Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

A new president and CEO is being sought by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, after Stephen Rigby advised the board of directors that he is to depart the role after five years at the helm.

Rigby is to remain at OLG until the summer when a new CEO is confirmed, working with the new leadership to ensure a smooth transition.

“The board of directors thanks Stephen for his outstanding service as the president and chief executive officer of OLG. During that time, OLG has delivered unprecedented value to the Province.

“OLG’s returns have grown from $1.7bn in 2015 to nearly $2.5bn and are on track to attain over $3.0bn by 2022-23. This growth reflects a healthy and thriving land-based gaming, lottery and digital business.” – Peter Deeb, OLG chair.

Intralot

Lottery technology supplier Intralot has announced the appointment of Christos Dimitriadis as the group’s new CEO following a board decision that will see current incumbent Sokratis Kokkalis step down from the role.

In addition to his new job as group CEO, Dimitriadis has also been elected to replace Dimitrios Klonis as the executive member of the board of directors, with the former CEO Kokkalis remaining as executive chairman.

“I would like to thank the Founder of Intralot and Chairman of the BoD Mr S Kokkalis for the opportunity that he offers me to contribute from the position of the Group CEO. This is an honour and great responsibility.

“Intralot is a company with a great history and a promising future. We export technology, products, and services globally. We are proud of our subsidiaries that serve our customers and compose the multinational nature of our company.” – Dimitriadis.

Catena Media 

Peter Messner as been confirmed as the new group CFO of Catena Media, beginning his employment on April 1, 2020 when he will also be part of the company’s executive management.

Messner succeeds Erik Edeen, who as interim group CFO is said to be have “rebuilt and transformed the company’s entire financial structure”. Edeen will continue to support the company in strategic projects for the foreseeable future.

“With a well-functioning financial infrastructure in place, due to Erik’s contributions,
our playing field is now ready to welcome Peter as CFO. His wide-ranging experience
in key online media and gaming industries will fortify Catena Media’s operations in the
years to come.” – Per Hellberg, CEO of Catena Media.

Everi Holdings 

Everi has confirmed that appointment of Randy Taylor to the newly created position of president and chief operating officer, with Mark Labay appointed as successor in the executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer roles.

Furthermore, David Lucchese will assume the role of executive vice president of sales, marketing and digital, succeeding Edward Peters who has informed the company of his plans to retire following a 37-year professional career. The appointments are to be effective from April 1, 2020.

The Company has also announced that the board of directors has extended Michael Rumbolz employment agreement as CEO for an additional 14 months through to March 31, 2022.

“These changes to the executive management team fortify our leadership capabilities and are the result of our organisational development and succession planning initiatives. The appointments recognise the significant contributions Randy, Mark and Dave have made to Everi’s success, their broad expertise and their ability to successfully execute on new opportunities and to resolve challenges effectively and efficiently.

“Under Mike’s leadership, Everi has distinguished itself in recent years with its success and strong operating performance, while creating and fostering a culture that emphasises innovation and collaboration, elements that have become an integral foundation of our growth.

“These leadership changes will help facilitate our ongoing performance momentum and success in delivering future profitable growth.” – Miles Kilburn, chairman of the board of Everi.

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Sources close to the company have informed CasinoBeats that several VP roles and administrative functions have been eliminated. 

Catena’s preliminary earnings announcement suggests the lay-offs are in response to the Q125 EBITDA margin of 9%, down from 15% in Q424.

The Malta-based affiliate has reported a 40% drop in EBITDA quarter-on-quarter, from €1.5m in Q424 to €0.9m in Q125. In the same period, the group recorded a 3.9% decrease in group revenue from €10.2m in Q424 to €9.8m in Q125.

The company has suggested that the latest round of job cuts should “deliver annualised cost reductions of close to €4.5-5.0 million.” According to public information, the company had already reduced its headcount by over 60% before the latest round of redundancies. 

Catena Cuts Workforce Despite Prior Restructure 

During the November 2024 earnings call, CEO Manuel Stan assured investors that the company would not make any further short-term redundancies. “We are confident now that we have the right structure in place.” 

“We have put a lot of work into this over the last couple of quarters, and now we feel that we’re in a good place. We do not foresee any further staff cuts in the near future,” he continued.

Stan also remained confident that the company could achieve “double-digit growth” for 2025. 

Sweepstakes: “Future Term Bulletproof” Strategy

Catena’s primary revenue stream comes from North America, where revenue dropped by 1.1%, from €8.9m in Q424 to €8.8m in Q125. 

Leadership has outlined that sweepstakes are the company’s number one priority. On the Catena February 2025 earnings call, Stan dubbed sweeps a “future term bulletproof” strategy. 

When addressing analysts concerns around regulatory pressures, Stan added: “Regarding the regulatory pressure, I think we continue to see some pressure from some of the states. So far, we haven’t seen any of the bigger states, if you will, doing anything or taking any actions. So I think that, for the time being, we’re still in a very good position.” 

“Overall, we haven’t seen anything significant to put us in a position that we need to be concerned about the immediate future of sweepstakes,” he concluded.

In February, the company also publicly announced that it had begun establishing a US hub in Miami, Florida. 

This is in spite of the fact that the Sunshine State considered two bills seeking to prohibit sweepstakes. The bills ultimately failed, given that they also sought to strengthen the Seminole’s monopoly over legalized gambling in the state. 

