Reflecting on a year of achievements with four new customers added, four key accounts retained and a prestigious sports betting supplier award won, 2017 will long be remembered as a very successful year for Kambi.

It is certainly one I look back on with pride.The addition of these new customers means Kambi has won new business in eight consecutive quarters. This is an impressive run and one that I’m glad to say we have kept going into 2018. We’ve always believed in the scalability and differentiation capabilities of the Kambi Sportsbook; with each new customer we add to the network, we provide another piece of evidence to support this.

Three of our new customers – Colombia’s Corredor Empresarial, Bulgaria’s National Lottery AD and South Africa’s Sun International – enabled us to enter their respective regulated markets for the first time.

As a result, the Kambi Sportsbook is now available in six continents, making us a truly global sports betting provider. Greentube, our fourth contract win of 2017, has already launched in Romania and Italy, illustrating the reach of the Kambi Sportsbook.

While new customer wins are important, retaining current business is equally crucial. At the start of 2017, we focused on extending deals with four key customers who were entering the later stages of their contracts. I’m delighted to report that we were successful.

These contract renewals do not just reflect positively on the quality of service we provide to our customers. They have also strengthened the relationship we have with each customer, not to mention securing valuable revenue streams for years to come.

Of course, it’s an easier task to retain customers when they are growing. Thanks to hard work and expertise on both sides, Kambi customers consistently outperformed the market. During 2017, the turnover among Kambi’s network of operators rose by 16% year-on-year – up against a period that included Euro 2016 and the summer Olympics.The year wasn’t all plain sailing, however.

In terms of operator trading margin, it was very much a year of two halves. Our operator trading margin in the first six months of the year suffered from a run of player-friendly results, although bounced back strongly in the second half.

We have always advised that betting margins will rise and fall but average around 7%. However, such was the run of favourable sporting results during the second half of the year that our 12-month operator trading margin came in at 7.4%.

We also carried out a strategic review of the business to ensure we were in the best possible shape to capitalise on what is a time of significant change across the global industry.

The forces of change included a number of major markets moving towards regulation, the prospect of legal sports betting across the US, and operators in mature markets transitioning to third-party provision.

The review process also re-affirmed Kambi’s core belief that a scalable third-party solution is the best and most efficient method for enabling operators to achieve long-term success.Overall, I believe the business has never been in better health. Exciting times lie ahead.

Kristian Nylén, CEO.