Kambi Group plc has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, showing a solid performance and significant strategic developments.
In the second quarter of 2024, Kambi reported revenues of €45.7 million, up from €42.9 million in Q2 2023. For the first half of 2024, revenues amounted to €88.9 million, compared to €86.9 million in the same period last year. Operating profit (EBIT) for the second quarter was €6.2 million, with a margin of 13.5%, up from €3.7 million and a margin of 8.6% in Q2 2023. For the first half of the year, operating profit reached €10.6 million, with a margin of 11.9%, compared to €8.2 million and a margin of 9.4% in H1 2023.
EBITA (acq), which includes earnings before interest, taxation, and amortization on acquired intangible assets, was €7.5 million for the second quarter, representing a margin of 16.4%, an increase from €5.0 million and a margin of 11.7% in Q2 2023. For the first half of 2024, EBITA (acq) was €13.3 million, with a margin of 14.9%, compared to €10.8 million and a margin of 12.4% in H1 2023.
Cash flow, excluding working capital and M&A, was €8.1 million for Q2 2024, significantly higher than €0.1 million in Q2 2023. For the first half of 2024, cash flow was €13.5 million, up from €3.4 million in H1 2023. Earnings per share for the second quarter were €0.155, up from €0.083 in Q2 2023, and €0.260 for the first half, compared to €0.190 in H1 2023.
Key highlights from the quarter include Kambi’s entry into an exclusive nationwide partnership with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, one of the largest tribes in the United States. Additionally, there were multiple partner launches, including the significant completions of LiveScore in the UK and Svenska Spel in Sweden ahead of the UEFA European Championship.
The company also announced industry veteran Werner Becher as the successor to Kristian Nylén as CEO. The Board decided to withdraw its 2027 financial targets after reviewing underlying assumptions, noting slower than expected progress towards regulation in certain key markets, which may delay revenue.
Furthermore, Kambi completed its fourth share buyback program and announced a new long-term capital allocation policy aimed at returning capital to shareholders through buybacks.
These developments reflect Kambi’s continued strategic focus on expanding its market presence and enhancing shareholder value while navigating the evolving regulatory landscape in the igaming industry.
Kristian Nylén, CEO of Kambi Group commented: “In the second quarter, operator turnover increased 3% year-on-year, although was up 20% when excluding the impact of the Penn online migration. This was driven by a busy sporting calendar and the growth of new and existing partners. Operator trading margin was 10.3%, boosted by higher than average margin from the June games in the Euros soccer tournament. With operating costs broadly flat, EBIT came in at €6.2 million, up 67% year-on-year.
In April, we strengthened our US and tribal network through an exclusive US-wide partnership with Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, operator of Choctaw Casinos & Resorts. Choctaw owns a variety of gaming and hospitality destinations throughout southeastern Oklahoma, close to the Texas border, and is the exclusive casino and resort partner of the Texas Rangers, Major League Baseball’s World Series Champion. While Texas has yet to regulate sports betting, previous attempts to pass legislation would have seen licences tethered to the state’s sports franchises. We expect this will be the case again next year when we anticipate another effort to bring regulated sports betting to what is one of the largest states in the US.
Ahead of the Euros, we successfully delivered on two major partner launches, with LiveScore in the UK and Svenska Spel’s Oddset brand. These were both important accomplishments, carried out in parallel and requiring various bespoke developments. In the case of Svenska Spel, our front end division Shape Games was also successful in delivering its technology to enable the launch. The Euros and Copa America tournaments saw us provide all our partners with a market-leading product, enhanced by the delivery of expanded player props markets and Bet Builder capability via our AI trading division Tzeract. During the second half of June, activity on the Kambi platform was at its highest ever levels in terms of bets processed and number of players per day, with our partners receiving an uninterrupted high-quality service throughout.
On 1 July, I was pleased that we announced Werner Becher would be succeeding me as CEO from 25 July. With vast experience from the technology and gaming industries, most recently a senior executive at global sports data supplier Sportradar, I have every confidence Werner is the right person to lead Kambi into a new era of multi-product provision. I will be offering my full support to Werner from my new position on the Board of Kambi, where I will also help guide our long-term strategy.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Kambi employees, past and present, for their hard work and dedication during my time as CEO over the past 14 years, as well as everyone else who has supported Kambi along the way. I am proud of what we have achieved together and I firmly believe the foundation we have built positions us for future success.”
