Komárków’s Allwyn earned over a billion euros, but it would have been worse without Camelot – Seznam Zpravy

The betting group Allwyn really did well in the third quarter. The company owned by billionaire Karel Komárek doubled revenues and increased profit for the period from July to September, and is thus on the verge of surpassing last year’s result, when its profit exceeded one billion euros, i.e. 24.3 billion crowns, for the first time.

The purchase of the British Camelot, which operates the popular National Lottery in Great Britain, significantly contributes to Allwyn’s good result. Allwyn completed this purchase in January this year, when it received permission from the British Gambling Commission.

The revenues of the European lottery number one rose in the third quarter by 98 percent year-on-year to 2.01 billion euros (49 billion crowns). Gross operating profit (EBITDA) increased in the same period by 16 percent to 368.4 million euros.

In the first nine months of the year, EBITDA profit rose to 1.1 billion euros from 870 million euros in the same period last year.

The fourth most valuable Czech company according to the Seznam Zpráv ranking, valued at 159 billion crowns, could enjoy an optimistic outlook.

“The solid performance of our existing branches underlined the continued progress in the digital sphere, where our focus on product development and working with customers has proven successful,” said CEO Robert Chvátal.

“Overall, I am very pleased with Allwyn’s continued growth, despite the difficulties across the sector, and I am confident that we are well positioned to finish 2023 successfully and continue to grow,” said Chvátal.

In the earnings report, Allwyn also outlined how the group’s finances would look without the Camelot acquisition. Even without him, the group would be in the black, but not as significantly. The takeover of Camelot UK enabled Allwyn to collect from the operation of the British lottery already a year before February 2024, when the license from Camelot is transferred to Allwyn.

Revenues for the nine months without Camelot would have risen only seven percent to €3.1 billion, while in real terms they jumped to €5.7 billion. And EBITDA profit would have increased by only 11 percent to 970 million euros without the British acquisition.

Allwyn’s management stated that the year to date has not deviated from what the company had predicted at the start: “Overall, our business has performed well during the year, even in an environment of relatively weaker consumer sentiment. Our business so far this year is roughly in line with what we expected.”

Strong inflation and high energy prices have not had a significant impact on Allwyn’s finances, and the group said its costs are dominated by income-generating items such as various fees and commissions.

As part of its expansion – in addition to the already mentioned Great Britain, Allwyn also operates in the United States of America, Austria or Italy – it also planned to enter the stock exchange in New York, but postponed this plan last September, citing the volatility of the market. The firm later confirmed that interest in letting in shareholders remains, but there is “nothing concrete” on the horizon yet.