BlueBet posts turnover up 83% on FY21, exceeding forecasts

Australian mobile-first online wagering provider BlueBet Holdings Ltd shared its FY21 financial results on Tuesday, exceeding prospectus forecasts and finding the company well-positioned for growth.

BlueBet saw over the fiscal year strong top line growth, achieving FY21 turnover of $344.7 million, up 83.3%, with net win of $35.6 million, up 92.5%; and underlying EBITDA of $7.5 million, up 48.4%. Moreover, the company reported 32,472 active customers throughout FY21, up 45.7%; and launched its first major brand campaign on regional free-to-air and pay TV.

“FY21 has been an outstanding year for BlueBet. We have seen a massive increase in our active customers this year and our bet count almost doubled,” said Bill Richmond, BlueBet’s Chief Executive Officer. “This has flowed through to exceptionally strong and profitable financial results which have exceeded prospectus forecasts. We are seeing this strong momentum continuing into FY22.”

The gross win margin saw greater contributions by recreation customers to turnover, as well as the introduction of higher margin products like same game and same race multis.

The company believes the execution of its IPO to have allowed it to strongly capitalize BlueBet to aggressively pursue market share growth in Australia and to establish its US business, where the pace of the market “continues to defy even the most bullish expectations."

“As we deploy our IPO capital in the coming year and beyond, we expect to see our growth accelerate,” further added Richmond. “We are already executing on our US growth strategy and have secured our initial skin agreement in Iowa, where we expect to start taking bets in early 2022.”

The company has reiterated its intentions of securing additional licenses in other US states in FY22 and to grow the US branch of the business strongly. On August 26, CEO Bill Richmond told Yogonet in an exclusive interview that BlueBet will keep targeting states where the company sees “a clear path to profitability.”

On Monday, Arizona granted sports betting licenses to 10 tribes and 8 sports teams, leaving BlueBet Arizona, which partnered with Colorado River Indian Tribes, out of the license allocation for online sports betting. Despite this setback, the company announced its US entry strategy remains unchanged, with license in process in the state of Iowa, in partnership with Q Casino.

“These states have large populations of sport lovers and reasonable licensing and taxation costs which will enable us to grow our market share quickly and profitably,” said Richmond to Yogonet in regards to those states the company has seen as priority, including Iowa, Arizona, Virginia, Colorado, Tennessee and Maryland.

“The sports wagering market turnover in Iowa was $1.2 billion last financial year and it’s only in its infancy,” added Richmond. “We see it as the perfect entry point for our business in the US.”