Sports betting media group Better Collective has posted its Q4 and full-year results for 2020, showing revenues ahead by 35% to $110.7m from $78.4m year-on-year. The company also indicated a strong start to 2021, reporting a near doubling of US income during January.
The firm’s performance was boosted by a strong close to year-end trading, as a ‘record high’ sports betting performance saw it achieve Q4 revenues of $45m (Q4 2019: $23.7m).
Updating investors, the company explained that it was able to adapt its entire sports publishing network to take full advantage of the rescheduled end of year sports calendar, delivering a 30% increase in new depositing customers to 153,000 during the Q4 period.
Furthermore, Q4 commercial activities were boosted by the successful acquisition and integration of paid media specialist Atemi Group for $53.5m (deal closed October 2020) – an asset which will serve as Better Collective’s new pay-per-click unit.
Excluding Atemi M&A special items, the firm achieved a 92% increase in Q4 EBITDA to $16.5m (Q4 2019: $8.6m). It also underlined that its future financial reporting will be split into two segments accounting for ‘organic’ (legacy domains) and ‘paid media’ (Atemi + PPC activities) assets.
Jesper Søgaard, Co-founder and CEO of Better Collective, commented: “Looking back at an unusual year, I am pleased to see that our business has proven resilient and I am proud that we come out strong on performance. We have entered 2021 in great shape and are well-positioned for an eventful 2021.”
Addressing the company’s performance so far this year, the statement noted: “January revenue reached 13 mEUR ($15.8m), a growth of 78% versus 2020, of which 16% was organic growth. The organic growth was recorded despite a strong comparison towards January 2020 and was partly driven by the US business where total revenue in local currency almost doubled.”