Regulatory Uncertainty Clouds Catena US Plans

Despite Stan’s assertions, bills prohibiting sweepstakes have been prevalent across US legislature this session. Proposed legislation to outright ban sweeps has failed in Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, and Mississippi thus far. 

Active legislation remains in Connecticut, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Montana. Montana’s bill is pending Gov. Gianforte’s signature and is the closest to becoming law. 

Connecticut and New York have bills heading to the Senate, while New Jersey’s Assembly Bill A5447 passed unanimously through the Assembly Tourism, Gaming, and Arts Committee yesterday. 

Several operators, including Hello Millions, SportsMillions, PlayFame, SpinBlitz, Rolling Riches, and High 5 Casino, have left the state of New York after lawmakers introduced multiple bills targeting sweepstake operators. 

Although California has not introduced legislation, Stake is currently being sued in California. Plaintiff Dennis Boyle alleges that Stake.us constitutes an “illegal gambling website” that is in breach of the California civil code, given that it provides unlawful gambling and engages in “unfair business practices.” 

Bonus.com and PlayUSA Struggle to Maintain Market Share

Catena’s flagship brands, such as Bonus.com and PlayUSA, have also struggled. The company has struggled to arrest site decline and achieve leadership’s previously touted organic growth. 

Bonus.com has seen a traffic decline of 67%, from over 450,000 monthly users at its peak to approximately 150,000.

PlayUSA has seen a reduction in traffic from over 500,000 at its peak to below 100,000. 

Media Strategies Fail to Offset Traffic and Revenue Drops

Catena has previously signed media partnerships with companies such as Daily Racing Form, despite Google’s site reputation abuse (SRA) penalty being handed out to major outlets such as Forbes and CNN. 

Another notable partnership was signed with Lee Enterprises, encompassing subfolders such as tucson.com/sports/betting and buffalonews.com/sports/casinos. 

The Google SRA penalties made such partnerships high-risk, and the company’s financial results imply that the deals have not paid dividends, with Buffalo News failing to gain any traction. 

Sources close to the company have attributed its continued decline to a shrinking affiliate revenue model, a lack of product diversification, and issues stemming from Google policy adjustments. 

Strategic Financial Rebalancing Underway

Catena has also announced that it will suspend interest payments on its hybrid capital security until further notice as it attempts to “materially ease the company’s financial burden.” 

“Further financial structure optimisation is needed to create headroom for the tech-facing investments the group must make to drive the business forward,” it added. 

The company has not responded to a request for comment.

The post Catena Media Slashes Workforce Again Following 40% EBITDA Drop appeared first on CasinoBeats.

12%

Bally’s Corporation’s Q3 figures were headlined by UK growth as online revenues in the nation rose by almost 12% across the quarter, compared to Q3 2023 comparatives. 

However, overall International Interactive revenue fell by over 5% YoY due to non-UK market performances.

Bally’s declared company-wide revenue of $630m, down slightly YoY (Q3 2023: $632.5m). Per vertical, gaming revenue in Q3 rose to $523.9m (2023: $508.9m) while non-gaming revenue decreased to $106.1m (2023: $123.6m).

International Interactive revenue dropped by 5.3% YoY to $230.9m (2023: $243.9m), as CEO Robeson Reeves mentioned that the 11.8% YoY growth in the UK was offset “in part by lingering weakness in other non-UK markets, with a particular emphasis on the ongoing logistical challenges impacting business in Asia”.

Reeves noted that UK growth was “driven by all-time high active customer levels and robust Average Revenue per User metrics along with growing traction for our online sports betting offerings which include a newly launched Bally’s-branded product that joins our initial Jackpotjoy offering”.

Adjusted EBITDAR for the segment rose to $90m, up 5.3% in comparison to the same period the previous year (2023: $85.5m). 

Reeves said: “Flow-through in our International Interactive segment remains very healthy as a result of diligent UK marketing spend, management of compensation expenses along with the continued realisation of synergies from our technology platform consolidation.”

33%

Catena Media suffered a revenue dip for the third quarter, decreasing by 33% to €10.7m, whilst revenue from North America dropped by 29% to €19.5m.

As well as this, there was also a slight dip in new depositing customers from continuing operations which totalled 27,342 (Q3 2023: 40,104), a decrease of 32%.

CEO Manuel Stan commented on the firm’s performance: “From a top-line perspective, Q3 was a challenging quarter in which we saw revenue decline by 33%, driven by continued underperformance in online sports betting. Lower revenue also reflected the ending of certain media partnerships and changes made to other partner agreements.

“The flipside was that these cost-side measures lifted the adjusted EBITDA margin from 1%in July to 18% in September and double adjusted EBITDA quarter-over-quarter. Alongside this bottom-line improvement, we also saw a like-for-like increase in North American Casino revenue and incremental gains in our key organic search rankings, despite higher-than-usual volatility due to Google’s core updates.”

Stan also went on to provide a positive outlook for the firm’s North American casino operations as he revealed that the drop in revenue from €8.6m to €7.6m was ‘primarily a reflection of casino revenue related to prior quarters. 

He continued by stating that ‘excluding this, casino revenue rose slightly during the period, maintaining the year-over-year trend observed in Q2’.

20%

The Betting and Gaming Council has published its first Code Handbook, which includes an aim to make at least 20% of slot machine top screen imagery dedicated to safer gambling messaging.

The measures, which have already been implemented across the sector, include a trio of codes that have become part of License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) for members.

At the heart of the casino sector’s new guidance is ensuring that safer gambling messaging and increased information is prevalent within the land-based casino environment. 

