Poor sportsbook performance hurts Webis

Online gaming provider Webis Holdings has released a trading update on its financial performance for the financial year to the end of May warning that, on a consolidated basis, trading would be significantly below previous expectations.

The Isle Of Man-based firm revealed that its BetInternet.com sportsbook had ‘experienced a significant fall in turnover during the year’ primarily due to the ‘previously notified reduction in casino play where the 'high-roller' business that the operation had previously benefited from dropped away’.

“The fixed-odds part of the sportsbook, although achieving an increase in turnover, was impacted by unfavourable results throughout the football season particularly in the early part as previously notified as well as a challenging trading environment for horseracing, which contributed to a reduced gross margin,” read the update from Webis.

The firm also stated that the margin generated by customers at BetInternet.com introduced through its affiliate scheme had been ‘minimal’, which had resulted in a ‘substantial operating loss for the financial year’.

However, Webis announced that its parimutuel European Wagering Services subsidiary had achieved a ‘further increase in turnover’ despite greater business-to-business competition leading to a ‘slight reduction in the overall margin percentage’.

“The largest area of growth came from the further development of the Link2Bet.com website and the recruitment of new lower volume, higher margin customers,” read the update.

“This has helped to considerably improve the overall business mix and, as a result, the directors expect a similar gross profit to the previous year.

“Following the conclusion of the World Cup, the board is presently reviewing its strategy for the sportsbook as a whole, taking into account factors such as the impact of increased competition and regulation within certain of its global markets. The board anticipates making a further announcement regarding its strategy for the sportsbook once this review has been concluded.”