Revenues rise 47% at Sky Betting & Gaming
Leeds-headquartered Sky Betting and Gaming Group saw revenue increase 47% to £339m in the six months to 28 December – up from £230m.
The firm’s half-year results show that the Sky Bet revenue was up 58% to £210m (£133m), which it said was driven by staking growth of 29% and favourable sports results.
Sky Gaming’s revenue was up 31% to £117m (£89m) and Group EBITDA increased 92% to £118m (£62m).
Sky Betting and Gaming said its total customers increased 19% to 2m (1.7m) and that there had been a continued investment in headcount, with 230 net jobs created, mainly at the Yorkshire base.
Richard Flint, CEO of Sky Betting & Gaming, said: “The business continued to perform very well in the first half of 2017/18. Our focus on the customer, and delivering quality experiences, offers and promotions continues to differentiate our brand, and we extended our lead as the UK’s most popular online betting brand.
“During the period, we continued to enhance our range of markets, products and offers, with more betting options than ever and over 20 exclusive new games launched on our gaming brands. Our investments in data science are delivering greater personalisation to our customers, with the home page tailored towards the individual, and recommended games and bet options delivering relevant and appealing content.
“It was particularly pleasing to launch a fully integrated safer gambling campaign during the period, and we continue to increase our investment in research, data analysis and capability to provide a safe and responsible gambling environment for our customers.”
Flint said that during the period, the firm supported a mandatory research levy, and increased regulation from the Gambling Commission to protect customers that are at risk.
Sky Betting and Gaming also extended its headline sponsorship of the English Football League for an additional five years, taking it through to the 2023/24 season.
“We are proud of our record of job creation and investment in Yorkshire, with an additional 230 jobs created in the period, as well as our contribution to regional and national taxation. A report by WPI Economics estimates that we contributed over £300m gross value added to the Yorkshire economy in 2016/17, and we plan to continue investing in the region,” added Flint.
“During the period, we continued to export our success, with the launch of our second international business Sky Bet Deutschland for German sports betting customers. This business aims to provide the same quality of user experience, range of bets and simplicity to German customers that our UK and Italian customers have come to expect from us.
“We have just enjoyed our busiest ever Cheltenham, with bet volumes peaking at just over 300 bets per second, so with strong momentum in the first half of the year, we will maintain our focus on investment in talent and technology, delivering innovative and quality products and offers to our customers, leaving us confident that we can deliver further growth.”
