Sportnco drives France Pari Group growth in Q1

French betting operator France Pari Group has cited the success of its Sportnco B2B arm as the main driver behind a year-on-year increase in both revenue and earnings during the first quarter of 2019.

Group revenue for the three months to March 31, 2019, amounted to €3.5m (£3.0m/$3.9m), up 13% on €3.1m in the corresponding period last year.

France Pari said B2B activities driven by Sportnco were the main reason for this increase, highlighting particular success across regulated markets in Belgium, France and Spain.

This growth also helped drive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 18% from €840,000 to €1m.

“Our B2B strategy in France and Spain is reaping rewards and we are now looking at acquiring profitable companies with whom we could develop commercial and financial synergies in order to accelerate our growth in B2B,” France Pari founder and CEO, Hervé Schlosser (pictured), said.

France Pari expects both revenue EBITDA to increase further throughout the course of 2019, boosted by the launch of bespoke sportsbooks for new clients such as Sisal in Spain and ZeBet in Portugal.

The operator has forecast full-year revenue of approximately €15.5m, which would represent an increase of 20% on the €13m reported in 2018.

In terms of earnings, France Pari expects full-year EBITDA to reach between €4.5m to €5m, meaning potential year-on-year growth of 33% on €3.7m last year.

France Pari has also noted that by the end of 2019, it will have reimbursed the largest part of its debt relating to the acquisition of Spanish operator Seurtia in July 2016. The French operator said Suertia has been highly successful and exceeded initial expectations.

As a result, France Pari is now looking at potential new acquisitions to accelerate its growth in the B2B sector.