Fortuna Entertainment Group Posts Good Results

Thursday November 8,2012 : FEG TURNS IN GOOD 9M RESULTS
 
Driven by the successful expansion of online betting
 
Central European fixed-odds betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG) delivered a respectable first nine months of 2012 report with a year-on-year increase of 8.7 percent in total revenues, despite a loss from its lottery segment due to start-up costs.
Key highlights over the period include:
 
–  Group’s Amounts Staked up 10.7 percent y-o-y to Euro 334.1 million
–  Group’s Gross Win up 10 percent to Euro 78 million
–  Gross win 23.4 percent up y-o-y amounted to Euro 25.8 million
–  Total Revenues up 8.3 percent y-o-y to Euro 67.6 million
–  EBITDA from Lottery segment a Euro 3.5 million loss – in line with budget
 
“The double digit growth in Amounts Staked on the Group level and the high single digit growth reported by the Sports Betting division were mainly driven by a successful expansion of on-line betting in all core markets, including our new regulated on-line business in Poland,” said Wilf Walsh, Chairman of the Management Board of Fortuna Entertainment Group.
 
“We are reporting growth rates which are in line with our long-term targets for sports betting. On top of that, we have completed a comprehensive review of our lottery business in order to minimize EBITDA impact and to reach break-even during the first half of next year.”
 
Sports Betting Segment:
 
–  Amounts Staked amounted to Euro 320.2 million, 7.7 percent up compared to the same period last year.
–  Gross Win grew 2.9 percent y-o-y amounting to Euro 71 million.
–  Gross Win from online sports betting in the first nine months of 2012 rose 23.4 percent y-o-y to Euro 25.8 million, primarily on the back of growth in the Polish and Czech markets.
–  Gross Win from retail sports betting in the first nine months of 2012 was Euro 45.2 million, down 6.0 percent y-o-y.
–  EBITDA from sports betting amounted to Euro 16.8 million in the first nine months of 2012, 8 percent less compared to the same period last year as a consequence of higher betting taxes in the Czech Republic.
 
Online Growth in FEG's online sportsbetting operations in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia:
 
–  Poland:  Gross Win from newly introduced on-line betting was Euro 2.2 million.
 
–  Czech Republic:   Gross Win climbed 24 percent y-o-y amounting to Euro 14.5 million.
 
–  Slovakia:   Gross Win from online betting was Euro 9.1 million, 0.4 percent less than in 2011. G
 
Sports Betting – FortunaWin (based in Malta)
 
–  Total Amounts Staked on FortunaWin reached Euro 3.3 million in the first nine months of 2012, up 15.6 percent.
–  Gross Win from betting was Euro 76 thousand in the first nine months of 2012, 44.9 percent less than in the same period last year.
 
Lottery Business in the Czech Republic for the first nine months of 2012:
 
–  Amounts Staked in Fortuna Lottery reached Euro 13.9 million, up 213.8 percent y-o-y.
–  Gross Win from the lottery amounted to Euro 7 million, 255.2 percent up on last year.
–  Revenues of Euro 7.1 million, up 254.4 percent on last year.
–  EBITDA – Euro 3.5 million due to start up costs which is in line with management expectations.