Betsson shares lose one-third of their value following Q2 profit warning

Swedish online gambling operator Betsson AB has seen its share price fall by one-third this week, during which the company issued a trading update that warned of lower profits.

Betsson’s update said it expects revenue in the three months ending June 30 to come in between SEK 920m-945m (US $108m-111m), while operating profit would range from SEK 140m-175m. The profit figure would represent about a 25% haircut from Q2 2015’s number. Final numbers will be issued July 21.

Sportsbook revenue is expected to come in between SEK 205m-230m compared to SEK 206.4m in the same period last year. While seemingly positive, this quarter’s figures include contributions from the Georgian-facing Europe-Bet operations that Betsson acquired last July, and which contributed SEK 94m to its Q1 revenue total.

Betsson says the lower sports revenue is attributable to lower turnover in “multiple” markets, losses in an unnamed “strategic” market and the company’s exit from “a number of European markets” over the past year, based on Betsson adopting “a more conservative stance” on which markets it wishes to serve.