Mybet Group: First-quarter operating performance still subdued despite progress in retail business

mybet Group: First-quarter operating performance still subdued despite progress in retail business

- Revenue in first quarter well below prior-year figure, but EBIT shows improvement

- Greek market and known limitations from existing online platform putting brakes on operating business

- Approval process for sale of subsidiary C4U Malta Ltd. still not completed

- Management Board confirms revenue and earnings forecast but postpones launch of new online platform

Kiel, May 12, 2016. The mybet Group ended the first quarter of 2016 with revenue of EUR 14.9 million and an operating result (EBIT) of EUR -467 thousand. In the Quarterly Statement published today, mybet therefore reports on the one hand a palpable fall in revenue of around EUR 1.8 million compared with the prior-year figure. On the other hand the EBIT achieved represents a clear improvement of EUR 222 thousand, year on year. The net loss for the first quarter came to EUR -802 thousand, which again marks an improvement of EUR 76 thousand.

The main reason for these operating results which are as a whole not satisfactory for mybet was the weak revenue performance in online business, both from sports betting and in the Casino & Poker group segment. The causes included on the one hand the ripple-down effects of the capital controls in Greece, which - while no longer preventing mybet's activities - initially made it necessary to win back and activate all its customers there. This produced a much lower revenue contribution from Greece compared with the prior-year quarter, when this factor was absent. On the other hand the known limitations regarding the appeal and product breadth of the existing online platform are inhibiting the desired operational momentum until the new system is rolled out. Nor was the very pleasing revenue performance in the retail area, in other words the physical betting shops, sufficient to compensate for these burdens. By contrast, the improved EBIT reflects the effectiveness of the measures taken to optimise internal processes and structures, to improve efficiency and the strict cost discipline.

Official approval of C4U sale still pending
mybet was still unable to complete the sale of the subsidiary C4U Malta Ltd. within the first quarter due to the pending approval of the relevant Maltese authorities. This approval had latterly been expected by the end of April 2016. The general liquidity situation therefore remained unchanged at the end of the quarter.

New start date for higher-performance platform
Throughout the first quarter of 2016 mybet continued to work hard to finish the development work on the new online platform. This will restore the company's highly attractive competitive position thanks to the significantly expanded sports betting and casino offering. However the start date has been rescheduled once again after the end of the first quarter: 'We would have loved to use the Football European Championship as the launch opportunity for our new platform. But in the interests of the best possible standard of customer satisfaction, which is absolutely critical to the future of mybet, we have decided in favour of additional detail work to the platform,' explained Zeno Osskó, CEO of mybet Holding SE. The new start date for the platform has been set for the period between mid-July and early August 2016, in other words before the new season in European football leagues starts.

Outlook 2016
The Management Board confirmed the current revenue and earnings forecast with the publication of the Quarterly Statement. However especially in view of the need to move the start of the new platform until after EURO 2016, the Management Board points out the resulting increased risk to the revenue forecast being achieved, even if regular league football plays a much bigger part in the economic result of the company than the European Championship. For the 2016 financial year, mybet is currently targeting revenue growth of eight to twelve percent and a positive EBIT in the low seven-digit range.
Furthermore, the Management Board will now prepare alternative scenarios in detail in order to secure the financing of operating activities in the event of a further delay to the cash inflow from the sale of C4U.

The complete Quarterly Statement has been published on the website of mybet Holding SE at https://mybet-se.com/en/category/finanzberichte/

mybet Holding SE
The mybet Group, licensed in several European countries to offer sports betting and online casino games, has its registered office in Kiel, Germany, and locations in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Malta. mybet offers its betting and gaming products over the internet platforms mybet.com and mybet.de as well as at physical betting shops operating under a franchise system. In addition the group supplies regional betting providers in Europe and Africa in the capacity of B2B service provider, and is also active in horse betting.
mybet Holding SE is the parent company of the mybet Group. The shares of mybet Holding SE (ISIN DE000A0JRU67) are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Prime Standard.
For further information, visit www.mybet-se.com