Performance of Swedish Casinos in Key Sectors: Live Casino – M&A

National Sweden Day has passed with good gaming news from leading Nordic companies. Five casino leaders, Kambi, Evolution Gaming, NetEnt, Betsson and Kindred Group, took the opportunity to unveil their Q4 and FY figures. All five companies are based in Sweden but have assets all around the world…

First of all, we can observe that live casino stock continues to increase in value. Two Swedish operators, Kindred and Betsson, were affected by lower sports betting margin in the last quarter of 2019.

Evolution, on the other hand, has recorded one of the best years recently. The operator reported an overall 51% growth in revenues (Q4) and a 49% increase for the entire 2019. The developer continues to make a difference by offering state-of-the-art live casino chances. Its share price increased from SEK 329.50 ($34.23) to SEK 374.50, after the release of the final report.

Another premium gaming operator from Sweden – NetEnt – managed to reach a 1% rise in annual revenue while Betsson’s profit dropped 10% in the final quarter of 2019. 

Despite minor discrepancies, the overall performance of live casino is optimistic, with Evolution being at the forefront of the sector.

The Swedish gambling market has recently undergone serious changes. The industry is facing ongoing problems, but operators have started to unveil more positive figures…

Commenting on the state of casino sector, Kindred CEO, Henrik Tjärnström, said:

“There comes a point where everyone is probably taking comfort from the recent tax numbers coming out of Sweden. We were able to show it is perfectly normal and it’s a normal development in any re-regulated market that margin pressure gradually fades away over time.”

Tjärnström additionally observed that only natural companies see more optimistic results, while the smaller enterprises are slowly removed from the local market.

Kambi Figures

Kambi is another industry leader with positive results. The company recorded a growing trend in Q4 and FY, with more generated revenues and entry in the US market. 

Commenting on the recent happenings, Kambi CEO, Kristian Nylén, observed:

“It will obviously have a large impact on our US revenue and it’s obviously a big disappointment, but our overall position is still very strong. It’s just starting and I’m sure that part of the business will still grow faster than the European part of our business.”

If we take into consideration the success rate of mergers and acquisition deals, we can remain optimistic about the future…

NetEnt recently acquired Red Tiger, which is one of the examples that M&A works very well. The new acquisition supported the operator in driving its revenues up to 10% in the last quarter of 2019 together with 1% annual growth.

The NetEnt example shows the bright side of M&A, but other operators still have to be careful while looking to conclude similar deals…

Source: “Q4 Sweden analysis: Live casino, M & A and other talking points“, Poole, Tim, Gambling Insider, February 13, 2020.