Intralot CEO Sokratis Kokkalis told investors that the firm is ready to take on new opportunities in the US and globally after enjoying a relatively successful Q1 of trading.
Publishing its Q1 trading report, the Athens-listed gambling group noted that it made a steady recovery from the pandemic, with all divisions noting slight upticks in performance.
The group registered revenues of $104.8m, up 0.1% year-on-year as it outlined it benefited from the removal of COVID-19 restrictions in key jurisdictions.
Whilst some jurisdictions such as Australia, Croatia and Turkey saw improvements in performance, US operations saw a downturn in revenue of 5.1% YoY, largely due to the nonrecurrence of the jackpot that boosted sales one year ago by around $4.3m.
Other revenue deficits included from services ended lower by 3.4% YoY, while revenue from merchandise sales generated a deficit of 55.4% YoY due to their less frequent nature.
The group did note success in US sports betting venture, enhanced by earning new contracts in Montana and Washington DC, with the division’s revenue increasing slightly by 0.1m.
Argentinian B2C operations enjoyed a 32% uptick in revenue driven by market growth in the Latin American jurisdiction. In local currency, current year results posted a +50.4% y-o-y increase.
Lottery proved to be a dominant force in Intralot’s topline, providing 61,9% of revenues. This was followed by sports betting which contributed 18.8% to group turnover in Q1. Technology contracts accounted for 7.7% and VLTs monitoring represented 11.2% of group turnover, while racing constituted 0.5% of total revenue.
In terms of expenses, the firm noted a downturn in operational costs, decreasing by $0.3m to $23.4m, compared to $23.7m one year ago.
This bolstered Intralot’s profitability, with its EBITDA and EBITDA margin improving on last year’s comparatives. EBITDA stood at $28.0m, up 4.9% YoY, whilst EBITDA margin was 26.7% compared to 25.5% on Q1 of 2021.
Kokkalis commented: “First quarter results show a consolidation of gains and recovery from the COVID impact and reflect an improved financial profile, with normalized revenues and a reduction in operational expenses and debt servicing costs consistent with the Company’s business plan.
“On the background of this strongly improved P/L and Balance Sheet, the Company has designed and is about to launch a Share Capital Increase by means of Rights Issue and has secured the commitment of Standard General Master Fund II L.P. as cornerstone investor for the unsubscribed rights in a move that will significantly strengthen our prospects to grasp the tremendous opportunities in the US and the global markets.”
Intralot ended Q1 with a stronger balance sheet, with cash at bank standing at $105.1m, compared to $97.2m this time last year.
