In its 20th year as an online sports betting provider, Interwetten Group had a strong first half with turnover up 23 per cent.

This was despite the absence in that period of a significant football tournament and a "punter-friendly" period in February and March.

The sports margin for the first half-year was down 1.9 per cent and revenues declined 13 per cent, but discounting the UEFA European Championship 2016 revenues, sports turnover was up 11 per cent and gross gaming revenue down five per cent.

The Malta-licensed company saw gross gaming revenues up €33.8m, a rise of 26 per cent, and EBITDA at €6.6m with net profits €5.7m.

Said Werner Becher for Interwetten’s board: “In recent years, we were spoiled by constant double-digit growth rates. Fortunately, the Interwetten Group is very profitable and we can easily cope with a number of bad margin months. On the other hand, I am convinced that not having met our expectations for H1 will give our team an extra kick to push even harder.”

The company is now preparing to enter the Swedish market, producing two new TV spots for September. It will be the company’s sixth major market, after Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and Greece.