STS retains market leadership as Q3 revenue rises 25%

STS retains market leadership as Q3 revenue rises 25%

STS Gaming Group remains on track for a positive end to 2022 trading, as its third quarter operations were bolstered by an early start to football wagering.

The firm reported revenue of PLN 150m (€31.9m), a 25% increase on Q3 2021 income of PLN 115m (€24.5m), and EBITDA of PLN 73m (€15.5m), representing a growth rate of 39% on 2021 (PLN 52m/€11m).

This corresponded to a substantial increase in profits by over 65% to PLN 49m (€10.4m) from PLN 30m (€6.4m), with the group’s primary company STS SA recording PLN 48m (€10.2m) profits, an increase of 42% on Q3 2021 (PLN 34m/€7.2m).

Year-to-date, STS revenue stands at PLN 413m (€88m), rising by 8% on 2021’s 381m (€81.2m) – however, although still overwhelmingly positive, profit for this time period has fallen marginally by 4.3%.

The firm’s profit for January-September 2022 is PLN 111m (€23.6m), down from 116m (€24.7m) for the corresponding time period the year before whilst STS SA’s profit was down 3% from PLN 135m (€28.8m) to 131m (€27.9m) – although group wide EBITDA of PLN 190m (€40.4m) represented an increase of 6% from PLN 178m (€39.9m).

“In Q3 2022, there was a high activity of players observed, which was primarily related to a very intense calendar of sporting events,” said Mateusz Juroszek, STS Holding President.

According to Juroszek, STS has benefited greatly from the packed sports schedule this year, which has seen a short break between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 football schedules due to the World Cup.

An early start to 2022-23 domestic campaigns meant wagers also began to come in earlier in the year than usual, subsequently bolstered by the now-ongoing World Cup, which Juroszek stated is a perfect opportunity for customer acquisition. 

On this front, the company has also performed well throughout the year, with active customer numbers from Q1 to Q3 standing at 576,000, with 237,000 new registrations over the past nine months and 163,000 first-time depositors.

“Football competitions due to the World Cup in Qatar started already in the holiday season,” STS’ President continued. 

“In addition, Polish volleyball and basketball players and Iga Świątek proved their good form during international tournaments. As a result, the players had a number of opportunities to place bets.

“The ongoing World Cup in Qatar is a perfect event for increased acquisition of new players. Additionally, the participation of 32 teams and several dozen matches played means that the activity of bettors will certainly be high.”

Based in Warsaw, STS has interests across Europe via licences in Great Britain and Estonia, offering sports betting, virtual sports, esports, BetGames and online casino, the latter outside of its home market of Poland. 

Additionally, the group controls a 74% stake in Czech technology firm Betsys, which is a key supplier to the Polish market, where STS is the leading operator.

According to the Graj Legalnie, Poland’s sports betting trade association, STS was one of only eight profitable Polish domestic operators in 2021, out of 23 active licence holders. 

Moving forward, the company has outlined an ambition to continue investing in its product portfolio to retain market leadership and diversity, having channelled PLN 29m (€6.2m) into said portfolio as well as technological solutions last year.

Source: SBC News