Betsson Aktie

Welcome to Betsson Q1 Report 2026. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Pontus Lindwall; and CFO, Martin Ohman. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Betsson's presentation of the Q1 report for 2026. I'm Pontus Lindwall, President and CEO of Betsson. With me today is also our CFO, Martin Arman.

Hi, everyone.

In Q1, we saw continued good customer activity in our B2C business with active customers up 11% year-over-year at all new time -- all-time high levels. Group revenue amounted to EUR 285 million, and EBIT was EUR 34 million in the quarter. The EBIT margin was 11.9% for the period. Revenue for the B2C operations was increased by 15% year-on-year and reached a new record level. Growth was particularly strong in Latin America, primarily driven by positive performance in Peru. Western Europe also delivered double-digit growth with Italy as the main driver, where we continue to gain market share in both sports betting and casino. Overall, our B2C business continues to grow and contributes significantly to the group's earnings. In parallel, we keep on investing in several B2C markets, where we have not yet reached profitability, which reduces operating income by approximately EUR 10 million to EUR 15 million per quarter. We continue to believe that these markets have the potential to become profitable, while we closely monitor and evaluate their development and future prospects.

Revenue in the B2B operations decreased to EUR 51 million, driven by lower revenue from one customer. However, activity for these customers has stabilized since early December. Over the medium term, we are confident that we can increase our B2B revenue with both existing and new partners. Casino revenue declined by 4%, while Sportsbook revenue was up 1% year-over-year. The Sportsbook margin was 8.4%, slightly higher than in the first quarter last year. Our balance sheet is as strong as ever. We ended the quarter with a net cash position of EUR 165 million. In March, we entered into an agreement to acquire Rhino Entertainment Group's B2C business, including a license in Canada as well as some technology assets for our B2B business. The transaction is in line with our strategy to create long-term value through investments in both existing and new B2C markets and through further developing our B2B offering.

The acquisition is expected to deliver economies of scale, improved profitability and enhanced growth opportunities in both business areas. The total purchase price amounts to EUR 64.5 million and will be financed with existing cash. In 2025, the acquired assets, both B2C and B2B, generated an estimated EUR 13.7 million of EBITDA on a proforma basis. Completion of the deal is expected in Q2 or Q3 this year, subject to regulatory approvals. Betsson's engagement in sports continued in the first quarter. We entered into a multiyear sponsorship with Davis Cup, the classical annual international team competition in tennis. This partnership further strengthens Betsson's extensive global sponsorship portfolio across elite sports. Betsson is currently the main sponsor of football clubs Inter Milan, Club Brugge and Boca Juniors.

Now we look forward to following the National Davis Cup teams closely across our different regions. In Italy, a new campaign for Betsson Sport was unveiled in the quarter. The 2026 campaign introduces a new TV commercial and sees Roberto Baggio and Fabio Cannavaro join Francesco Totti as ambassadors for the brand.

Francesco Totti is the former captain of Roma and 2006 World Cup winner with Italy, and he's being joined by Roberto Baggio, winner of Ballon d'Or and one of Italy's most recognized footballers, and Fabio Cannavaro, the former Italy captain and 2006 World Cup winner. Betsson has also announced as the title sponsor of Betsson Summer Pro Padel 2026, one of the major sporting events of the summer in Argentina. Betsson's tech platform is a player account management system that makes up the core of the customer offering and user experience. The platform manages customer payments, customer data as well as the games offered to players. During the quarter, the implementation of the new proprietary front-end framework continued, which has been built for increased flexibility and performance and which strengthens the user experience by enabling faster and more efficient rollout of new features and updates going forward.

Betsson also runs a proprietary sportsbook. And during the quarter, several enhancements to the customer experience were introduced such as expanded bet builder functionality, AI-powered match previews and enriched live stats. These enhancements position our Sportsbook strongly ahead of peak events such as the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Mobile adoption has remained a key focus, supported by a new app for Inkabet in Peru as well as expanded native app capabilities in other markets, designed to drive customer acquisition and retention. A number of new suppliers of slots, casino games were launched in various markets during the quarter. During the first quarter, Betsson participated in the sustainable gaming zone at ICE Gaming Trade Fair in Barcelona. Betsson sponsored the event for the fourth consecutive year, where all proceeds go to organizations working for safer gaming, and Betsson also participated in several panels to discuss responsible gaming and sustainability. More details about Betsson's sustainability framework and reporting can be found in the new sustainability report, which was recently published as part of the annual report for 2025.

