“I would dare to say this is unprecedented,” Allwyn CEO Robert Chvátal said in his closing remarks on the lottery and gaming giant’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday, 27 August. He was commenting on the number of markets and verticals the Switzerland-based business has been able to take strong positions in. Remember, Allwyn’s M&A pipeline has been significant in boosting its presence across the globe, including PrizePicks, OPAP and Next Lotto.
The 36.75% share in Kaizen Gaming’s Betano is continuing to deliver dividends, while the £450m overhaul of the UK National Lottery has laid solid ground for growth, bosses confirmed. In the UK, former William Hill head Phil Walker has been drafted in as interim CEO, although faced backlash from some MPs due to his board seat at Adult Gaming Centre operator City Gaming LTD – which he is due to step down from to take on the Allwyn brief.
Elsewhere, plans remain in place to acquire a sportsbook tech stack after the proposed €327m move for Novibet fell through when Greek competition authorities blocked the transaction. And a secondary listing, either in New York or London, remains firmly on the cards, CFO Kenneth Morton tells EGR.
EGR: A strong quarter for the business with revenue up 27%. What are your reflections on the performance?
Kenneth Morton (KM): It was a really strong quarter financially. If you look at the top line, we were up 27% year on year. EBITDA is up 29% and EBITDA minus capex, which is a proxy we use for cash flow, was actually up more than 40% That’s because we’ve been investing quite a lot in the in the UK National Lottery over the last couple of years.
If you look across the business, there’s really positive developments. In continental Europe, the business is firing on all cylinders, revenue is up 24% in terms of igaming and 12% up in sports betting.
In the UK, we launched Powerball, which is really exciting. We have a new interim CEO joining us as well, which is the next step for this business. Now we’ve got the transition done, the next thing is making sure we keep up the intensity on the on the commercial side.
In the US, there is obviously a lot going on with PrizePicks connected with prediction markets, primarily launching a pretty radical innovation in the core DFS product. By combining prediction markets and DFS, people can now pick not just athletes but also the outcome of games, and that’s a pretty big improvement. Betano just continues to go from strength to strength. They’re number one in Brazil; it’s their biggest market. If you look at commentary from some of the other operators that are present there, the market has been a bit of a challenge for some of them. Betano just continues to go from strength to strength there.
EGR: There were reports this week that MPs had raised concerns about Phil Walker being named as interim CEO. What are your thoughts on that?
Robert Chvátal (RC): We believe Phil Walker is the right person to lead the UK National Lottery in 2026 after its very comprehensive transition. Last August, we replaced 40,000+ retail terminals. We introduced a new central lottery system and all the technology components. In February, we completed a very comprehensive and complex digital cutover and transformation, which caused, of course, changes to the user experience and user journeys that some more conservative players had to get accustomed to.
Going forward, Phil, with the operational, product management and digital experience, is the right leader to lead The National Lottery in a competitive environment. Phil will resign from the board of [City Gaming Ltd]. He will need to act within the remit of The National Lottery. The National Lottery doesn’t offer gambling products, it offers safe draw-based games and scratchcards. The digital experience, customer journeys and ability to innovate quickly in the digital space is the same across lottery or igaming. We want to have a CEO who knows every user journey.
EGR: Looking at Betano, Ken you mentioned competitors in Brazil were facing challenges. So, what is driving growth at Betano?
RC: Betano is a good example of having a very competitive proprietary tech stack for the sportsbook. They are able to combine the sportsbook with igaming, and they were early entrants into their markets. Brazil is probably the best example. Despite the fact the last quarter showed some smaller players struggling in Brazil, Betano does not struggle, it stays strong and keeps growing. It’s 26% revenue growth year on year for Betano, and that’s not only in Brazil but across its entire footprint.
KM: Brazil is big, right? That’s why everyone knows about Betano. It’s got leading positions in a whole load of other markets, and some of those are growing even faster than Brazil was growing until recently as well. It’s a machine. There’s really like nothing else like it, other than maybe bet365.
EGR: The Novibet acquisition fell through after concerns were raised from the Hellenic Competition Commission in March. Is acquiring sportsbook tech still top of mind and do you expect movement soon?
RC: We are looking at opportunities. We are actively working on it. If Novibet couldn’t materialise because of the competition concerns in Greece, then there has to be something else. We definitely would like to have our sportsbook technology under our control, and we’ll keep working on it. More to come later.
EGR: The plans for a secondary listing weren’t mentioned in the report or on the analyst call. Is it still under consideration?
KM: It is. We think the Greek listing is good, but we probably could make the stock more liquid and hopefully improve the valuation and bring more investors in if we were listed on a bigger exchange. Realistically, it would be London or New York. It’s more a matter of deciding where we get the best outcome. They’re both good options, but we haven’t yet made a decision. I’m actually surprised the question didn’t come up [on the analyst call] because we do get asked this frequently.
The post Allwyn CEO and CFO on sportsbook M&A, secondary listing plans and Betano being “a machine” first appeared on EGR Intel.
Robert Chvátal and Kenneth Morton speak to EGR following the lottery and gaming giant’s Q2 earnings, as bosses back new Allwyn UK chief following MP pressure
The post Allwyn CEO and CFO on sportsbook M&A, secondary listing plans and Betano being “a machine” first appeared on EGR Intel.