The 80% is more specifically 81.4% and represents the sum of €1.58bn even with the company’s[ UK results falling nearly 2% to €1.01bn.
Explaining the rapid jump in numbers, a company statement read: “In Q1 2023, we completed the acquisitions of Camelot UK, the current operator of the UK National Lottery, and Camelot LS Group, the current operator of the Illinois Lottery under a private management agreement. These acquisitions have a significant impact on consolidated metrics of the Group and comparability with previous periods.”
Most Markets Up
Most markets were up for the provider with Italy falling a scant 0.6% while Greece and Cyprus together saw a 14.6% increase to €552.9m, Austria contributing €388.4m, (+19.3%) and home base the Czech Republic producing €125.4m, an increase of 17.2%.
Allwyn CEO, Robert Chvatal commented: “I am pleased to report that Allwyn had a strong start to the year, reflecting our ongoing focus on driving organic growth as well as continued progress in our inorganic growth strategy, with the results of the first quarter including the contribution from a total of seven lottery markets. Meanwhile, we have remained focused on our responsibilities to all our stakeholders and on safer gaming.”
The chief summed up the massive growth in revenues by explaining that 17% came from pre-existing geographic markets as well as first-time contributions from the UK market. The Camelot purchase included not only Camelot UK but also the Camelot LS Group. The latter operates the massive US Illinois lottery under a private management agreement there.
He explained how existing market success was further powered by digital channels as well as physical retail sales and the falling off of some Covid-19 impacts from last year that is no longer affecting current sales.
“We once again saw the resilience of demand for our products, even in an environment where consumer spending remains under pressure. We continued to deliver strong margins and generate robust free cash flow, reflecting our favorable cost structure and focus on cost and capital efficiency. The completion of two landmark acquisitions in the first quarter underscores our continued success in executing our inorganic growth strategy. The acquisition of Camelot UK, the current operator of the UK National Lottery, supports the successful delivery of the National Lottery through 2023 and over the next decade.“
Camelot LS was owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board of Canada prior to Allwyn’s acquisition. In early December 2021, the Czech gambling group then known as Sazka Entertainment began to conduct business under the corporate identity of Allwyn for all of its properties assets when named as the “preferred bidder” for the fourth UK National Lottery license.
In a short time, the former Czech Republic-based company (now headquartered in Switzerland) has been operating in new markets globally it has included the US through the Illinois lottery, its first foray into the US lottery landscape once wholly dominated by Scientific Games and GTECH/Lottomatica (now IGT via acquisition).
Chvatal explained the importance of expanding lottery operations into such markets: “<Camelot LS Group provides> interesting strategic optionality through its in-house iLottery technology.”
In financial dealings, he noted: “The continued strength of our financial performance supported our successful financing activities after the end of the quarter, with Allwyn issuing €665m and $700m long-dated bonds in a single transaction. This financing represented our first US-dollar bond issuance, further diversifying our sources of funding, as well as significantly extending our debt maturities and further simplifying our capital structure.”
In closing, Chvatal said he was very pleased with the start to 2023 and said it placed the company well for continued success throughout the rest of the year as well as for “the next chapters of our growth story.”
Source: Allwyn Entertainment reports 80 per cent jump in revenues with addition of Camelot G3 NewsWire, June 15, 2023