Betsson announced on Friday that Latin America has emerged as its leading market in the second quarter, contributing 36% to the operator’s total revenue of €310.2 million. Revenue from this region surged by 32% year-on-year to reach €112 million. CEO Pontus Lindwall commented on the robust growth, noting particularly strong performances in Argentina, Peru, and Colombia, highlighting that the market has displayed "strong underlying activity across sports and casino."
Lindwall indicated that anticipating this outcome had long been part of Betsson's strategy. He stated, "We didn’t say from day one that this will be our biggest region in the future, but we tend to invest in markets where we see good traction and good possibilities for profitability, and LatAm is one such market." He also pointed out that the company expects structural growth in the region to be stronger than that in Western Europe. In fact, revenue from LatAm amounted to €64.2 million during the quarter, equating to 21% of the total group revenue, showing an 8.3% year-on-year increase.
Conversely, revenue from the Nordic markets saw a decline of 17%. This drop resulted from a reduced marketing expenditure in Sweden and Denmark. Lindwall explained the challenging competitive landscape, stating, "The markets are quite competitive, it’s expensive to acquire new customers and the regulations are quite tight." He expressed concerns over unlicensed operators in several European countries, adding, "When we compare the effectiveness of our money, we prefer to invest in other markets than the Nordics."
In line with its growth strategy, the company plans to continue pursuing mergers and acquisitions (M&A). During the Q2 earnings call, Lindwall revealed the establishment of a new €75 million credit facility earmarked for working capital and future acquisition endeavors. He remarked, "Our strategy is to grow both organically and [through] M&A. This gives us some extra room for M&A." Historically, Betsson has leveraged acquisitions to complement its existing businesses and to enter new markets.
When asked about potential new markets, Lindwall expressed optimism about LatAm, indicating that there are "more potential and more possibilities" in countries where Betsson currently lacks a presence.
Financially, despite strong revenue driven largely by the World Cup, a decrease in B2B revenue negatively impacted overall profitability. Lindwall noted this decline stemmed from reduced activity from one of Betsson’s larger clients. Active customers in the B2C sector rose by 31.9% to 1,825,487, yet overall customer deposits across both B2C and B2B fell by 7% compared to Q2/2025, totaling €1.38 billion. Gross profit for the quarter decreased by 8% year-on-year to €177.5 million, yielding a gross profit margin of 57.2%.
Betsson’s regulated revenues increased by 17%, making up 75.5% of total group revenue.
On the topic of enhancements for World Cup support, Lindwall mentioned various technical and product improvements, including expanded capacity for handling traffic, which allowed sites to accommodate up to five times the usual number of visitors. He expressed satisfaction with the sportsbook’s technical performance, stating, "We made a lot of UX enhancements and made it easy for customers to find things to bet on." Lindwall also referenced early-stage investments in AI technology to bolster operational capabilities, noting that although its use is still in the initial phases, it is broadly applied across the company's operations.
