MGM-owned operator LeoVegas has posted its Q1 results, reporting a difficult period for the company. The operators’ trading declined as the group recorded drops in several metrics.

LeoVegas posted total quarterly revenue of $101 million (converted to USD), which represents a slight decline of 4% from last year’s results. The company EBITDA, meanwhile, sunk further to a loss of $3.32 million in Q1 2023. Adjusted EBITDA for the period was a loss of $1.18 million, representing a margin of -1.2%.

Gross profit for the three months ended March 31 declined to $65.92 million. Meanwhile, the company also recorded an operating loss of almost $8.8 million – a sharp decline from last year’s positive results.

Operating expenses, meanwhile, doubled and reached almost $290 million. Luckily, the company was able to offset some of the negative impact by divesting its share in BeyondPlay to Bettor Capital for $2.04 million.

LeoVegas closed the quarter with $73 million in cash and cash equivalents – a decline of over $9 million from the results recorded at the end of Q1 2022.

The Operator Struggled in Q1 2023

LeoVegas’ declines are attributable to various headwinds, including a sharp increase in operating expenses and suboptimal performance in certain markets.

Germany’s tight regulatory regime, for example, consistently undermined the operator’s profitability, resulting in serious losses. The Nordics, LeoVegas’ home market, didn’t make things easier for the company either. Its local revenues waned but the group continues to be optimistic about the market’s potential.

The United Kingdom and Spain were profitable markets for the company, helping LeoVegas record increased net gaming revenue from the Rest of Europe region. Despite the setbacks, the company experienced a 17% growth in the region, attesting to its potential.

Still, Q1 remained a largely troubled period for the operator. LeoVegas noted that its business was negatively impacted by the macroeconomic conditions and unfavorable exchange rates. The company’s Rest of World business plummeted by 28%.

LeoVegas hopes that its upcoming initiatives will help it improve profitability. The company just launched the Expekt sports betting brand in Denmark and now hopes to capitalize on opportunities in the country.

At the beginning of this month, on the other hand, the operator acquired Push Gaming in the hopes of bolstering its international growth.

The post LeoVegas’ Business Declined in Q1 2023, the Management Remains Optimistic appeared first on Keno Wizard.

In general, the current trend shows that sports betting continues to be the pastime of choice of millions of Americans. The sports betting industry has exploded with new states legalizing wagering on sports each year.

Despite the generally favorable state of affairs, the growth trend is by no means universal or without its exception. In Washington DC, for example, sportsbooks opened 2023 with suboptimal performances as revenues from sports betting dipped.

As reported, sports betting companies experienced slight declines in both handle and revenue. Operators’ performances were weaker than the ones recorded during the previous month and lagged behind those recorded during the same period last year.

Sports Betting Took a Dip

Figures reported by iGaming Business show that overall player spending sat at $18.5 million. This represents a barely noticeable 0.5% year-on-year decline from January 2022 when DC players wagered a total of $18.6 million. The figure also amounts to a month-on-month decline of 1.1% from December last year when the DC sportsbooks took $18.7 million in handle.

While the DC sports betting industry experienced but a slight decline in player spending, revenues from the vertical plummeted. The reported numbers show that gross gaming revenue from the sports betting sector was mere $1.5 million. This figure translates into a YOY decrease of 25% and a MOM decline of a whopping 37.5%.

For reference, Washington DC sports betting recorded revenues of $2.0 million in January 2022 and $2.7 million in December 2022.

It is possible that the decline is attributable to the seasonality of elite sporting events, considering that the FIFA World Cup took place a month earlier.

Companies Performed Suboptimally

iGaming Business also reported figures about sports betting operators’ individual performances. It turns out that Gambet, a sports betting entity operated by the DC Lottery and powered by Intralot, was the best performer. The company reported $8.8 million in sports betting handle, which resulted in revenue of $862,723.

Caesars Entertainment was the second-best company in terms of revenue with $371,851. The gambling juggernaut also reported sports betting handle of $6.4 million. Next up was FanDuel, which saw players spend $1.6 million in wagers, resulting in revenue of $236,139 for the company.

Meanwhile, Grand Central Bar reported $41,679 in revenue from a handle of $401,724. Cloakbook, on the other hand, recorded a handle of $10,524 resulting in just $2,812 in revenue.

BetMGM failed to record positive revenue and instead lost $20,763.

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