STS Group will be leaving the UK and Estonia gaming markets to focus more of its operations in its native Poland, despite announcing record revenue for 2022.
STS currently operates online sportsbooks in the UK and Estonia covering sports betting, virtual sports and esports.
The business made the decision to leave those markets, though, following record results driven by success in Poland. Following its 2022 financial results, it said its efforts were best spent focusing on its main market.
2022 success for STS
STS revealed that the total amount staked by players in 2022 increased by 4.2% to PLN4.68bn (£868.4m/€979.3m/$1.06bn) from PLN4.49bn in 2021.
Gross gaming revenue was also up for the group, with STS recording a 9.2% increase from PLN1.09bn in 2021 to PLN1.19bn in 2022.
STS also announced that in the same period, net gaming revenue – which includes gambling taxes as well as winnings – of PLN663m, compared to PLN565m the previous year.
The group also said its adjusted EBITDA for the year came to between PLN265m and PLN275m.
Record Q4 Revenue
A major reason for thegrowth was a particularly strong performance in Q4. The operator reported a record NGR of PLN200m, up by 47.0% from Q4 of 2021. In comparison, earlier in 2022 STS revealed its Q2 22 net gaming revenue was down 16.6% from 2021.
The sportsbook operator also revealed other positive results for the quarter, including a 13% increase in total stakes, a 40% increase in active players to 542,000 and a 32% rise in registrations to 202,000.
STS also recorded 154,000 first time depositors in Q422 compared to 60,000 a year earlier.
Strong sporting calendar
One reason for record revenue and results was a calendar of sporting events, according to Mateusz Juroszek, president of STS Holding’s management board.
“Our offer attracted as many as two hundred thousand new players in the last three months of the year. During the World Cup alone, we had nearly half a million active customers.”
Juroszek went on to explain how the operating data supports the group’s decision to prioritise the Polish market in 2023.
“Operating data for last year clearly show that the domestic market is in a growth phase, despite the extremely difficult macroeconomic environment – the war in Ukraine, high inflation and economic stagnation.
“Since the beginning of this year, we have been focusing our activity exclusively on Poland. Our goal for the difficult year 2023 is greater efficiency of operations and a number of implemented savings.
“The new agreement with the Polish Football Association, focus on the Polish market and a number of synergies resulting from changes in the structure of the Group will positively affect our profitability and facilitate further EBITDA growth.”
The partnership between STS and the Polish Football Association (PZPN) began in 2014, with the group becoming the official partner of the Polish national team in 2018.
First listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in December 2021, STS has a current share price of PLN17.51.