Amongst other strategies one aims to ensure that slot machine safer gambling messaging is boosted – ‘outside of game play, at least 20% of slot machine top screen imagery to be dedicated to safer gambling messaging, where game and machine functionality permits’. 

As well as this, one strategy bids for safer gambling messaging to appear on slot machine receipts (referred to as TITO), promoting safer gambling and advice on staying in control, including the National Helpline phone number. 

These measures will apply across the diverse membership of the BGC, including land-based operators like casinos, which are a pillar of the hospitality and tourism sector, bookmakers on hard-pressed high streets and online gaming operators.

Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst, commented: “I am delighted to announce this new Code Handbook, which comprises over five years of determined work to raise standards, across the board.

“It is also entirely fitting that we publish this landmark new Code Handbook on our fifth anniversary. The BGC was founded as the industry’s standards body, and this Handbook draws together our sector’s combined efforts, under the leadership of the BGC, to raise standards on safer gambling in the UK.”

€402.9m

Super Group reported a 13% YoY revenue increase to €402.9m (Q3 2023: €356.9m), its highest revenue recorded ever in the third quarter. In constant currency, revenue rose by 15% to €410.9m.

The operator group noted that the revenue growth was “driven by growth from the Africa, Europe and North America (predominantly Canada) markets partially offset by declines from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific markets”.

Per product, online casino revenue for the company stood at €330.2m at the end of Q3 (2023: €277.1m), sports betting was €67.1m (2023: €64.6m), brand licensing was €3.7m (2023: €8.3m) and other revenue was €1.9m (2023: €6.9m).

Betway revenue stood at €239.4m (2023: €206.4m) while Spin revenue was €163.5m (2023: €150.5m). Monthly active customers during the quarter increased by 17% YoY to 4.7 million (2023: four million).

Revenue per region segment, Africa and Middle East stood at €151.2m (2023: €100.1m), followed by North America with €144.8m (2023: €134.1m), Europe with €67.4m (2023: €54m), Asia-Pacific with €33.7m (2023: €62m) and South/Latin America with €5.8m (2023: €6.7m).

“We achieved our strongest third quarter ever, highlighting the phenomenal progress we are making as a business,” commented Menashe.

“There is still tremendous potential as we experience super growth across our global casino brands, and particularly in Africa which we have scaled to be our largest region for the second quarter running.”

The post Bally’s, BGC, Catena Media and Super Group: the week in numbers appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Overall, revenue for the group decreased by 33% to €10.7m, whilst revenue from North America dropped by 29% to €19.5m.

As well as this, there was also a slight dip in new depositing customers (NDCs) from continuing operations which totalled 27,342 (40,104), a decrease of 32 percent.

Manuel Stan commented on the firm’s performance: “From a top-line perspective, Q3 was a challenging quarter in which we saw revenue decline by 33%, driven by continued underperformance in online sports betting. Lower revenue also reflected the ending of certain media partnerships and changes made to other partner agreements.

“The flipside was that these cost-side measures lifted the adjusted EBITDA margin from 1%in July to 18% in September and double adjusted EBITDA quarter-over-quarter. Alongside this bottom-line improvement, we also saw a like-for-like increase in North American Casino revenue and incremental gains in our key organic search rankings, despite higher-than-usual volatility due to Google’s core updates.”

Ahead of the update, Catena had taken efforts to “streamline and rightsize” the content and marketing teams, announcing 29 layoffs. 

The firm looked to modify its remaining US media network, taking the “strategic decision to focus product development efforts on a cluster of core brands.”

Stan added: “In late October we completed the process of finalising our organisational structure, implementing a flatter content production function that creates a foundation for future growth led by a leaner, product-oriented organisation with clear accountability at all levels.

“The streamlining of the content production and content marketing teams involved the difficult decision to part ways with 29 employees. This rightsizing will create closer alignment with our product goals and will generate an annual cost saving of around €2.2m, starting in November.

“We also completed our new executive management team with the recruitment of Liv Biesemans as Chief Legal & Compliance Officer. When Liv joins us on 1 January, all five members of the executive management team will be new in their roles.

“With the right teams and strategic priorities in place and a clear focus on our core products, we now have a strong base to tackle our next challenge: delivering profitable growth.”

Stan also went on to provide a positive outlook for the firm’s North American casino operations as he revealed that the drop in revenue from €8.6m to €7.6m was ‘primarily a reflection of casino revenue related to prior quarters. 

He continued by stating that ‘excluding this, casino revenue rose slightly during the period, maintaining the year-over-year trend observed in Q2’.

“A highlight for the quarter was the evolution of Bonus.com, one of our top-performing casino products, into a global asset. The Spanish-language version launched in North America in Q2, started to rank well, and we launched it in Mexico at the end of Q3. In November, we also launched the brand in Brazil. These rollouts illustrate our strategy to maximise the organic growth potential of our most authoritative brands in existing and new markets.

“We made further progress incorporating social sweepstakes casinos into most of our casino offerings. Social sweepstakes casino continues to form part of our long-term casino strategy, capitalising on the immediate revenue opportunity while also building our brands and databases in preparation for future regulation, especially as online casino gaming is yet to regulate in the majority of US states.”

The post Catena looks to overturn Q3 challenges with ‘streamlined’ strategy  appeared first on CasinoBeats.

The firm underlined that the casino growth is ‘a reflection of its aggressive program of measures’, as it pursued the expansion of social sweepstake casinos. 

