bet-at-home.com posted a fall in revenue to €49.1m for the first half of 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the operator’s sports betting results from mid-March, bet-at-home.com saw total betting and gaming volume decline by 8 per cent to €1.46bn during the six-month period.

Gross betting and gaming revenue was down 12 per cent year-on-year to €62.3m, while betting fees and gaming levies rose 7 per cent.

The impact of the pandemic became noticeably from mid-March 2020, when international sporting events were canceled or postponed. In this phase, however, the demand for alternative betting offers remained almost unchanged, as customers of the bet-at-home.com AG group switched to eSports and marginal sports.

With a step-by-step resumption of playing activities in the national European football leagues in May 2020 and the postponement of important events such as the Champions League or Europa League, the usually low-revenue summer months are positively influenced. In addition, the resumption of international tennis tournaments is to be expected in the second half of 2020.

From the current perspective, the Management Board still expects a gross betting and gaming revenue between EUR 120 million and EUR 132 million in the financial year 2020. The decline in gross betting and gaming revenue compared to the financial year 2019 is attributable to legal restrictions in individual markets. A potential decline in revenues due to regulatory changes in Germany can currently not be estimated and is therefore not considered.

Furthermore, the Management Board still expects EBITDA to amount between EUR 23 million and EUR 27 million for the financial year 2020.

Gross betting and gaming revenue was EUR 62.3 million in the first half of 2020 and is therefore as expected below the previous year’s figure due to legal restrictions in individual markets (H1 2019: EUR 71.1 million). The betting and gaming volume in the bet-at-home.com AG Group totaled EUR 1,461.3 million in this period (H1 2019: EUR 1,588.4 million).

Betting fees and gaming levies were EUR 10.9 million in the first half of 2020 (H1 2019: EUR 10.2 million). In the same period, VAT on electronic services had a negative impact on earnings of EUR 2.4 million (H1 2019: EUR 2.2 million).

Accordingly, the net betting and gaming revenue amounted to EUR 49.1 million in the first half of 2020 (H1 2019: EUR 58.7 million).