Fortuna Entertainment Earnings Down 20 Percent

Thursday, November 5, 2015 : Y.T.D. FINANCIALS DIVE 20 PERCENT AT FORTUNA ENTERTAINMENT
 
Czech betting firm reports core profits declined to Euro 17.7 million.
 
The Czech online and retail gambling group Fortuna Entertainment has reported on its nine-month year-to-date results, revealing that EBITDA declined almost 20 percent to Euro 17.7 million, and warning that it expects a steeper decline in the final quarter of the year.
 
The company said Thursday that it anticipates a 25-30 percent drop in 2015 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), citing the abolition of an online handling fee that had boosted its business in Slovakia, as well as the impact of investments.
 
It also confirmed it expected amounts staked could grow to up to Euro 790 million in 2015. Amounts staked were up 25.1 percent to Euro 615.1 million in the January-September period, driven mainly by the expansion of on-line betting in all the countries where Fortuna operates.
 
Total Gross Win in the first nine months went up by 8.1 percent to Euro 105 million, with Gross Win from online sports betting up 23.8 percent in the first nine months of the year to 60 million.
 
Q3-2015 EBITDA was up 25.3 percent on a year-on-year basis at Euro 8.7 million.
 
Gross Win from retail betting in the first nine months of 2015 amounted to Euro 39 million and declined by 10.5 percent y-o-y. 
 
In the first nine months of 2015, the Gross Win from the lottery business was Euro 6.1 million, a 16.4 percent increase over the same period of last year, driven by growth in both numerical games and scratch cards.
 
“The main driver of our performance was expansion of internet and mobile sports betting in all Fortuna´s markets," said CEO Per Widerstrom, who added that Fortuna's full-year guidance remnains on track