There was an undeniable sentiment felt as the company updated its investors, stating that the focus on sweepstake casinos would be integral to its growth as it looks to turn around an overall fall in revenue. 

Stan detailed that sweepstakes are the fastest growing vertical for the firm and he believes that they ‘are very well positioned to capitalise on that growth’ of the industry. 

He added: “Our products are focused on growing the sweeps vertical. I think it’s twofold. Right now, we see that generally overall in the industry being one of the fastest-growing verticals and we capitalise on it. But also, we position ourselves for post-regulation in the bigger states in the US, where we will be able to have built our databases around our brands to capitalise when the likes of California and Texas will be regulating.”

Michael Gerrow, Catena’s Chief Financial Officer, also underpinned that this can be boosted by the continued investment in the group’s technology platforms, AI, sub affiliation and paid media.

There was also an uptick as a result of the recovery of its operator-owned sites from the May Google update policy. 

The laser focus on sweepstakes forms part of an enhanced strategy for the firm, as Stan detailed that with new leadership on board and the addition of a new general counsel in the coming weeks, Catena is set for a shift approach. 

He stated: “In my opinion, the group has previously tried to do too many things and spread its resources too thinly, resulting in under-optimisation of core products. The new board and management agree on the need for a laser-sharp operating focus. We are now in a stronger position to concentrate on the core products and drive revenue. 

“To that end, we have completed an extensive prioritisation exercise and, as a first step, we are clearing many low-performing domains to allow our teams to focus on the top products.”

In total, Catena’s Q2 revenue reached €12.8m, a decrease of 14% from the previous year, whilst adjusted EBITDA fell significantly by 67%. 

Providing a positive outlook for a transformational period, Stan concluded: “I think our strategy right now is based on the three pillars that I’ve said earlier – people, product and profit. From a people perspective, the new organisational setup product base was a massive undertaking for the company, but it’s the right thing to do to position ourselves to focus on the right products. 

“We have hired most of the new management team in the last three months, four months and we’ll complete that makeover by the end of the year. 

“So, the key is to have the right people in place in the right roles and bring again that high motivation, high energy levels in the company. Secondly, from a product perspective, as I commented, I think Catena has done too many things in the past, has spread resources too thinly across the different products.

He added: “So, one of the key exercises that we’ve done in the last few weeks was to do a thorough framework for prioritising both our projects and our products. From a product perspective, now the entire company is focusing on a number of key products for us. 

“We are reducing our website portfolio massively in the next few periods to reduce it to a number of properties, a number of products that we can manage well. And even within those, we have clear priority number one, two and three to allow the entire organisation to focus behind that. 

“And lastly, from a product perspective, as we said, we’re turning all stones, trying to understand where the inefficiencies are and trying to capitalise on the opportunities. That threefold pillar will be the core of our strategy going forward.”

The post Catena Media eyes ‘laser-sharp’ approach to capitalise on sweepstake casino growth appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Expanding its executive team, the appointment is part of the company’s transition to a product-first operating model.

Kals brings experience in building, iterating and executing product-led growth strategies at the senior level to Catena Media.

She joins from Fox Entertainment, where she was Executive Director of Digital Product and Strategy at the news and entertainment brand TMZ.

“Jasleen has impressive experience in creating and building excellent products and we are delighted she is joining us,” commented Pierre Cadena, Interim CEO of Catena Media.

“Her knowledge, leadership and drive will be central as we embed our new product-focused operating model across the organisation.

“The model will prioritise the development of our best-performing products and create superior user experiences as we position the business to deliver sustainable long-term growth. Jasleen will lead the evolution and growth of Catena Media’s portfolio of outstanding assets and brands to enable us to unlock their full potential.”

Back in March, Catena Media announced that Manuel Stan will be the company’s permanent CEO from July 1, replacing Michael Daly who stepped down from the position in February. 

Earlier this month, Catena Media reported a decrease in revenue during the first quarter of 2024, with North America revenue and new depositing customers falling considerably. Cadenas stated that organisational and leadership changes will help the company achieve organic growth in the second half of the year.

The post Catena Media names Jasleen Kals as VP of Product appeared first on CasinoBeats.

49%

Publishing its first quarter results, Catena declared revenue from continuing operations of €16m, down 49 per cent year-over-year (Q1 2023: €31.5m).

North America revenue, which makes up 90 per cent of the company’s total revenue from continuing operations during the period, was again affected by market headwinds, dropping by 50 per cent YoY to €14.3m (2023: €28.9m). 

Catena cited challenging comparatives, competition intensity and operator marketing budget in sports betting, as well as ongoing brand improvement programs for casino as the reasons for the dip in North America revenue.

Across the quarter, 86 per cent of the total revenue came from cost-per-acquisition agreements, followed by revenue share at 12 per cent and fixed at two per cent.

NDCs from continuing operations declined by 41 per cent YoY to 44,077 (2023: 74,186) during Q1. 81 per cent of NDCs came from CPA deals, while 19 per cent came from revenue share agreements.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations for the quarter decreased by 90 per cent YoY to €1.9m (2023: €18.7m) with a margin of 12 per cent (2023: 59 per cent margin). EBITDA from continuing operations, including items affecting comparability of €1m, totalled €909,000 (2023: €17.9m), corresponding to a margin of six per cent (2023: 57 per cent).

Earnings per share from continuing operations totalled minus €0.03 (2023: €0.15) before dilution and minus €0.03 (2023: €0.11) after dilution.