This is the first sustainability report according to the EU directive on sustainability reporting called CSRD. At Club Brugge Champions League match in Madrid, Betsson choose to highlight the club's long-standing social message, No Heart No Glory. This initiative aimed to encourage blood and plasma donations in Flanders in Belgium.

And now I'll hand over to Martin for a closer look at the financials.

Thanks, Pontus. The first quarter was a quarter with more or less maintained revenue level, but decreased operating income year-on-year. In today's presentation, we will give you more details of the numbers released earlier in April. But before we go into the details of the financial numbers, we start with a few KPIs. Customer deposits in all gaming solutions are down by 40% compared to the same period last year, but number of active customers increased by 6%.

The gross turnover in Sportsbook across all bets in gaming solutions was down 21% compared to the same period last year and amounts to approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Sportsbook margin was 8.4%, which is higher than the 8.0% margin in the first quarter last year, but below the 2-year rolling average margin of 8.7%. Sportsbook revenue slightly increased by 1% compared to last year and amounted to EUR 80 million. The casino turnover is down 17% year-on-year and casino revenue decreased by 4%.

Casino revenue represented 72% of the group's total revenue in the quarter, and Sportsbooks up 27%. Reported revenue for the quarter amounted to EUR 285 million, a decrease of 3% year-on-year, but 4% organic growth. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 20% compared to last year and now constitutes 73% of total revenue compared to 59% last year. Revenue from the B2C business has grown by 15% or EUR 31 million year-on-year, whilst the B2B business shows declining revenue year-on-year by 43% or by EUR 39 million, explained by decreased revenue from one of the group's B2B customers. Revenue from the B2B business corresponds to 18% of total revenue and B2C revenue to 82%.

Splitting revenue by region, we see growth compared to previous year in all regions, except for the Nordics and the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the CEECA region, which both are down compared to last year. In the Nordic region, revenue decreased both compared to the corresponding period last year and to the previous quarter. The decline is primarily driven by reduced activity in the casino products. Both Denmark and Sweden reported lower revenue during the quarter, which is the outcome of an active decision to focus marketing activities, where we see the best return on investments. The Nordic region represented 11% of the group's total revenue in the first quarter. Revenue from Western Europe increased by 10% year-on-year or by EUR 6 million and reported the highest revenue ever for the region in a single quarter.

As Pontus said, the Italian market reported all-time high revenue in the first quarter, reaching new record levels in both deposits and turnover. The growth compared to the corresponding period last year is mainly driven by the casino product. The Sportsbook product continued to show strong growth with increased revenue both year-on-year and compared to the previous quarter, but the Sportsbook revenue is still relatively smaller than the casino revenue in Italy.

France reported increased revenue, both compared to the corresponding period last year and compared to the previous quarter. Revenue from Belgium decreased compared to the corresponding period last year and previous quarter, explained by decreased Sportsbook revenue. The Western Europe region represented 21% of total revenue in the quarter. Revenue from the CEECA region decreased by 22% or by EUR 27 million. Revenue was negatively impacted in the first quarter by lower license revenue for system deliveries in the region with a decline primarily driven by the Casino products.

The B2C segment in the region continued to perform well. Croatia, Greece, Georgia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, all reported increased revenue compared with the corresponding period last year. The growth in Croatia and Greece was driven by the Casino product, whilst the growth in Poland and Georgia was driven by the Sportsbook products. The CEECA region represented 34% of the group's total revenue. Revenue in the Latin America region increased by EUR 19 million or by 21% compared to the same period last year and also increased compared to the previous quarter. Peru and Colombia reported increased revenue in the quarter, and the growth was driven by solid performance across both the Casino product and the Sportsbook product with underlying growth in both play deposits and turnover in both markets. Argentina reported in line with the corresponding period last year and the previous quarter. The reported revenue was significantly impacted by negative currency effects in the quarter. In local currency, Argentina continue to report strong growth across both Casino and Sportsbook. The Latin America region represented 33% of the group's total revenue in the first quarter.

Explaining the development in operating income, this picture breaks down the different components in the profit and loss statement to display the impact of the different line items. Revenue is slightly down year-on-year, impacting gross profits. However, revenue from locally regulated markets has increased and following that increased gaming taxes by some EUR 8 million. Increase of cost of services provided is apart from gaming taxes, also explained by higher payment provider fees, following increased B2C revenue and higher costs related to regulatory licenses. Gross profit is also impacted by the change in revenue mix between B2C and B2B in the quarter, where we, in this quarter, see a step down in the B2B revenue as percentage of total revenue.

