For the three months to 31 December 2024, total net win at PointsBet hit AU$69.9 million (£35.1 million/€42.0 million/US$43.5 million). This is on par with Q2 of the previous year.
Data published yesterday (30 January) by PointsBet reveals sports betting net win was marginally higher (0.2%) at $63.6 million, while igaming net win declined 1.6% to $6.3 million. However, it was the operator’s geographical performance that most impacted the results.
In Canada, customer-friendly results across both sports betting and igaming had a negative effect. CEO Samuel Swanell noted online slots and betting on the NFL as two areas where customers won more.
“Q2 group net win was negatively impacted by circa $3.9 million, due to customer-friendly results in Canada across NFL and slots,” Swanell said. “This NFL season has been the most customer-friendly, since the launch of regulated online sports betting. We have seen the highest rates of favourites winning in nearly 20 years.”
PointsBet, however, is not the first operator to flag the impact of customer-friendly results in sports betting during late 2024. Earlier this month, Flutter issued a US profit warning on the back of “unfavourable” sports results in the country. DraftKings has also downgraded full-year revenue and earnings guidance.
Turnover growth fails to halt Canada decline
Looking at overall performance in Canada in Q2, total net win was 10.5% lower year-on-year at $9.4 million. Declines were reported across both sports betting and igaming.
Starting with sports betting, net win dropped by 22.5% to $3.1 million due to the customer-friendly results. Player spending increased 30.2% to $97.4 million, but with lower revenue, net win margin fell from 5.4% to 3.2%.
As for igaming, there was a fall in net win but not as steep as sports betting. Net win for this segment dipped 1.6% to $6.3 million, despite player spending increasing by 19.9% to $310.6 million. Gross net win margin dropped from 2.5% to 2%.
Looking forward in Canada, PointsBet plans to expand its offering in the next financial year. In Q2 of FY25, it will launch with three new content providers and grow its overall games offering by approximately 40% to over 600 titles. Further improvements, including to its loyalty programme, will follow later in FY25.
Q2 growth in Australia despite lower spending
Turning to Australia, net win for Q2 improved 1.7% year-on-year to $60.5 million. This was despite a 34.4% drop in player spending to $591.5 million. As a result, net win margin increased from 6.6% to 10.2% for the quarter.
PointsBet only operates sports betting in Australia, with igaming activities reserved for players in Canada.
Other key figures from Australia in Q2 include an 8% rise in cash active clients. Total bets were also 38% higher year-on-year, although average stakes were 20% lower than Q2 of FY23.
Analysing PointsBet in H1
Alongside Q2 data, PointsBet also released figures for its performance in the first half of its financial year. In the six-month period to 31 December 2024, total net win hit $135.1 million, an increase of 5.5% from the previous year.
Of this, some $124.3 million came from sports betting, up 4.8%. The other $10.9 million was drawn from igaming activities in Canada, a rise of 14.7%.
In terms of geographical performance, total net win in Australia improved by 4.4% to $117.1 million. As for Canada, net win climbed 14.6% to $18.1 million, with sports betting net win up 14.3% to $7.2 million and igaming 14.7%.
PointsBet also revealed certain other group figures for H1. These include gross profit hitting $65 million, a rise of 11.1%, while normalised EBITDA loss improved from $13.3 million to $3.3 million.
“While full H1 results will be released next month, we are thrilled to report we improved our H1 EBITDA position by $10 million, coming in at a loss of $3.3 million,” Swanell said. “This in turn, means the company has passed a very important milestone, having now delivered full year EBITDA profit for calendar year 2024 of $8.2 million.”
No news on takeover reports
There was, however, no more mention of reports that emerged during Q2 of a possible $300 million takeover of PointsBet.
Reports in November said PointsBet had held talks over a possible takeover. The Australian said discussions have taken place with several potential suitors – including at least one in Asia – but did not name any of the interested parties.
However, PointsBet distanced itself from the reports. In a statement sent, PointsBet said there have been no such talks over a possible deal. No further comment was made during the post-Q2 results earnings call.
