Kambi Group, a leading sports betting services provider, has declared a year-on-year increase in revenue and profit for the first quarter, despite the fact that its business has been afflicted by the global novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
During the three months leading to 31st March 2020, revenue totaled €27.9m (£24.3m / $30.0m) that represents an increase of 32.9% on the amount of €21.0m reported for Q1 2019.
According to Kambi this growth is a 27.0% increase in operator turnover and an operator trading margin of 9.3%, aided by a strong performance in the global football market, especially in the Spanish and English leagues prior to the virus seeing all premium competitions suspended.
The provider also found substantial turnover growth on American football and basketball betting with turnover for this year’s Super Bowl being the biggest for any single event in Kambi’s history.
Kristian Nylen, the Chief Executive Officer of Kambi, commented that the sports calendar has been stripped bare across the world with major leagues and events being cancelled or postponed, quite rightly, until safety can be guaranteed.
Nylen went on to say that while he has no doubt that sports will return, the current situation has understandably led to a reduction in their revenues, although their teams have done a wonderful job to stem the flow and ensure their partners have a good product to sell.
Nylen also said that they owe it to all their employees, partners and investors to ensure they are in the strongest position possible to pick up where they left off when sports do resume, and they enter what promises to be a prolonged period of busy sporting action.