Month: May 2023

Hoskin will leave Entain’s board on 30 June before officially departing his role on 31 August.

Among the longest-serving members at the company, Hoskin joined the group in August 2005, serving as group director of legal, regulatory and secretariat, before being promoted to chief governance officer in December 2020.

Entain said that it had taken the decision to restructure certain responsibilities, in particular regulatory affairs, in line with its focus exclusively on regulated or regulating markets. With Hoskin stepping down, his other responsibilities will be taken on by Simon Zinger, currently Entain’s general counsel. 

“Entain has been through a period of extraordinary transformation in recent times, and now has strong credentials as a best-in-class, responsible operator with outstanding governance and a clear commitment to sustainability in all its forms,” Hoskin said.

“I am truly honoured to have had the opportunity of playing a part in that extraordinary journey and wish everyone at Entain all the best for the future.”

Entain chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen added: “Robert was exceptionally supportive, welcoming and helpful to me when I joined the board of Entain as a non-executive director in 2019. I was therefore delighted that he agreed to remain in his role after my appointment as CEO, and I have benefitted hugely from his wisdom and counsel. 

“He has played an instrumental role in making Entain the success story that it is today, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to him for everything that he has done for me personally and the group more widely.”

The group did not set an actual departure date, but it was confirmed that Wilsby would step down in the autumn.

Wilsby took on the position of CFO in September 2020, having previously served in the same role with Tobii AB, Fingerprint Cards and Transmode.

Prior to this, Wilsby spent time as CFO Sweden and Nordic CFO at HP, while he also had spells as both finance director for Western Europe and CFO Sweden at Microsoft.

“Kindred is a dynamic company and Johan has been instrumental in developing the group’s corporate function, the strategic execution, as well and contributing to the executive leadership team,” Kindred chief executive Henrik Tjärnström said.

“He has also been a very appreciated colleague and shown leadership and integrity during challenging times. I want to thank Johan for his contributions and wish him the best of luck in his future career.”

Kindred added that it had already commenced the process of appointing a successor to Wilsby.

The announcement comes after Kindred last month launched a review of strategic alternatives that could lead to a potential merger, sale or partial sale of the business, with a focus on delivering and maximising value for its shareholders.

Kindred launched the review as it also published its financial results for the first quarter of the 2023 financial year. The group experienced growth across revenue and net profit.

The revenue was bolstered by the performance of Universal’s integrated resort business. This segment reported revenue of YEN24.11bn for the quarter, more than double the YEN11.28bn generated in Q1 2022.

This was partly due to the increase in property visitors during the quarter, the number of which totaled at 1.4 million – once again, more than double the 707,459 recorded year-on-year.

Revenue from the amusement equipment business fell by 31.3%. This was due to a fall in the number of gaming machines sold during the quarter – 24,903, a significant drop from 37,739 sold in Q1 2022. While the number of Pachinko machine sales grew by 9,774 to 11,866, the number of Pachislot machine sales fell from 35,647 to 13037 yearly.

Cost of sales for the quarter hit YEN14.49bn, an increase of 19.5% yearly.

This brought Universal’s gross profit to YEN21.00bn, a rise of 34.5% compared to Q1 2022.

First quarter results

Selling, general and administrative expenses rose by 22.2% to YEN16.24bn, bringing Universal’s operating profit to YEN4.76bn – more than twice the amount recorded year-on-year.

Non-operating income totaled at YEN2.10bn for the quarter. This mostly consisted of foreign exchange gains, which totaled at YEN1.43bn.

The total non-operating profit fell drastically year-on-year, decreasing by 85.4%.

Non-operating expenses added up to YEN3.70bn, a 37.4% fall. This brought Universal’s pre-tax profit to YEN3.15bn.

Following income taxes of YEN212m, the net profit for the year came to YEN2.94bn, a decrease of 64.7% yearly.

Sweden’s new gambling rules – which involved amending the country’s Gaming Act – are set to come into force from 1 July this year. From this date, Spelinspektionen will be permitted to purchase gambling services under a hidden identity in order to monitor the activities of gaming companies active in the regulated market.

Under the new law, the regulator will also have authorisation to store and pass on personal data in order to prevent match-fixing. Gambling business will be further required to disclose information to the police regarding crimes connected with the gaming sector.

Payment blocking to involve service provider

The original Gaming Act authorised the regulator to block electronic transactions if the body suspected that the payments were being made towards gambling services by an unlicensed operation.