As of March 31, cash and cash equivalents were €23.4m (2023: €52.4m), outstanding shares totalled 78,773,422 and outstanding warrants were 27,022,940.

Interim CEO Pierre Cadena said: “Operational outcomes during the period were again unsatisfactory, especially in North American sports. Stronger competition, tightened marketing spending by operators, and challenging comparables with Q1 2023 – when online sports betting went live in Ohio and Massachusetts – combined to push revenue and EBITDA lower.

“The legalisation of online sports betting in North Carolina on March 11 came after the Super Bowl but in time for the March Madness college basketball tournament, which provided a positive uplift. Despite being in play for less than one-third of the period, North Carolina was our strongest performing US state in Q1.”

15%

Brazil has introduced the tax framework applied to player prizes and winnings for the well-awaited launch of its regulated market, including betting, lotteries and online gambling. 

Earlier this week, the Federal Revenue Service (RFB) of Brazil confirmed its ruling on personal income tax (IRPF) that will be applied to ‘net prizes’ obtained via betting, lotteries and online gambling.

The RFB approved the government’s modality to impose a 15 per cent personal income tax on prizes and winnings above BRL 2824 (around €530).

For net winnings/prizes below BRL 2824, the RFB will exempt the 15 per cent tax charge. The figure is reported to be equivalent to two average monthly wages for Brazilian consumers.

Net prizes of the Bets market will be determined as the difference between the prize amount won and the total amount wagered by the customer.

Replicating the same mechanisms as state lotteries, the 15 per cent tax charge will be applied ‘at source’ by operators when crediting customer winnings. 

The framework will apply changes to Brazil’s federal tax laws on the Income Tax on Individuals (IRPF) and the Declaration of Income Tax Withheld at Source (DIRF), having gained authorisation from RFB General Secretary Robinson Sakiyama Barreirinhas.

The tax charge applied to player prizes has been viewed as a point of conflict in the pending launch of the Bets market.

The measure was imposed by President Lula da Silva upon signing Bill No. 3,626/2023 into law, authorising the legislative framework for Brazil to launch its federal sports betting and online gambling marketplace.

€23.8m

For Q1 2024, Bragg Gaming Group declared a 4.2 per cent increase in revenue in comparison to the same period last year, reaching €23.8m (Q1 2023: €22.9m).

CEO Matevž Mazij noted that the YoY increase was attributed to organic growth from its current client base, the addition of new customers in multiple markets, as well as “impressive results” from its in-house Wild Streak Gaming casino games studio.

However, as previously mentioned, the group’s gross profit and adjusted EBITDA declined in comparison to the previous year. 

Gross profit dropped by 2.8 per cent to €11.9m (2023: €12.2m) with a margin of 49.9 per cent (2023: 53.5 per cent), while adjusted EBITDA fell by 12.4 per cent to €3.4m (2023: €3.9m) with a margin of 14.3 per cent (2023: 17 per cent).

Mazij commented: “Although gross profit and adjusted EBITDA saw modest decreases in the first quarter, stemming from the extension and renegotiation of our agreement with Entain Plc to provide our PAM platform to BetCity.nl through 2025, we maintain a strong belief in our ability to achieve long-term growth and profitability. 

“Our proprietary and exclusive third-party content continues to gain ground with an increasing number of top-tier operators globally, and we introduced a total of 19 new exclusive titles worldwide in the first quarter of 2024.

“Additionally, as we continue to make encouraging progress on our strategic alternatives review process, it’s important to emphasise that we are operating the business as usual and remain laser-focused on capitalising on growth opportunities.”

4.6%

Denmark’s Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, has reported a year-over-year GGR improvement of over four per cent across the country’s gambling market for March. 

Publishing data for the month, Spillemyndigheden reported that the total GGR came in at DKK 627m (€84.06m), up 4.6 per cent in comparison to March 2023’s DKK 599m (€80.2m). 

This figure also represents consecutive months of growth for Denmark’s gaming ecosystem, rising by 6.63 per cent from February 2024’s DKK 588m (€78.83m). 

March GGR was driven by growth across online casinos, land-based casinos and gaming machines, but the nation’s betting segment did decline slightly in comparison to the same month in 2023.

Looking at GGR share, online casinos took the majority with a 49.41 per cent share, followed by betting with 29.01 per cent, gaming machines with 16.95 per cent and land-based casinos with 4.5 per cent.

Online casino GGR in March came in at DKK 310m, an uptick of over 20 per cent YoY (March 2023: DKK 257m). Of the vertical’s GGR, 76.4 per cent of GGR came from slots, followed by 6.74 per cent from roulette and 6.57 per cent from blackjack.

As the only vertical to witness a decline, betting GGR in March fell by 14.8 per cent to DKK 183m (March 2023: DKK 214m). For this segment, 62.53 per cent of GGR came from mobile, with land-based betting contributing 23.23 per cent and computers contributing 14.24 per cent.  

Land-based casino’s GGR in March rose by 12 per cent to DKK 28m (March 2023: DKK 25m) with an average daily GGR during the month of DKK 900,627.

Gaming machines GGR also increased, reaching DKK 106m to gain a 2.91 per cent advantage on the previous year’s DKK 103m. The segment’s average daily GGR came in at DKK 3,244,115. 

As for the authority’s self-exclusion programme ROFUS, Spillemyndigheden noted that the number of people registered in March was 50,070, with 32,261 permanently registered. 

€379.3m

Super Group declared a 12 per cent increase YoY in revenue to €379.3m (Q1 2023: €338.5m) as it revealed its financial results for Q1. 