Year-on-year, gross profit decreased by EUR 24 million compared to the same period last year and amounted to EUR 164 million, which corresponds to a gross profit margin of 58% compared to 64% last year. Marketing spend increased by EUR 1 million compared to last year and corresponds to 16% of total B2C revenue and to some 21% when including affiliate marketing cost as well. Personnel expenses increased by some EUR 3 million compared to last year, explained by increased number of employees following geographical expansion, increased investments in product and technology development.

Depreciation and amortization costs increased by EUR 2 million year-on-year as a result of increased capitalized development costs. Other items are flat year-on-year, where increased capitalized development costs are contracting increased other external expenses. Operating income amounts to EUR 34 million, a decrease of 47% compared to last year. The EBIT margin was 11.9% compared to 21.9% last year. Operating cash flow amounts to EUR 58 million compared to EUR 86 million in the same period last year.

The deviation year-on-year is mainly explained by lower operating income and increased taxes paid. Operating cash flow is also impacted by changes in working capital of EUR 17 million, mainly explained by decreased accounts receivable and lower payment provider balances. Cash flow from investing activities sums up to EUR 15 million and relates to investments in own product and technology development. Cash flow from financing activities impacted the cash flow by EUR 25 million, mainly driven by share buybacks of EUR 20 million, but also impacted by dividend paid to noncontrolling interest of EUR 2 million, loan to associated companies of EUR 1 million and lease payments of EUR 2 million. Betsson has, as end of March, a net cash position of EUR 165 million and an equity ratio of 66%.

Pontus, back to you to take us through the trading updates.

Thank you, Martin, for reading out all those figures. So let's look at how the second quarter has started. The average daily revenue for the second quarter to date up to and including 21st of April has been 3.7% higher than the average daily revenue of the full second quarter of 2025. During the period so far in April this year, the Sportsbook margin has been higher than the historical average.

Now a quick summary of the first quarter. We saw continued strong performance in B2C, but the B2B business declined. Regionally, growth was strong in Latin America and Western Europe, while the CEECA region and the Nordics both declined. The share of locally regulated markets was the highest ever at 73% and drove higher gaming taxes. Lower B2B revenue and higher gaming taxes impacted profitability in the quarter. In June, the FIFA World Cup will begin, which we expect to contribute to increased activity and customer intake. Our investments in recent years have strengthened our position and with a competitive offering, the strong brand and a proven strategy, we are well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the global online gaming market.

Thanks, everyone, for listening to the presentation. And now it's time for Q&A. We welcome your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Georg Attling from Pareto Securities.

I have a couple of questions. So starting with B2B. You say that this customer that you have seen revenue stabilizing since December. Does that mean that we should expect B2B flat sequentially here in Q2?

It's very hard to see how the rest of the quarter is going to develop. But what we have seen so far since December last year, it has stabilized.

Okay. And you're writing the report that B2C contributes significantly to profits. We've seen what's happened to profits, obviously, now that B2B has come down. So just a bit curious how we should read that significant contribution. Is it -- do you say anything more? Is it more than half? A bit more detail there would be -- it would be great.

We're not in the position to give those figures out, but we can just reiterate that we have significant profits also from B2C. And as we mentioned in the report and during the presentation, we continue to invest in several B2C markets as well that looks promising for the future, but which comes with higher cost than revenues for the time being.

Okay. In these growth markets that you currently lose money on the B2C side, have your strategy at all changed in regards to those investments considering how B2B has developed?

No, it has not because we don't believe that the right -- that it's the right thing to try to fix one thing with working on another thing. I mean these are markets that we believe in long term. And all the markets that we have -- where we operate now profitable -- will profit in the B2C, they have taken many, many years to build up. So that's how business is made, and we have to keep investing in the markets that we believe in.

Okay. So is my interpretation correct and then -- that if B2B continues to decline, you're not going to change the strategy to protect the margin in the short term?

I mean this is something that we haven't really discussed because it's not the situation that we are in front of right now. As we say, the B2B has stabilized, and we are looking towards getting also new clients on to the B2B side. So we are more preparing for that kind of scenario going forward.

That's clear. I just have a final question on Rhino. If you could share some more details here on their turnover. How much is that? How much is B2B versus B2C in that pro forma EBITDA that you provided?

