Evolution Gaming expects to hit its earnings target for 2019, following a strong start by the live gaming supplier.
Operating revenues in the first quarter increased by 54 per cent to €79.3m (€51.6m), EBITDA rose by 64 per cent to €35.9m (€22m), corresponding to a margin of 45.3 per cent (42.6 per cent) and profit for the period was €28.6m (€16.5m).
Earnings per share stood at €0.79 (€0.46).
The opening quarter of 2019 saw Evolution enjoy leverage from investments made the previous year, a series of new customers went live – including DraftKings (USA), Lotoquebec (Canada), Svenska Spel and ATG (Sweden) – while a roll-put of several new games took place, including Monopoly Live.
Evolution Gaming CEO Martin Carlesund said: “With a favourable start to the year and with high confidence in the upcoming product launches, we currently see good conditions to finish in the upper end of the previously communicated range of 44 to 46 per cent EBITDA margin for the 2019 full year.
“It is our assessment that live casino as a product vertical will continue to take market shares in 2019 and why we consequently will continue to invest based on our customers’ demands in our studios also going forward. A demand driver is the fact that we are broadening the live vertical with new products that appeal to completely new end users. In that way we can address a considerably larger part of the total online casino market.
“The market development in the quarter has been good, not least underpinned by increasing regulation. During the quarter, we went live with customers such as DraftKings in the US, Lotoquebec in Canada, and Svenska Spel and ATG in Sweden. We can establish that the share of live casino increases among the operators in more or less every newly regulated or re-regulated market.
“With hard and focused work and high energy throughout 2018 and in the first quarter of 2019, we have taken our product portfolio to a whole new level, broadened our own market and created a new market for the industry, which in our perspective makes the gap between ourselves and the competitors wider than ever. Our launch pipeline has never been as strong as it is now.
“Hence, it is my absolute opinion that we have solid opportunities to further extend the distance to the competitors and strengthen our leading position during the remainder of the year.”