The operator stated that revenue improvements occurred following “growth from Africa and North America (predominantly Canada) markets partially offset by declines from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific market”.

Per region, North America alongside Africa and Middle East tied at 37 per cent of the total revenue share during Q1, followed by Europe at 15 per cent, Asia-Pacific at nine per cent and South/Latin America at two per cent.

Excluding US operations, total revenue for the quarter stood at €374m, up 13 per cent YoY or 17 per cent in constant currency.

Per brand, Betway reported €222m in revenue during the quarter (2023: €198.3m), while Spin had €157.3m in revenue (2023: €140.2m).

Per vertical, online casino revenue stood at €292.2m (2023: €243m), sports betting revenue was €76.9m (2023: €81.5m), brand licensing revenue was €5.9m (2023: €8.8m) and other revenue was €4.3m (2023: €5.24m).

Super Group reported profit for the period was €41m (2023: €1.9m loss), which included “a gain on disposal of the B2B division of Digital Gaming Corporation Limited of €40.1m” in addition to “a non-cash charge of €13.1m related to the increase in fair value of option liability”.

Adjusted EBITDA improved by 29 per cent YoY to €46.5m (2023: €36.1m). Excluding US business, adjusted EBITDA stood at €69m, up 29 per cent YoY (2023: €53m) with a margin of 18 per cent.

While active in nine states, Super Group stated that it is still assessing its US operations, with the region reporting an adjusted EBITDA loss of €22m (2023: €16.5m loss). 

Monthly active customers for the quarter rose by 33 per cent to 4.7 million in comparison to 3.5 million during the same period last year.

Menashe commented: “We’ve had a phenomenal start to the year, continuing our momentum from a strong end to 2023.

“This robust performance has been delivered by our global team’s ongoing focus and investment into core markets that are yielding strong returns, providing us with a solid foundation for the remainder of the year.”

€36.2m

Publishing record Q1 results, GiG announced all-time high revenues of €36.2m, up 28 per cent in comparison to the same period last year (Q1 2023: €28.4m). 

Media revenues were positive, but Platform & Sportsbook fell against previous year comparisons, although underlying Software-as-a-Service revenue did increase.

Marketing expenses grew by 32 per cent year-over-year to €7.5m (2023: €5.7m), corresponding to 21 per cent of revenues (2023: 20 per cent). Other operating expenses increased by 45 per cent to €15.5m (2023: €10.7m).

Adjusted EBITDA for the company rose by eight per cent YoY to €12.6m (2023: €11.7m) with a margin of 34.8 per cent (2023: 41.1 per cent).

At the end of Q1, depreciation and amortisation amounted to €7.3m (2023: €5.6m), of which €3.2m (2023: €1.1m) was related to the acquisitions of AskGamblers, KafeRocks and other acquired affiliate assets. 

As of March 31, GiG reported a profit from continuing operations of €3.7m (2023: €4m) and a positive cash flow from operations of €10.3m, (2023: €13.2m) with a cash balance of €10.4m (2023: €10.7m).

Commenting on the Q1 performance, GiG Chair Petter Nylander said: “I am pleased to present to you our first quarterly report for the year 2024, outlining the significant strides and promising developments within our company.

“Since 2019, our GiG Media business has been on an upward trajectory, marked by robust cash flow and increased earnings diversity. The acquisition of AskGamblers in February 2023 has proven fruitful, driving solid revenue growth and First Time Depositors. 

“Moreover, the successful integration of KaFe Rocks in December 2023 has further diversified our business portfolio, contributing positively to our EBITDA margin.”

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With almost 20 years of industry experience, Stan joins Catena Media having spent over 16 years at Kindred, where he was most recently Senior Vice President & General Manager of North America operations. 

He has also served in various marketing roles for the gambling group and has experience in customer marketing, business development, financial planning and analysis and corporate governance.

Commenting on his new position, Stan said: “I am delighted to have this opportunity to drive Catena Media forward on the next stage of its journey as the group takes on new challenges while further advancing its presence in North America.

“This is a strong business with talented employees and I look forward to working with the teams to capitalise fully on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Leading the company’s North American and global market operations from Las Vegas, Stan is replacing Michael Daly as CEO of Catena, who stepped down from the position near the end of last month. 

Pierre Cadena, VP of Corporate Strategy, is currently interim CEO until Stan begins his new position later this year. Daly, who held the CEO position since March 2021, will also remain available to the company during the transition period.

“Manuel was the outstanding candidate for this position among the names considered and we are extremely pleased that he is joining us,” added Göran Blomberg, Catena Media Chairman of the Board of Directors.

“He is a leader with proven leadership skills and wide-ranging experience within our industry. His close knowledge of the North American market and of both the operator and affiliate sides of the business will be a significant asset for Catena Media and our North America-focused organisation as we begin this new chapter for the group.”

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The company noted that Daly’s decision to resign follows careful consideration and consultation with the board. 

Daly has held the position of CEO since March 2021, having joined Catena back in 2018.

“Under Michael Daly’s leadership, Catena Media has become an active player in North America and with the actions taken during the strategic review, we have significantly reduced our debt and streamlined the organisation,” noted Göran Blomberg, Chair of the Board of Directors.

“With the company facing lower growth, we have started to implement a number of growth initiatives. As we embark on this crucial stage, we are seeking new leadership to drive these initiatives and move Catena Media into its next chapter.”

