ZEAL Network Germany’s leading online provider of lottery products, achieved further growth in the first half of 2021 thanks to the stability of the business model, with a much weaker jackpot development than in the same period last year.

In the first half of 2021, billings of the ZEAL Group rose by 6% to EUR 332.9 million (2020: EUR 314.4 million), of which the Germany segment accounted for almost the entire amount at EUR 332.8 million (2020: EUR 313.8 million).

Revenue increased by 2% to EUR 44.5 million (2020: EUR 43.6 million), of which EUR 41.8 million was attributable to the Germany segment (2020: EUR 39.0 million). At 12.3%, the gross margin in the Germany segment was thus stable compared to the prior-year figure (2020: 12.4%).

The market environment for lotteries in Germany during the first six months of 2021 was comparatively weak: at just EUR 9.0 million, the average jackpot of the German lottery ‘LOTTO 6aus49’ was even lower than in the previous year (2020: EUR 9.4 million) and only exceeded the EUR 20 million mark once (2020: twice). At EUR 38.3 million, the average jackpot of the European lottery ‘Eurojackpot’ fell significantly short of the high prior-year figure (2020: EUR 51.2 million) and reached the EUR 90 million mark twice (2020: six times). Low jackpots have a negative effect on billings, gross margin and customer acquisition.

“The fact that we have managed to continue to grow with a significantly weaker jackpot development compared to the previous year makes us proud and shows us that we have taken the right measures to continuously improve both in terms of customers and results,” says Jonas Mattsson, CFO of ZEAL Network SE. “The scalability of our business model will also help us in the future to take advantage of market opportunities, adapt to the dynamic environment and continuously optimise.”