Bwin.party's third quarter revenues lifted by sports betting on World Cup
Gaming giant Bwin.party Digital reported a 2% rise in third quarter revenue to €148.7m as an increase in sports betting sales offset a fall in bingo, casino and poker.
Sports betting revenue advanced 11% to €58.8m, driven by higher margins, the World Cup and growth in the number of people using their mobile phones to gamble.
The division was held back slightly by a later start to European football leagues and the loss of revenue from customers in Greece that began SP blocking in August 2013.
Revenue in casino, poker and bingo fell 3%, 25% and 1% respectively.
"Our overall revenue performance in the third quarter was in-line with our expectations whilst clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins have benefited from our previously announced cost savings,” said chief executive Norbert Teufelberger.
“We continue to make good progress on expanding our mobile footprint and our presence in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets and we remain confident about the full year outlook.”
Teufelberger said in the fourth quarter the company is continuing to launch new products including the latest version of a mobile sports product that will also include embedded casino games.
Trading in the two weeks to 14 October has been in-line with expectations and the firm is confident about the full-year outlook, the group added in its trading statement.