Tag: Australian Market

Investment Thesis

• U.S. growth opportunity – the U.S. online sports betting market continues to open following the 2018 supreme court ruling which legalizes the industry. Market growth estimates forecast the industry to grow to US$51bn by 2033. 
• Strong management team with a solid track record – the ability to grow market share in a competitive and mature market of Australia gives us some confidence the management team has the right strategy in place to build share in the U.S. 
• Proprietary technology stack – The speed and usability are key differentiating factors. PBH operates proprietary technology, which it developed inhouse. This means new modifications and updates are easier to implement (i.e., more control) with inhouse tech versus outsourced (i.e., having to go to an external provider each time with an update). 
• Cross sell opportunities with iGaming – PBH’s recently launched iGaming product (online casino) is already highlighting cross-sell opportunities to its customers.

Key Risks

• Rising competitive pressures.
• Adverse regulatory change in key operating jurisdictions (Australia / U.S.).
• Loss of market share in key regions or growth rate fails to meet market expectations.

• Higher than expected costs – especially around investment in sales & marketing to drive market share.
• Trading on high PE-multiples / valuations means the Company is more prone to share price volatility.
• Cyber-attack on PBH’s platform.
• Deeply discounted capital raising.

Key Highlights: Relative to the pcp and on a constant currency basis: 

• The Group’s net win for the year was $309.4m and net revenue of $296.5m, which was up +52% YoY. 
• Group gross profit of $121.6m was up +39% YoY, however gross profit margin was down to 41% from 45% due to a lower gross profit margin in the Australian trading business due to higher taxes and product fees, including an increase in the point of consumption tax in Victoria from 1st of July 2021. Also impacting margin was product mix with a higher contribution of revenue from betting events which attract higher product fees. 
• Group sales and marketing expenses were up +38.7% YoY to $236.8m, with U.S. marketing up +36% to $162.6m, Australia up +20% to $61.5m and $12.8m for Canada. Management highlighted that they saw an aggressive uplift in competitor marketing spend in the US. In FY23, management does not expect U.S. marketing expense to exceed FY22 levels in the U.S. and will look to regionalize marketing expense and reduce spend in some of the less targeted acquisition channels. In Australia, FY23 marketing expense is expected to be slightly higher than FY22 levels. In Canada, FY23 marketing expense is expected to run annually at a quarterly rate similar to the Q422 marketing expense of C$7m.
• Australian trading business reported net revenue of $195.2m, up +30% YoY and EBITDA of $7.7m was down -16.3% due to lower gross profit margins and higher marketing expense.
• U.S. trading business reported net revenue of $98.7m, up +133% YoY, and an EBITDA loss of $197.4m versus loss of $149.6m in the pcp, which was primarily driven by the U.S. marketing expense as PBH expanded operations across 10 U.S. states and grow U.S. based team. Management noted the progress they made during the year.
• Corporate costs of $25.6m were significantly higher than $12.4m in the pcp due to higher employee benefits, listing costs, capital raising costs and start-up costs for Canada. 
• Group normalized EBITDA loss over FY22 was $243.6m versus a loss of $156.1m in the pcp – that is down – 56% YoY. Loss for the year was $266.9m versus $164.9m in the pcp. 
• Balance sheet – the Company raised $400m via equity raising and a strategic placement of $94.2m to SIG Sports Investment Corp in Jun-22. The Company is adequately funded to execute on its strategy in the near term with a cash balance as at 30 Jun-22 of $473m.

Company Description

PointsBet Holdings Ltd (PBH), founded in 2015, is a corporate bookmaker with operations in Australia and the United States (New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana). PointsBet has developed a scalable cloud-based wagering platform which offers customers sports and racing wagering products. PBH’s key products include fixed odds sports, fixed odds racing and PointsBetting.

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