Zeal Network SE, the German lottery brokerage, announced a 22% rise in group revenue for the first nine months of 2026, reaching €198.8 million ($223.8 million). This increase was largely attributed to growth in its lottery segment and the consolidation of UK prize-draw operator SevenCanyon. The revenue for the same period in 2025 stood at €162.6 million.
The group's EBITDA also increased by 9%, amounting to €58.7 million, despite incurring one-off merger and acquisition expenses described as "mid-single-digit millions of euros."
Zeal completed the acquisition of the remaining 96.5% of SevenCanyon on July 9, integrating the operator into its financial results for the first time in the third quarter. SevenCanyon generated €10.5 million in revenue during the nine-month span. Zeal’s “Others” segment saw a remarkable revenue jump of 241% year-on-year, totaling €15.8 million, with EBITDA contributions of €2.6 million, of which €1.4 million is attributable to SevenCanyon.
Chief Executive Dr. Stefan Tweraser highlighted that the wider business mix is fostering growth and mitigating exposure to jackpot cycles. "Our strategy to diversify our business is paying off. We are expanding our revenue basis and opening new growth opportunities," Tweraser commented. He noted that the core business of brokering state lotteries continues to perform well, complemented by contributions from charity lotteries, games, and SevenCanyon.
CFO Andrea Behrendt stated, "We have successfully consolidated SevenCanyon into the Zeal Group, laying an important foundation for the diversification of our business."
The lottery segment alone reported a 16% revenue increase to €170.8 million, up from €147.7 million in the previous year, while lottery billings climbed 10% to €915.1 million. During this period, Zeal added over one million lottery customers, marking a 15% rise from the 879,000 customers recorded in the first nine months of 2025. Average monthly active lottery users also rose to 1.678 million, compared to 1.572 million a year earlier, alongside an improvement in lottery gross margin to 18.3% from 17.5%.
Games revenue displayed an 18% increase to €12.1 million, with billings up 17% to €160.3 million. The average monthly active users in games expanded to 35,000, from 28,000. Charity lotteries, including the Dream Car and Dream House raffles, also saw double-digit growth, with Dream House raffles averaging €9 million in billings per prize event.
Behrendt confirmed that customer growth resulted in contributions exceeding €300 million to public funding and charitable causes in Germany.
Zeal maintained its EBITDA forecast for the year between €70 million and €75 million, an outlook that accounts for anticipated one-time acquisition costs and assumes a stable jackpot environment in Germany. Following the consolidation of SevenCanyon and its realignment under International Financial Reporting Standards, the company revised its full-year revenue guidance upward to €270 million-€280 million from a prior range of €250 million-€260 million.
The acquisition of SevenCanyon is viewed as a strategic move for Zeal to penetrate the UK prize draw market. Tweraser indicated that Zeal's focus on regulatory compliance has been paramount to its market success. "We expect the UK prize draw to continue moving towards more formalised rules and higher regulated standards, which should favor us given our 20 years of experience in a highly regulated market like Germany," he noted.
Currently, the UK prize draw sector operates outside traditional lottery regulations, although a voluntary code established by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport offers guidance for operators on player protections and accountability. Tweraser underscored that SevenCanyon was a strong advocate for this voluntary code.
