Revenue from North American sports betting and casino rose by 116 per cent, and accounted for 50 per cent (2020: 30 per cent) of the group’s total.

In January, total revenue increased by 29 per cent, or 36 per cent excluding the German sports betting and casino market, compared to January 2021. 

On a North American basis the aforementioned segments rose 64 per cent, fuelled by successful launches in New York and Louisiana during the month

It is anticipated that full-year revenue in North America during the current year will exceed $100m, providing current market estimates and launch timetables hold firm.

“Early in 2022, our affiliate sports betting offers enjoyed successful launches in New York and Louisiana,” Daly closed. 

“We also look forward with anticipation to the scheduled launch of sportsbook betting and casino gaming in Ontario in Canada at the start of Q2.

“Our extensive programme of advance investment and preparation gives us high expectations that Ontario will be among our largest North American markets in the future. 

“If the market develops at its current expected rate, and no delays or similar unforeseen events occur in relation to scheduled market openings, we confidently expect revenue in North America to surpass U$100m in 2022.”

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