Pierre Cadena, VP of Corporate Strategy, will be stepping in as interim CEO until a new CEO has been appointed, a recruitment process which Catena intends to begin immediately. Daly will also remain available to the company during the transition period.

Upon reflection of Catena’s fourth quarter and full year 2023 results earlier this month, Daly stated that he expects the developments in technology and the emergence of artificial intelligence to be influential in the progression of its casino and online sports betting verticals following a challenging financial period.

The company also updated its 2024 financial targets as it transitions into a more sustainable revenue model following its strategic review in November. 

While Catena has accepted that this transition will cause short-term hindrances, it is confident that core regulated markets will “thrive” and growth will return in the second half of the year.

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251.9

Publishing its Q4 and full-year 2023 financial results, Betsson declared a group revenue of €251.9m for the quarter, a 14 per cent uptick year-over-year (Q4 2022: €220.6m) and an organic increase of 36 per cent in comparison to the previous year.

EBITDA for Q4 was €71.9m, up 40 per cent YoY (Q4 2022: €51.1m), with a margin of 28.6 per cent.

Operating income for the quarter was €57m, up 42 per cent YoY (Q4 2022: €40m) with a margin of 22.6 per cent, while net income was €43.3m (Q4 2022: €32.7m).

Q4 operating cash flow was €47.6m (Q4 2022: €75.5m), while net cash was €59.6m (Q4 2022: €65.7m).

For the full year, group revenue rose by 22 per cent to €948.2m (2022: €777.2m) with an organic increase of 40 per cent.

EBITDA improved in 2023 by 52 per cent to €262.7m (2022: €172.4m) with a margin of 27.7 per cent. 

Operating income for the full year was €210.5m, up 60 per cent YoY (2022: €131.2m) with a margin of 22.2 per cent. Net income came in at €173m (2022: €114.7m) while operating cash flow was €230.4m (2022: €178.7m).

Reflecting on Q4 and 2023, CEO Pontus Lindwall commented: “Once again, the Group reports the highest levels ever for revenue and operating profit, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of sequential growth. 

“The growth rate compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year should be viewed in light of the fact that the comparative period included the World Cup in football.

“Our vision is to offer the best customer experience in the gaming industry and an important feature of this is that we always offer competitive odds and chances for our customers to win. This simply means that sometimes players win a bit more and the sportsbook margin varies from quarter to quarter, depending on the sports results.”

8

SkyCity Entertainment Group has been informed by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs that it intends to file civil penalty proceedings against the operator for non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act.

The penalty outlines five separate causes of action which allege “significant compliance issues in relation to the act”, mostly related to historical matters, but some refer to previously self-reported non-compliance incidents as well.

If the department’s claim is accepted, SkyCity would be subject to a civil penalty imposed by the court as set out in subpart three of the act, which is assessed as a maximum liability concerning these claims of “NZ$8m in aggregate”.

SkyCity noted that it is “disappointed that it has not met the standard to which it needs to hold itself”, resulting in the penalty filing, and that it wishes to engage constructively with the department to resolve the matters expeditiously.

The company also referred to its AML/CFT enhancement programme that has been in place since late 2021 to “address compliance systems and correct historical shortcomings”, which involves significant investment in people and technology, as well as reviews of its processes and systems to identify areas for improvement.

The operator added that it is “committed to continuing to uplift its processes and systems, particularly with respect to AML/CFT and host responsibility matters”.

41

Catena Media declared a Q4 revenue from continuing operations of €14.5m, down 41 per cent in comparison to the previous year’s €24.5m. 

For the full year, revenue stood at €76.7m, a 22 per cent decline year-over-year (2022: €98.6m).

Regarding North America, market headwinds caused revenue to fall by 43 per cent during Q4 to €12.3m, while for the full year, revenue fell by 21 per cent to €67.1m (2022: €84.5m). 85 per cent of Catena’s total group revenue came from North America.

Looking at where Q4 revenue has come from, 80 per cent of the total amount came from cost per acquisition agreements, followed by 17 per cent from revenue share deals and three per cent from fixed agreements 

Following a reduction in marketing spend by operators and “stiffer competition”, new depositing customers from continuing operations during the quarter fell by 43 per cent YoY to 32,032 (Q4 2022: 56,040). 84 per cent of NDCs came from CPA deals, followed by 16 per cent from revenue share agreements.

For the full year, NDCs declined by 19 per cent to 184,257 (2022: 228,601).

Q4’s adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations decreased by 88 per cent to €1.5m (Q4 2022: €11.8m), resulting in a margin of 10 per cent (Q4 2022: 48 per cent). Full year adjusted EBITDA came in at €25.4m, down 47 per cent (2022: €48.4m), resulting in a margin of 33 per cent (2022: 49 per cent).

To bolster its operations, Catena has made several technical improvements to provide more value and enhanced user experience through stronger product offerings, improved brand function, positioning and impact, producing a “new level of content personalisation”. 

This work is expected to create a “solid platform” and be “revenue-enhancing” from Q2 2024.

In addition, Catena believes that cost optimisation measures will bring high profitability and enable focused debt reduction and strategic investments. 

The company will also lower its presence in markets that are unregulated and those with unclear frameworks, as well as transition to more revenue share deals, which it believes will produce higher and more sustainable revenue.

“We are currently implementing a wide-ranging internal investment programme – including large investments in both tech and AI – to fast-track our ambition to be the data- and technology-driven leader of online affiliate marketing in the sports betting and casino gaming space,” noted Catena CEO Michael Daly.

