Mybet SE : publishes preliminary figures for 2015 financial year

- Adjusted revenue of EUR 69.2 million broadly at prior-year level

- Even in absence of major sporting event, steady betting stakes in core segment Sports Betting

- Clear growth in mobile area: betting stakes almost quadrupled compared with previous year

- Earnings under pressure by non-recurring factors

- HERA project progressing successfully: new IT platform expected to go live in Q2 2016

- Expected 2016 revenue growth of between 8 and 12 percent at a positive operating EBIT

Kiel, March 31, 2016 - mybet Holding SE (Deutsche Börse Prime Standard, ISIN DE000A0JRU67) today publishes the preliminary figures for the 2015 financial year. Due to unforeseen organisational bottlenecks, publication of the full, audited Annual Report is now anticipated at the start of April 2016.

The focus for the 2015 financial year was clearly on the guiding principle of 'Product and Customer First'. Part of this involved successfully maintaining the change process kicked off in the previous year and launching the HERA project at the end of the first half of 2015. In particular, progress was made with expanding the product range, the core processes and organisational structure of the group were optimised, and the introduction of a new, high-performance IT platform was progressed. Business operations were stable compared with the previous year, while non-recurring effects significantly eroded the result for the period.

2015 financial year

The adjusted, preliminary total revenue for the period came to EUR 69.2 million (previous year: EUR 70.4 million). This was adjusted to reflect the year-on-year change in the reporting approach for hold and revenue as a result of the switch to a B2B model for the contractual agreements with partners in Ghana as well as the sale of the group company C4U-Malta Ltd (hereinafter: C4U). The Management Board and Supervisory Board of mybet had approved this sale as part of the strategic focus on sports betting and casino as the core business areas.

The increased measures to reactivate existing customers had done much to keep the revenue performance on an even keel in the 2015 financial year: in the period under review the adjusted betting stakes in the core area of Sports Betting showed a slight rise of 1.1 percent on the previous year - despite the clearly positive effect of the FIFA World Cup in 2014. Online, the average betting stakes were improved to EUR 435 per active customer (previous year: EUR 362), but the grand total of EUR 95.1 million was below the prior-year figure (previous year: EUR 100.6 million). On the other hand betting stakes from mobile business were almost quadrupled to EUR 20.2 million (previous year: EUR 5.2 million). This was driven by the steady development and expansion of the mobile offering as well as by the growing take-up of mobile sports betting, especially live betting. In retail business (offline), across all branches mybet achieved a rise in adjusted betting stakes of 8.7 percent to EUR 93.5 million (previous year: EUR 86.0 million). Especially the quality drive helped increase the average betting stakes per betting shop. Capital controls in Greece in the third and fourth quarters of 2015 weighed on the Sports Betting and Casino & Poker segments. The adjusted revenue for the Sports Betting segment was nevertheless slightly down on the previous year at EUR 39.5 million (previous year: EUR 40.3 million). Because implementation of the EU-Value Added Tax Directive 2008/8 renders portions of the revenue for the Casino & Poker segment subject to VAT revenue in the Casino & Poker segment fell year on year by 9.4 percent to EUR 19.9 million (previous year: EUR 21.9 million). In the Horse Betting segment, revenue rose significantly to EUR 9.3 million (previous year EUR 7.1 million).

The strategic decision to introduce the new, higher-performance IT platform resulted in a onetime write-down of EUR 5.3 million on existing software in the period under review. The extraordinary effect of the capital controls and other non-recurring effects also put the operating the operating result under pressure. The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the period under review were therefore negative and amounted to EUR -8.8 million (previous year: EUR 555 thousand).

Zeno Osskó, Chief Executive Officer of mybet Holding SE, commented: 'We were confronted with an array of challenges in the past financial year. But the development especially in our core area of Sports Betting confirms our strategic direction. The rise in betting stakes even in the absence of a major sporting event and considering the burden on operations in Greece demonstrates that our omnichannel strategy is bearing fruit. We now enable our customers to use all mybet sales channels using one central betting account. For a further boost to customer loyalty, we have also specifically transferred measures from the online sector to retail business. Satisfied customers are our top priority, and in conjunction with a high-performance IT platform are the basis for sustained growth in revenue and profit over the coming years.'

Outlook

The Management Board sees the future of mybet as lying in the company's core business area - Sports Betting - and in the Casino segment. With the help of the new, higher-performance IT platform, the aim is now to market these products more efficiently and thus to secure further rises in the betting stakes placed by both existing and new customers in the future. In adopting this strategic focus, the decision was also taken to sell off the group company C4U. The regulatory body in charge, the Malta Financial Services Authority, is expected to grant its permission in the second quarter of 2016. The Management Board expects the sale and additional cost savings to yield further positive effects for the financial performance from 2016.

'Through the measures described above, we provided a decisive momentum in the past year and are now able to look to the current financial year with huge confidence,' declared a convinced Zeno Osskó. 'In future, we will be placing the focus on Sports Betting as our core business, but also on the profitable Casino segment, and will be further expanding the product range in those areas.' Based on the plans for the final IT platform to go live in the second quarter of 2016, the improved product offering as well as the optimised core processes and organisational structures, the Management Board expects revenue growth of between 8 and 12 percent for the 2016 financial year, with a positive operating result before interest and taxes (EBIT) that will therefore represent a substantial increase compared to the previous year.

The full, audited 2015 Annual Report is expected to be made available on the mybet website at https://mybet-se.com/en/category/finanzberichte/ on April 12, 2016.

Preliminary key figures for the 2015 financial year

The figures for the 2014 and 2015 financial years are additionally adjusted for the contractually based change in reporting for Ghana business as well as the reporting of C4U as discontinued operations.

Contact:
mybet Holding SE
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Yulia Link
Tel. : +49 (40) 8537 880
Fax : +49 (40) 8537 8830
Mail : yulia.link@mybet.com

Contact:
mybet Holding SE
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Yulia Link
Tel. +49 (40) 85 37 88 47
Fax +49 (40) 85 37 88 30
Mail yulia.link@mybet.com

mybet Holding SE issued this content on 31 March 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 March 2016 07:06:15 UTC

Original Document: https://mybet-se.com/en/pressemitteilung/?story=976