That's -- we haven't published those figures. So that's not something that we can go into.

Okay. But will it be accretive or not to the margin on the group level?

Yes, it will.

[Operator Instructions] There are no more phone questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

So there are no further questions. So thank you, everyone, for listening in, and see you at the next presentation. Bye-bye.

Buh-bye.

Welcome to Betsson Q4 Report 2025. [Operator Instructions]

Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Pontus Lindwall; and CFO, Martin Ohman. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Betsson's presentation of the fourth quarter of 2025. I'm Pontus Lindwall, the President and CEO of Betsson. With me and presenting today is also our CFO, Martin Ohman.

In Q4, we saw continued good customer activity with an increased number of active players compared to the same period last year. Revenue amounted to EUR 304 million, and operating income was EUR 53 million in the quarter. The EBIT margin was 17.5% for the period.

Casino revenue was up 3% year-over-year, while Sportsbook revenue was down 9%. The Sportsbook revenue was negatively impacted by a lower Sportsbook margin in the quarter. We ended the year with a strong net cash position of EUR 158 million.

Regionally, Western Europe and Latin America continued to show revenue growth while revenue from Nordic region and CEECA declined. Revenue from our B2C operations continued to increase, thanks to successful product and marketing investments, while revenue from our B2B business was lower than the comparison period last year. The decline in the B2B was mainly due to one-off Betsson's customers having lower activity than in the corresponding period in the previous year.

The share of revenue from locally regulated markets continued to increase and reached an all-time high of 68%, which consequently drove higher gaming taxes. We continue to invest in the product and technology organization to strengthen the customer experience and our long-term competitiveness, which led to higher personnel costs.

Lower B2B revenue, higher gaming taxes and increased personnel costs had a negative impact on profitability and operating income during the quarter. Despite the lower profitability, Betsson stands strong operationally with a competitive product offering, increasing brand awareness and technology at the forefront.

Now let's have a quick look at the figures for the full year 2025. Group revenue was at an all-time high of EUR 1.197 billion, up 8% year-over-year. EBITDA, EBIT, net income and earnings per share were 1% lower year-over-year. The EBIT margin for the year was 21.1%.

Our strong financial position provides us with good conditions to invest in long-term profitable growth and to deliver returns to our shareholders. During the quarter, the Board of Directors initiated a share buyback program corresponding to EUR 40 million and an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.66 per share has been proposed for 2025.

Betsson's engagement in sport continued in the fourth quarter with several new sponsorships, for example, the basketball club Peristeri, the Football Club Iraklis and Volleyball Club Panionios, all in Greece. Also Betsson became the local official sponsor of the Volleyball League in Peru.

Betsson was also quite active with CSR and PR campaigns in Italy and Greece, together with our local partner clubs in those countries, supporting the causes of nonviolence against women and anti-bulling go above and beyond the pure campaign efforts and potential returns. It also feels like the right thing to do.

Betsson's tech platform, the Player Account Management System makes up the core of the customers' offering and user experience. The platform manages customer payments, customer data as well as the games offered to the players.

During the quarter, the introduction of the new front-end framework continued, which has been built for increased flexibility and performance and which strengthens the user experience by enabling faster and more efficient rollout of new features and updates going forward.

Within the Sportsbook, the user interface was further strengthened, while the BetBuilder feature was expanded with more betting opportunities and early win payouts in football continue to be implemented. Further, a number of new suppliers of slots, casino games were launched in various markets during the quarter.

Now I will hand over to Martin for a closer look at the financials in the fourth quarter.

Thanks, Pontus, and hello, everyone. The fourth quarter was a quarter with maintained revenue but decreased EBIT year-on-year. In today's presentation, we will give you more details about the reported numbers. But before we go into the financial numbers, we start by focusing on some KPIs.

Customer deposits in all gaming solutions are down by 6% compared to the same period last year, but at the same time, the number of active customers increased by 5%. The gross turnover in Sportsbook across all bets and gaming solutions was down 14% compared to the same period last year and amounts to approximately EUR 1.5 billion.

Sportsbook margin was 8.8%, which is lower than the 9.8% margin in the fourth quarter last year, but above the 2-year rolling average margin of 8.4%. Sportsbook revenue decreased by some 9% compared to last year and amounted to EUR 83 million.

The casino turnover is down 7% year-on-year, but casino revenue increased by 3% and is the second highest reported casino revenue ever. Casino revenue represented 72% of the group's total revenue in the quarter and Sportsbook some 27%.

