ZEAL, the leading German provider of online lotteries, has made a strong start to the new year and recorded significant and sustained growth in its key figures in the first quarter. The Group’s revenue increased by 42% to € 51.1 million in the first three months of the year (2024: € 36.1 million). At € 17.7 million, EBITDA was almost twice as high as in the previous year (2024: € 9.4 million).
“We started the new year with a lot of momentum and were able to achieve strong results in the first quarter,” says Andrea Behrendt, CFO of ZEAL. “We are particularly proud of the significant increase in our revenue and customer base despite the absence of peak jackpots. This shows that our strategic marketing expenditure and our measures to acquire new customers continue to pay off in the long term and that we are in an excellent operational position. I’m a firm believer in the growth opportunities in our core business in a still underpenetrated market.“
Revenue in core business grows by 41%
ZEAL‘s significant revenue growth in the first quarter is primarily attributable to the strong performance of the lottery business. Despite a weak jackpot situation, billings from lotteries increased by 7% to € 246.7 million (2024: € 246.3 million). The average number of active customers rose by 13% to 1,507 thousand (2024: 1,333 thousand) thanks to continued successful marketing measures. ZEAL was also able to improve its gross margin by 4.1 percent to 17.1% (2024: 13.0%) thanks to the price increase in the previous year and a strong product mix. The parallel increase in billings and gross margin led to significant revenue growth in the lottery business of 41% to € 45.2 million (2024: € 32.0 million).
Games business grows by 56%
The games business also performed very well in the first three months of the year. ZEAL was able to expand its games portfolio in the B2C segment to more than 400 titles, increasing revenue from games by 56% to € 3.4 million (2024: € 2.2 million).
Disproportionate increase in EBITDA and EBIT
ZEAL intensified its investment in continuous growth in the past quarter and set an absolute record for a quarter without maximum jackpots with 247 thousand new customers. The 47% increase in acquisition costs per registered new customer (cost per lead, CPL) to € 48.5 (2024: € 33.0) is attributable to various tests of measures to develop new target groups and channels.
Other operating expenses increased by 21% to € 25.4 million (2024: € 21.0 million). In addition to strategic marketing expenses, which rose by 16% to € 15.5 million (2024: € 13.4 million), this was primarily due to an increase in the direct and indirect costs of business operations. The further development of the product mix led to a 21% increase in direct operating costs to € 4.9 million (2024: € 4.0 million). The increase in indirect operating costs to € 4.9 million (2024: € 3.6 million) was in particular due to external consulting services as well as external staff and software costs.
Despite the higher costs, ZEAL was able to increase EBITDA disproportionately by 89% to € 17.7 thousand (2024: € 9.4 thousand) thanks to efficiency improvements and strong sales growth. At € 15.6 thousand, EBIT more than doubled compared to the previous year (2024: € 7.5 thousand). Net profit for the period fell by 53% to € 9.8 million (2024: € 21.1 million) due to the first-time recognition of deferred tax assets in the previous year.
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