However, Spelinspektionen has as of yet never taken advantage of these payment blocking powers, arguing that “certain practical difficulties” make implementing the current regulation difficult. As such the previous blocking powers have been repealed.

These powers have been replaced with new ones that are to be implemented in a different way. The government – which emphasised that payment blocking capabilities are important for channelisation purposes – said that there is a need to involve payment service providers in the work of understanding “how stakes and winnings are conveyed to and from the gambling operators identified by the authority”.

The regulator therefore is to be given the authority to create new regulations concerning the obligations that payment providers have to provide necessary information for blocking the unlawful payments.

Undercover operations

The government said that in the absence of legal support that enables undercover surveillance of gambling businesses the regulator has “limited” opportunities to online gaming. In this context it considered the granting of this new power to be a proportionate rule.

Under the new law, Spelinspektionen will be permitted to purchase gambling services online under a hidden identity to make sure that operators are in compliance with the Gaming Act. The operator is to be notified about the test purchase as soon as possible.

The group said that the increases were driven by the ongoing recovery of regional travel and gaming demand, following the removal of almost all remaining measures related to the pandemic.

However, the operator also noted the recovery of its non-gaming business was constrained by lagging overseas visitor arrivals from its traditional visitor source markets, while airline capacity constraints continued to cap incoming mass leisure tourist traffic. 

In addition, the operator said higher airfares during the festive seasons impacted visitor volume, which in turn resulted in a 15% drop in the overall non-gaming revenue on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Q1

Revenue in the three months to 31 March was S$484.5m (£290.4m/€333.3m/US$362.2m), up 54.1% from $314.5m in the corresponding period last year.

This included $339.9m from gaming operations, a rise of 45.0%, while non-gaming revenue also increased 90.0% year-on-year to $144.4m. Other revenue, derived from its investment business and other hospitality and support services, fell 95.5% to $169,000.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) for Q1 stood at $191.7m, a rise of 53.6%. This comprised $196.6m in Singapore integrated resort EBITDA, which was slightly offset by a $4.9m loss from other operations.

When included $2.0m in other costs, EBITDA was $189.7m, an increase of 55.9%, while net profit for the quarter amounted to $129.2m, a year-on-year rise of 219.8%.

Looking ahead

In terms of future growth, Genting Singapore company secretary Liew Lan Hing said that the business will continue to pursue its Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) 2.0 strategy for the integrated resort, whereby it will roll out a series of initiatives to increase the value of the brand.

“Looking ahead, as we continue with RWS 2.0 strategy, the group is committed to enhancing RWS’ brand identity as a premium luxury destination that appeals to trendy and affluent customers,” Hing said.

“To be carried out in two major stages, we will be investing to enhance all our product offerings. The initial stage, RWS 1.5, involves re-inventing and innovating our facilities to upscale RWS’ destination appeal and achieve better demand from our target markets.”

Included in this strategy is the fully renovated 389-room Festive Hotel, which was rebranded Hotel Ora and started receiving guests in April 2023. The Forum at RWS, the central cluster which serves as the integrated resort’s first port of call for visitors, will also undergo an extensive transformation from May 2023.

In addition, ongoing construction on Minion Land at the Universal Studios Singapore and the Singapore Oceanarium are progressing well, with soft openings planes for 2025.

Consumers bet $321.4m on sports during the month, down 10.7% from $360.0m in April last year and also 25.8% behind the $433.0m wagered in March of this year.

Basketball was again the most popular sport to bet on, drawing $91.6m in wagers, ahead of baseball on $61.2m and football with $3.4m. Some $91.6m was wagered in parlay bets and $74.0m was spent betting on other sports.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Through the organisation’s” Grassroots share” programme, up to 7% of money staked through Norsk Tipping’s gambling operations is earmarked for good causes chosen by the player. While all of Norsk Tipping’s profits are designed to go towards socially beneficial causes, the programme is designed to allow the operator’s customers themselves to vote on what good causes the money should be directed to.

 The NOK 253m represents an approximately eight million krone increase in money raised when compared to the same period the previous year.

Through the programme, the organisation provides three payments per year; on 1 January, 1 May and 1 September. The country’s association for the relocation of animals received the largest share of the money compared to the other charities at NOK 1.39m. This was followed by Vålerenga football, which received NOK 1.2m, and the Children’s Cancer Association Oslo and Akershus, that received NOK 1.09m.

The categories that have historically received the most support through the programme are sports, recreation and culture and art.