Reported revenue for the quarter amounted to EUR 304 million, a slight decrease of 1% year-on-year, but 5% organic growth. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 13% compared to last year and now constitute 68% of total revenue compared to 60% last year.

Revenue from the B2C business has grown by 4% or EUR 9 million year-on-year, whilst the B2B business shows declining revenue year-on-year by 14% or by EUR 12 million, explained by decreased revenue from one of the group's B2B customers. Revenue from the B2B business corresponds to 23% of total revenue and B2C revenue to 77%.

Splitting revenue by region. We see growth compared to previous year in all regions, except for the Nordics and the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the CEECA region, which both are down compared to last year.

In the Nordic region, Denmark reported decreased revenue in the fourth quarter, primarily driven [Audio Gap] increased turnover and growth in revenue in the fourth quarter. The growth is mainly explained by the casino product and somewhat negatively affected by a lower Sportsbook margin in Peru compared to the corresponding period last year. The Latin America region represented 28% of the group's total revenue in the fourth quarter.

Explaining the development in operating income, this picture breaks down the different components in the profit and loss statement to display the impact of the different line items. Revenue is more or less flat year-on-year, but revenue from locally regulated markets has increased and following that increased gaming taxes by some EUR 10 million, which increases cost of services provided.

Apart from increased gaming taxes, cost of services provided, is also impacted by the revenue mix with somewhat higher part coming from casino, which comes with lower contribution margin than Sportsbook revenue since Sportsbook is an in-house product.

We've increased casino revenue, follows then also increased license fees of some EUR 2 million in the quarter. Gross profit is also impacted by the change in revenue mix between B2C and B2B in the quarter where we, in this quarter, see a step down in B2B revenue as a percentage of total revenue. Year-on-year, gross profit decreased by EUR 16 million compared to the same period last year and amounted to EUR 184 million, which corresponds to a gross profit margin of 61% compared to 65% last year.

Marketing spend decreased by EUR 3 million compared to last year and corresponds to 17% of total B2C revenue and to some 22% when including affiliate marketing costs as well. Personnel expenses increased by some EUR 7 million compared to last year, explained by increased number of employees following geographical expansion and acquisitions, increased investments in product and technology development and also impacted by some nonrecurring personnel items of a couple of millions.

Depreciation and amortization costs were flat compared to last year. Other items include capitalized development costs, other external expenses and other operating income and expenses. The latter 2 are flat compared to last year. The movement in other items related to increased capitalized development costs following increased focus on product and tech development and also following the acquisition and sporting solution adding new employees within tech and product development.

Overall, operating expenses have remained constant year-on-year and changes in operating income are solely coming from gross profit impact. Operating income amounts to EUR 53 million, a decrease of 24% compared to last year. The EBIT margin was 17.5% compared to 23% last year.

Operating cash flow amounts to EUR 23 million compared to EUR 85 million in the same period last year. The deviation year-on-year comes from a series of independent events that have impacted the operating cash flow in the quarter. To start with, operating income has decreased, but taxes paid have increased by some EUR 13 million, partly explained by changes in government's tax collecting processes in some of the countries that Betsson operates in.

Operating cash flow is also negatively impacted by changes in working capital by EUR 30 million, mainly explained by a prepaid sponsorship deal due to cost savings, higher payment provider balances due to timing effects on settlements that occurred after the end of the quarter and jackpot win in Croatia are lowering the jackpot reserves.

Cash flow from investing activities sums up to EUR 28 million, where some EUR 14 million relates to investments in own product and technology development, and EUR 14 million comes from investment in new -- 2 new gaming licenses in Italy.

Cash flow from financing activities impacted the cash flow by EUR 61 million, mainly driven by dividend paid to shareholders of EUR 46 million and share buybacks of EUR 13 million, but also impacted by dividend paid to noncontrolling interest, loan to associated companies and lease payments.

In November, senior unsecured bonds were issued at a total amount of EUR 75 million under a framework of up to EUR 250 million. The bonds have a tenor of 4 years and a floating interest rate of Euribor 3 months plus 275 basis points. In connection with the bond issue, early voluntary redemption of the bonds in the 2023-2026 Series was offered. For those who refrain from this, a mandatory redemption was called for and remaining bonds in the 2023-2026 Series, that did not participate in the voluntary early redemption offer were redeemed in December.

