Alinda Van Wyk
Analyst · Needham & Company. Please proceed with your questions
Thank you, Richard. The numbers I will be referencing today are included in the presentation posted to the Investor Relations section of our website. Starting with revenue, net gaming revenue for the first quarter, inclusive of both Betway and Spin, increased by 5% year-over-year to €315 million. On a like-for-like basis, eliminating the material countries, which were closed during 2021, net gaming revenue would have increased by 8%. Sports revenue increased by €24 million or 28%, mainly due to a strong growth in key markets in the African and Asia-Pacific regions. Despite sports also bearing the brand of the negative impacts from Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands headwinds, growth was achieved by continued expansion of the customer base, with monthly active sports betting customers increasing five percentage in double-digits. In addition, trading margins improved slightly as a result of product enhancements and increased events and market coverage. For casino gaming only, we saw a year-on-year decrease of €8 million or 4%. This was in part due to regulatory changes in markets such as Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands, which resulted in adverse impacts on casino revenues that we estimate to be approximately €4 million for the quarter. With regards to future of these markets, Super Group has submitted all of the necessary documentation for The Netherlands licensing and assessing the viability of casino gaming in Germany given the current onerous tax regime there. The remainder of the decrease was largely due to the outperformance of the casino product in quarter one of 2021 during the peak of the COVID second wave in prominent markets, combined with our relative weakness in acquiring new customers in quarter one of 2022, which has already shown an uplift in quarter two of this year. Moving to EBITDA, we present adjusted EBITDA, which is EBITDA adjusted for transaction expenses relating to the listing, impairment of goodwill, share-based payments, and deductions of some non-recurring or prior period expenses. On that basis, adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter decreased by 3% year-on-year to €63 million for the quarter. Looking into the details of the year-on-year comparison, Betway global brand sponsorship increased by 46% during the first quarter of 2022, representing an increase of €7 million. The majority of this was due to new partnerships with NBA and NHL teams as the group expands into the USA alongside its brand partner, DGC. Other marketing costs increased 7% year-on-year. Operational expenditure, were up by €10 million or 18%, mainly due to an increase of staff expenditure and infrastructure and technology costs. Staff costs rose, mainly due to annual salary increases, the cost of aligning employment benefit policies across the group and an increase in headcount, arising from additional corporate governance requirements following the Super Group's listing in January. Infrastructure and technology costs increased due to additional cloud subscriptions as the group's off-premise infrastructure expands and from licensing for additional compliance software. We continue to be very cost conscious. And the increase in expenses this quarter was all broadly in line with assumptions included in our guidance for the year. Our free cash flow ratio remained strong at 75%, but was lower compared to the prior year quarter due to increases in taxes paid and capital expenditure. Super Group's effective tax rate remains at below 8%, thanks to a tax-efficient structure. We have remained debt free, which is of course, a significant contributor to our strong free cash flow ratio. Cash on the balance sheet decreased from €294 million at year-end to €273 million at the end of the quarter. The bulk of the decrease was driven by the use of cash in connection with the closing of the business combination. The full picture is better illustrated by cash and cash equivalents, which was €312 million at the end of quarter one, compared to €342 million before the business combination closed in January. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents was driven by additional investments made, receivables outstanding, not yet recognized in cash and in-part offset by free cash flow generation. Our fully diluted share count will be slightly increased in the coming months, due to the issue of approximately 6.8 million restricted stock units, broadly distributed to over 3,000 staff members, who are not currently shareholders in the business, further aligning employee interest with shareholders. The restricted stock units will vest over three years. In closing, online gaming and sports betting are by definition, potentially volatile businesses, because our products are all built on top of random outcomes. Short-term ups and downs are, therefore, not easy to predict. Despite that, our team has built Super Group into a reliable cash-generating business, one that is debt-free, work full-scale, position for new market entry and capable of creating meaningful operating leverage as it grows. We have an impressive long-term track record in delivering all of those things. And we are comfortable that we will continue to do so in the future. Thank you for listening. Now I will turn the call back to Neal, for his final remarks.