Cherry online revenues up 91% in 2015
Operator's full-year performance boosted by strong Q4 following recent acquisitions and product releases
Cherry this morning reported a 91% year-on-year growth in online gaming revenues for 2015, with the near doubling of revenues enough to see the Swedish gaming operator return to profit.
The online division, which contributed revenues of SEK350m (?28.9m) – 69% of the group’s total revenues, reported EBITDA of SEK21.8m (?1.8m), a significant boost from last year when EBITDA was SEK-18.3m (-?1.51m).
The full-year results were aided by a strong fourth quarter where recent acquisitions saw online revenues more than double from SEK56.8m (?4.7m) to SEK118.7m (?9.8m).
Yggdrasil Gaming, of which Cherry owns an approximate 90% stake, saw revenue growth of 357% across the year to SEK20.1m (?1.7m), generating EBITDA of SEK5.2m (?430,000).
During the fourth quarter, Yggdrasil was awarded a UK operator licence and is expecting its first customers by the end of Q1 2016.
“The activity on our gaming sites increased substantially and the number of active players increased by 219% compared with Q4 2014,” Fredrik Burvall, Cherry CEO, said.
“Online gaming is well positioned today, with a platform that makes it possible to quickly and efficiently add new products and skins,” he added.
Burvall also said Cherry, which is primarily Nordics-focused, has initiated an application process to obtain an operator’s licence in the UK and would look to expand further by applying for licences in “markets where we can expect strong growth”.
In the fourth quarter, the operator launched an updated version of its Europe-facing online casino Cherrycasino.com, complete with a new sportsbook. The firm also acquired an additional 4% of the shares in the Malta-based company Almor Holding – a leading online casino in German speaking markets, which took its total stake to 75%.
The increased stake in Almor was in addition to the 2015 acquisitions of Game Lounge, the domains and agreements of a leading Finnish affiliate, Moorgate Media and NorgesSpill.com.
“All in all, Cherry is very well positioned to continue to grow faster than the market, both organically and through acquisitions, focusing on rapidly increasing profitability,” Burvall added.
Cherry’s share price was down approximately 1% to SEK133.25 at the time of writing.