Pure-play digital wagering operator betr Entertainment (ASX: BBT) has reported a 24.5% growth in turnover from 163,504 active customers during the three months to end December.
Turnover for the period totalled $444 million (up from $357m in the previous corresponding period) while gross wins reached $55.9m (up 7% from $52.2m).
Results over the peak Spring Racing Carnival period adversely impacted the company’s net win margin which sat at 8.5%, or 1.2 percentage points below its projected target range.
The company said results had since returned to trend, supported by an above-average net win margin of 11% in December (up 1.2 percentage points on the previous corresponding period) and higher margins for January to date.
Pursuing Market Scale
Consistent with its long-stated ambition of becoming a Tier 1 wagering operator, betr is pursuing scale in the Australian market via organic means and value-accretive mergers and acquisitions.
The company said that key factors in realising this ambition would include securing customers at scale, retaining them at improving rates, and extracting structural value from better product, better data, and better execution.
betr remains in active discussions with existing and new industry participants regarding consolidation and partnership opportunities, and has committed to appropriate market disclosure should the discussions progress.
Share Buyback Announced
betr has proposed an on-market buyback of up to 10% of its fully-paid ordinary shares at a time when the shares are trading below their intrinsic value, representing an efficient way to reduce the number of shares on issue and enhance long-term shareholder returns.
The final size and timing of the buyback will depend on factors including market conditions, betr’s prevailing share price, future capital requirements and any unforeseen circumstances.
The company has confirmed that allocating funds from its existing cash reserves towards the buyback would not impact its capacity to execute on its mergers and acquisitions strategy.
