Aspire Global: continued growth during the second quarter

Aspire Global has reported widespread year-on-year growth across a number of key financial metrics during the six months to June 30.

Revenue came in at €33.4m ($40m), up 9% from the €30.6m posted in the first half of last year, with B2B revenue climbing 12% to €16.7m.

Earnings before interest and tax increased from €5.2m to €5.7m, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 11% from €5.6m to €6.3m, with a margin of 19%.

Elsewhere, earnings after tax totaled €5.4m, slightly lower than the €5.6m that was posted last year, while earnings per share after tax dropped from €0.13 to €0.12.

Letter from the CEO

“Aspire Global had continued growth during the second quarter; adding 60.3 thousand new users (FTDs) and two new partners as well as completing a comprehensive overhaul of our proprietary brand Karamba.com. In addition, five new brands were launched and four additional casino brands were migrated to our own platform. Revenues for the second quarter increased by 14% to EUR 17.3 million (15.2), primarily driven by the B2B-segment which delivered impressive growth and strengthened Company EBITDA by 29% to EUR 3.6 million (2.8).

A new chapter

Aspire Global’s story began over a decade ago; as a B2C gaming brand. Today, we offer a unique B2B solution; operating with six licenses and more than 60 iGaming brands, with 140 dedicated employees in Malta and Israel. We are appreciated for our result focused approach; most recently demonstrated during the intense IPO-process where we put vigorous efforts in to presenting Aspire Global to potential investors in the Swedish capital market. The response was overwhelming and I believe the excessive interest for subscribing to our shares confirms a high level of confidence in our strategy, unique offering and strong potential. We will do are foremost to meet the great expectations, starting with the second quarter performance.

Continued strong growth

Both business segments had continued growth in deposits and revenues, especially the B2B-segment where previous year’s deals contributed significantly to growth and increase in profitability for the Group as a whole. We launched five new brands and migrated four additional casino brands from two competing platforms to our own platform. These brands now operate at full capacity, demonstrating the strength of our platform, which is promising for similar events going forward. We also completed the initial integration of Minotauro Media; our first acquisition in which we obtained a stake of 30%. By acquiring operators and migrating their brands to our own platform, we wish to increase revenue, scale benefits and cash flows which could finance the remaining stake in partially acquired targets. We continue the integration of Minotauro Media, while staying open to similar attractive opportunities in line with our strategy.

Going forward

Since 2014 Aspire Global has focused on strengthening its position within the industry by developing and improving its B2B offering as well as growing the proprietary brands. Aspire Global has during this time managed to generate strong growth with very limited marketing expenditure towards new partners; achieving a compound annual growth rate in deposits of 30% and Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) of 22% since 2013. The company is now in a position to leverage on the strong platform and position established during the last few years to accelerate Aspire Global’s growth; organically and through M&A. We are pleased to welcome so many new shareholders on this journey.”

Tsachi Maimon, CEO Aspire Global