The parent organization of Betclic Everest, FL Entertainment, experienced a rise in earnings during the initial six months of the year, primarily fueled by content development.
Although the group’s total income saw an 18.6% increase, the online wagering revenue of the newly formed media and gambling venture, FL Entertainment, experienced a 3.0% decrease.
This marks the inaugural reporting of Betclic’s revenue as part of FL Entertainment. The data emerges following FL Entertainment’s public debut in July. FL Entertainment is the new moniker for the combined entity, resulting from a merger with the special purpose acquisition company, Pegasus Entrepreneurs Acquisition Corp. Europe.
The merger agreement encompasses all Betclic Everest subsidiaries, including Bet-at-home, along with the television production business, Banijay. Banijay initially merged with Betclic to establish FL Entertainment, which subsequently merged with Pegasus.
Operating as a unified business since the beginning of July, FL Entertainment has set its sights on expansion in various domains, including content production and distribution. This served as the primary catalyst for growth during the first half of the year.
“The public listing of FL Entertainment in July 2022 signifies a new chapter for our enterprise,” stated Francois Riahi, CEO of FL Entertainment. “We are thrilled to commence operations as a publicly traded company with such robust momentum.”
We are thrilled to be at the forefront of the attraction and expansion of the entertainment sector and are well-positioned to capitalize on new opportunities and maintain our strong track record of generating profitable growth.
Income for the six months ending June 30 (half-year pre-merger completion) was €1.8 billion (£1.58 billion/$1.77 billion), a rise from €1.51 billion in the same period of 2021.
Of this, €1.4 billion was attributed to content creation and distribution, a 27.0% increase year-on-year, with FL Entertainment stating the business area experienced a robust COVID-19 recovery. Content production revenue increased by 25.7% to €1.17 billion, while distribution revenue also jumped 44.4% to €159.6 million.
However, revenue from online gambling operations decreased 3.0% year-on-year to €396.6 million. Sports betting revenue declined by 3.5% to €322.3 million, casino revenue fell 7.0% to €46.5 million, but poker revenue climbed 7.1% to €23.2 million and other revenue increased 44.9% to €4.6 million.
On the cost side, external expenditures rose 20.8% to €861.3 million and personnel costs also increased 17.3% to €628.6 million. This resulted in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €300.7 million, a 16.0% increase year-on-year.
FL Entertainment noted that its long-term incentive plan generated an additional €76.6 million in costs, depreciation and amortization amounted to €59 million, while financial expenses increased 107.8% to €159.2 million.
This level of spending meant pre-tax profit fell 71.1% to €9 million.
FL Entertainment recorded a net deficit of €18.2 million in the initial six months of 2022, after considering €27.8 million in levies. This represents a minor improvement in comparison to the €24.2 million net deficit in the same timeframe the previous year.
However, FL Entertainment also generated €76.6 million from its employee motivation programs and €85.6 million in other financial earnings. This led to an adjusted net profit increase of 7.9% annually to €138.7 million.
“FL Entertainment’s income and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) expanded significantly in the first half of 2022, driven by the robust recovery in content creation and amplified distribution income,” stated Riahi.
“Despite a reduction in sporting events in the initial half, our sports wagering and online gaming business performed effectively and continues to attract new patrons.”
“Based on the strong performance in the initial six months, we have confirmed our 2022 income and earnings targets, as well as our long-term outlook.”
These targets include €3 billion in content production and distribution income and €450 million in adjusted EBITDA. Sports wagering and online gaming income is projected to reach €800 million with adjusted EBITDA of €200 million.
