– Billings +44%; revenues +50%
– 2 million customer mark passed
(Hamburg, 7 November 2018) In the third quarter of 2018, Lotto24 AG, Germany’s leading online provider of state-run lotteries, continued to benefit from the strong development of the European lottery »EuroJackpot« in 2018 as a whole: billings rose 44.3% year on year to EUR 74.7 million (prior year: EUR 51.8 million), while revenues of EUR 8.7 million exceeded the corresponding prior-year figure by as much as 49.6% (prior year: EUR 5.8 million). Due in part to the positive trend in lotto clubs, the gross margin improved to 11.6% (prior year: 11.2%). At the same time, a further 90 thousand new customers were added (prior year: 55 thousand) with a cost per lead (CPL) of EUR 25.78 (prior year: EUR 30.97).
In the first nine months of 2018, Lotto24 thus generated total billings of EUR 235.9 million (prior year: EUR 164.6 million, +43.3%), revenues of EUR 28.1 million (prior year: EUR 18.8 million, +49.8%) and a gross margin of 11.9% (prior year: 11.4%). With 468 thousand new customers (prior year: 216 thousand), the total number of customers registered with Lotto24 rose by 36.3% to 2,041 thousand (prior year: 1,497 thousand). Due to the jackpot-related increase in marketing activities and the test run of comparatively more expensive TV commercials conducted in the first half of 2018, marketing expenses in the first nine months of 2018 rose to EUR 12.0 million (prior year: EUR 5.8 million). However, CPL of EUR 25.58 was down on the previous year (prior year: EUR 26.63). Thanks to the strong improvement in revenues, EBIT rose to EUR 2.2 million (prior year: EUR 0.5 million); due in particular to a positive technical tax effect of EUR 5.8 million in connection with the formation of deferred taxes, net profit amounted to EUR 7.8 million (prior year: EUR 1.3 million).
For 2018 as a whole, the company now expects an increase in billings of 38% to 43%, further strong growth in new customers, and CPL on a par with the previous year. In addition, Lotto24 continues to expect a slight improvement in gross margin compared to the previous year. Depending on the further progress of external conditions – especially the jackpot trend – and marketing investments to attract new customers, both EBIT and net profit are expected to be well above the break-even mark.