Norsk Tipping TV ad ban

In September, Norsk Tipping announced that it would no longer be broadcasting sports betting television ads after the country’s main broadcasters banned advertisements featuring unlicensed companies.

“When the illegal advertising is now mostly gone from Norwegian TV screens, we adapt our visibility to the new situation, as we always do,” said Tonje Sagstuen, Norsk Tipping’s communications director.

“Norsk Tipping shall not market more than necessary, but sufficiently so that the players choose the regulated offer. We have long been wary of sports betting advertising on TV. Now we are stopping it completely.”

As part of the partnership, IBJR signed a betting integrity protection agreement with IBIA. This will support work against match-fixing and increase monitoring around sports events in Brazil.

This comes days after Brazil published its provisional measure for sports betting, placing it on the cusp of regulation.

“Sector regulation is essential to increase the authorities’ monitoring and collaboration actions to curb match-fixing schemes, protecting sports betting companies and Brazilian bettors,” said André Gelfi, CEO of IBJR. “To that end, we have already introduced IBIA representatives to the key authorities so that closer cooperation can be established to tackle the issue effectively.”

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA said that both bodies had the same goals for this partnership – protection for Brazil’s customers.

“IBIA is delighted to reach this important agreement with the IBJR,” said Ali. “It is clear from our conversations that we share the same values and goals for the Brazilian sports betting market. That prioritises the integrity of the betting product and the protection of consumers and sporting events in Brazil.”

“We will now be seeking to explore joint projects that progress those important objectives.”

Codere posted year-on-year growth across all its operating markets in the three months to 31 March, with each regional operation experiencing a double-digit increase in revenue.

Chief executive Aviv Sher praised the impact of investment around the Fifa World Cup in the previous quarter, which allowed the business to grow its customer base, with many of these players having remained active during Q1.

“We are off to a very strong start in 2023, with net gaming revenue growing by 55% in the first quarter to nearly €40.0m,” Sher said. “The significant investment that we made in the prior quarter around the World Cup allowed us to meaningfully grow our customer base versus pre-World Cup levels. 

“These customers remained engaged throughout the first quarter, in particular in Spain and Mexico. Also, our cross-sell efforts between sports betting and casino played an important role in that engagement, with the latter contributing 53% of our net gaming revenue.”

Q1

Revenue in Q1 amounted to €39.5m (£34.4m/$43.1m), up from €25.5m in the same period last year.

Codere’s operations in Spain were the primary source of revenue, generating €18.4m in Q1, up 39.4% year-on-year. This was despite the number of average monthly active customers being only slightly higher at 40,193, compared to 38,287 last year.

The operator experienced the highest level of growth in Mexico, where revenue was 76.0% higher at €17.6m. This was driven by a rise in average monthly active customers from 33,382 to 49,556.

Elsewhere, Colombia revenue jumped 53.3% year-on-year to €2.3m, while activities in other regions generated €1.2m in revenue, an increase of 50.0%.

In terms of spending, marketing was the main outgoing at €19.8m, though this was 10.4% lower than €22.1m last year. However, platform and content expenses were 24.4% higher at €10.7m, while personnel costs increased 40.7% to €3.8m and gaming taxes 64.1% to €6.4m.

After also including €1.1m in other costs, this left an adjusted EBITDA loss of €2.3m, though this was an improvement on the €13.2m loss posted at the same point last year.

Codere did not publish a full breakdown of its remaining finances for the quarter but did note that net loss was slashed from €10.1m to €1.1m, while its cash position at the end of Q1 was more than €49.0m.

“We are excited to be presenting both strong top line growth in the quarter and, more importantly, a significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA,” Codere Online chief financial officer Oscar Iglesias said. “This was partially driven by the lower level of marketing spend in the quarter in furtherance of our plans to deliver sustainable growth for our shareholders. 

“For the full year, we continue to expect to generate between €140.0m to €150.0m of net gaming revenue and adjusted EBITDA of negative €20.0m to €30.0m, although given our strong performance in Q1, we now expect to be at the higher end of the range and are well on track to deliver positive EBITDA and cash flow for the full year in 2024.”

Mohegan experienced growth across all of its business segments during the three months to March 31, though the 283.9% rise in digital revenue far outweighed the growth experienced at any of its land-based operations.

This, Mohegan said, was helped by the launch of digital gaming in the Canadian province of Ontario, with this now running in addition to its activities in Connecticut in the US.

Read the full story on iGB North America.