“These projects are significant in the context of our Q4 figures, which were disappointing and with which I am not satisfied. Planned and initiated earlier in 2023, the investments have since been accelerated. They are designed to position us for the future and also to restore the group to a sustainable long-term growth trajectory.”

1.4

PENN Entertainment declared a Q4 revenue of $1.4bn, down in comparison to Q4 2022’s $1.59bn. For the full year 2023, revenue stood at $6.36bn, a slight decline when compared to 2022’s $6.4bn.

Gaming revenue for the quarter stood at $1.04bn (Q4 2022: $1.27bn) and at $4.9bn for the full year (2022: $5.2bn).

Q4 net income came in at a loss of $358.8m (Q4 2022: $20.8m) and a $491.4m loss for the full year (2022: $221.7m).

Adjusted EBITDAR for the operator in Q4 was $112.5m (Q4 2022: $468.3m). For the full year, adjusted EBITDAR was $1.51bn (2022: $1.94bn).

PENN President and CEO Jay Snowden commented: “PENN delivered another quarter of solid property level performance while continuing to invest in our high growth digital business, which we believe will create significant long-term shareholder value.”

Property revenue across PENN’s portfolio in Q4 came in at $1.37bn, a narrow drop YoY (Q4 2022: $1.38bn). For the full year, property revenue was $5.7bn, down slightly in comparison to the previous year (2022: $5.75bn).

Per property region in the quarter, Northeast revenue led the way with $662.9m (Q4 2022: $667.1m), followed by Midwest with $290.6m (Q4 2022: $282m), South with $285.1m (Q4 2022: $304.4m) and West with $133.7m (Q4 2022: $130.7m).

Adjusted EBITDAR for properties in Q4 stood at $476.4m (Q4 2022: $487.1m) with a margin of 34.7 per cent. For 2023, property adjusted EBITDAR was $2.03bn (2022: $2.11bn).

“Property level performance this quarter benefited from strong customer demand trends, mild weather, and our focus on customer experiences and operational excellence,” added Snowden.

“Notably, 10 properties spread across our portfolio achieved their highest ever fourth quarter revenue, demonstrating the benefits of our geographic diversity and unique omni-channel strategy.”

22

Witnessing robust performance across 2023’s fourth quarter, MGM Resorts posted consolidated net revenue of $4.4bn, up 22 per cent year-over-year (Q4 2022: $3.6bn). 

Casino revenue during the quarter rose to $2.2bn (Q4 2022: $1.5bn), followed by rooms at $1bn (Q4 2022: $897.9m), food and beverage at $727.9m (Q4 2022: $710.6m) and entertainment, retail and other at $422m (Q4 2022: $421.7m).

Operating income for the quarter was $419m, an increase on the operating loss of $2m in the prior year quarter due to a net revenue uptick and a “decrease in amortization expense of $1.2bn relating to the MGM Grand Paradise gaming subconcession, partially offset by a $1.1bn gain on the disposition of The Mirage in the prior year quarter”.

Net income came in at $313m (Q4 2022: $284m) while consolidated adjusted EBITDAR was $1.2bn.

For the full year, MGM Resorts reported consolidated net revenue of $16.2bn, up 23 per cent YoY (2022: $13.1bn), with casino revenue coming in at $8.1bn (2022: $5.7bn), rooms at $3.5bn (2022: $3.1bn), food and beverage at $2.9bn (2022: $2.6bn) and entertainment, retail and other at $1.6bn (2022: $1.7bn).

2023 net revenue rose “due primarily to an increase in revenue at MGM China and an increase in non-gaming revenues at Las Vegas Strip Resorts, partially offset by a decrease in casino revenue at our Regional Operations”. 

Reflecting on the Q4 and 2023, MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle stated: “Our Las Vegas Strip Resorts and MGM China set new all-time records for full year and fourth quarter Adjusted Property EBITDAR.”

“Our premium positioning and offerings in Las Vegas enable us to capture incremental profit during major events such as the inaugural Formula One race and our first Super Bowl. 2024 is off to a winning start with the launch of our Marriott relationship as well as opportunities to increase our convention room nights and international mix.”

37

Gaming Innovation Group made progress with splitting its platform and media units into standalone businesses in 2024, as it recorded ‘all-time high’ Q4 2023 revenues of €35.6m, up 37 per cent on the Q4 2022 results of €26m.

Continuing momentum in what was a successful run of growth for GiG, the group achieved FY2023 revenues of €126m, up 41 per cent on 2022 comparative results of €91m, with the firm’s adjusted EBITDA standing at €61m (FY2022: €34m).

An elevated commercial prospect was enhanced for GiG Media as its business was enhanced by the acquisition of Kafe Rocks, boosting the group’s online casino media and lead generation business for North and South American markets.

As cited by Chair, Petter Nylander: “The finalisation of the KaFe Rocks acquisition in December 2023 aligns strongly with our ambition to maintain our position as the leading casino affiliate in the industry. 

“We are confident in the quality of the acquired assets and see significant potential for growth, particularly in the North American and LatAm markets.”

Nylander concluded on a positive period for the group: “We remain committed to our strategic objectives, including the planned split of the company into two separate entities, GiG Media and Platform & Sportsbook. This strategic move will unlock new growth opportunities and maximise value for our shareholders.

“As we approach the split in 2024, we are confident in setting new long-term financial targets for both GiG Media and Platform & Sportsbook. With our strong performance, diversified earnings, and robust growth prospects, we are well-positioned for success in the years to come.”

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