Evolution has stated that global online casino markets are expected to continue to be among the fast-growing gaming segments in the coming years.
Publishing its interim report for January to September 2022, revenue for live casino in Q3 jumped to €310.4m from €214.5m in the same period last year.
Marking 45 per cent year-on-year growth for live casino products, this continued the vertical’s steady growth each quarter since the third quarter in 2021.
According to Evolution, the positive revenue development within live casino mainly derives from increased commission income from existing customers and, to a certain extent, from new customers. Demand for online casino games continues to grow, partly as a result of our continuous launch of “successful new games and variations on traditional games”.
Martin Carlesund, CEO at Evolution, noted: “Live casino reported a continued rapid growth of 45 per cent in the quarter. We continue to see very strong global demand for our new as well as existing products and we are increasing market shares and our distance to competitors The roll-out of the full product suite to all regulated markets continues.”
Alongside its live casino growth, its RNG-games also experienced a revenue increase from the year prior as it totalled €68.1m (2021: €61.5m), also increasing from the previous quarter where it stood at €65.5m.
Commenting on its RNG performance, Carlesund stated: “Total RNG revenue increased by 11 per cent compared to last year, including the acquired Nolimit City business, compared to pro-forma figures growth year-on-year is two per cent. This is not yet satisfactory. We have delivered too few slot games during the past period, however we remain fully committed to the target of double-digit growth.”
On Evolution’s target for double-digit growth, the firm’s CEO stated that the recently completed acquisition of Nolimit City during the quarter, which is fully consolidated in Q3, will be excluded but emphasised operations have “started off strong”.
Looking into Evolution’s Q3 figures, the company’s operating revenue increased by 37.1 per cent to €378.5m (2021: €276m) with the firm’s EBITDA also experiencing a strong rise by 35.3 per cent to €261m (2021: €192.9m), corresponding to a margin of 69 per cent.
Profit for the third quarter also witnessed a healthy rise, totalling €221.3m compared to €157.4m during the same period last year. In addition, earnings per share amounted to €1.04 (2021: €0.73).
Looking at Evolution’s nine-month period in 2022, from January to September, the firm’s operating revenues also experienced a healthy increase from the year prior, jumping up 36.5 per cent to €1,049.3bn (2021: €768.5m).
Another similar trend from its third quarter performance witnessed Evolution’s EBITDA during the nine-month period also increase by 38.1 per cent to €728.9m (2021: €527.7m).
The firm also reported a profit during the period to €619.9m (2021: €433.9m), with earnings per share amounted to €2.91 (2021: €2.03).
Delving into Evolution’s revenue performance per geographical region, the company witnessed a total operating revenue of €378.5m, up from the 2021 period that stood at €276m.
One of its biggest growths was in the Asia continent, which experienced revenues of €127.8m (2021: €76.7m). Another big grower was North America, a market that continues to gather the attention of operators and suppliers in the igaming sector, jumping from €31.9m in the same period in 2021 to €50.1m in 2022.
On its geographical performance, Carlesund concluded: “In North America, we continued to expand studio capacity, and the European markets reported stronger growth in the quarter than earlier this year.
“We continue to experience an increasing end user preference for our products in Asia, driving a continuous strong growth. The Other region which includes Latin America and Africa shows very good growth once again and we continue to see good potential in both markets over time.
“Online casino continues to grow world-wide and the growth path in the long term perspective is very strong. With that said, increased interest rates, increased inflation, signs of a weakening economy in some markets as well as an uncertain geopolitical situation are all factors that also affect our business.
“It is difficult to separate the effect of these circumstances to conclude what the implications may have been in the quarter or what they will be in the next. We certainly see higher cost in supplies, electricity, transport and also upward pressures on salaries.
“Our guidance at the beginning of this year was an EBITDA-margin in the 69-71 per cent
range for the full year. So far for the nine-month period the margin is at 69.5 per cent. I am satisfied with our delivery under the current circumstances. We make no change to our previously guided range of EBITDA margin of 69-71 per cent for the full year.”