The issue of the new bonds and the redemption of the bonds in the 2023-2026 Series means a significant step down in interest from Euribor plus 460 basis points down to Euribor plus 275 basis points, which will lower the group's interest cost going forward. Betsson has, as end of December, a net cash position of EUR 158 million and an equity ratio of 67%.

Now back to you, Pontus, to present the suggested dividend distribution and trading update.

Thank you, Martin. The cash flows of our business and our solid balance sheet allows us to continue paying out attractive dividends to our shareholders and at the same time, invest in future growth. For 2025, the Board has proposed an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.66 per share. The proposed ordinary dividend for 2025 amounts to approximately EUR 90.9 million. The dividend will be paid out in Swedish kroner in 2 parts in June and October.

Now let's look at how the first quarter of 2026 has started. The average daily revenue in the first quarter up to until and including the 3rd of February has been 0.6% higher than the average daily revenue of the entire first quarter of 2025. The organic growth has been 7.7% for the same period.

Thanks, everyone, for listening to the presentation. And now it's time for Q&A. We welcome your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

We have a question from the web audience about regulations. Basically, noting that taxes have increased -- gaming tax have increased and regulations are becoming stricter. How do you see the future for Betsson in a highly regulated market, are there still interesting levers to pull?

Yes, it's not a surprise that the gambling market goes into taxes once they regulate locally. That's part of the deal, and that is something that we have expected all the time. Still, we believe that there's room to run profitable operations as we can see that we do already. So we believe that Betsson has a great fit into this market also in the future.

There was another question from the web audience about consolidation taking place in the gaming sector. How do you look at this? Do you prefer to look at M&A opportunities? Are there still small, medium players to be acquired? Or do you prefer organic investments into product and technology?

That's a good question. And as we have already mentioned, we continue to invest in both technology and our organic growth. But we are still looking for M&As. And with the strong balance sheet that we have, we are in a very good position to be able to conduct the M&As. It's not thousands of companies out there that fit our needs, but once we find something that suits us, we are in a very good position to make M&A. So the answer is yes, we continue to look, and I'm sure we're going to conclude M&A.

There have been further questions from the web audience about the margins, looking at both the gross margin and the EBITDA margin in Q4? Are there one-offs? And what can we expect going forward?

I mean, the big impact on EBIT is coming from the gross profit, as we said. And on the OpEx side, we are more or less flat year-on-year. There are a few smaller one-offs in personnel costs. But all in all, OpEx is what we can expect, I believe, and gross profit, it's hard to tell going forward.

There was another question from the web audience about the B2B segment. Do you expect the share of revenue from B2B to be stable or increase or decrease going forward?

It's very hard for us to make predictions and we usually don't predict financial figures. But the only thing we can say is that as a company, we have ambitions to continue to grow our B2B business as well as our B2C business. So that's our ambition going forward.

There was another question from the web audience about prediction markets, what can you comment on that? And do you have any current plan of launching products into prediction markets?

We can say that it's a very interesting market segment that has been created in quite a short time span. We don't see that fit as well in our core markets regulations as it seems to fit in the U.S. as an example. So we have no plans to enter into that business as of now.

Yet another question from the web audience. Do you have any plans of issuing a new share buyback program after the current one is completed?

We're now into this program and we don't have any predictions to do about future share buybacks.

Okay. That was it from the web questions. Let's see if we should give someone on the phone another chance. If not, then we say thank you to all the listeners for listening in to this presentation and see you next time. Bye-bye.

I'm Pontus Lindwall, President and CEO of Betsson. With me today is also our CFO, Martin Ohman. The global online gaming market is driven by the shift from off-line to online gaming, and Betsson is well positioned to capture growth opportunities in this structurally attractive market. In the third quarter of 2025, we continue to create value for our customers, partners and shareholders. Total group revenue increased 6% and operating profit grew by 4% and compared to the corresponding period last year. Earnings per share increased by 10% year-over-year. We have a proven and successful product portfolio consisting of both casino and sports betting, as well as a well-diversified mix of revenues from geographical regions which lowers the risk of periodical and weaker developments in individual products or markets. In the third quarter, casino revenue was a new all-time high up 6% year-over-year, while sportsbook revenue was up 4% year-over-year. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 16% and accounted for 64% of total revenue during the quarter.

Geographically, the largest growth contribution during the quarter came from Western Europe, where revenue increased by 27%, mainly driven by continued strong growth in Italy where we continue to gain market share in both casino and sports betting. Latin America also continues to be an important growth region in the quarter, with 10% revenue growth year-over-year, driven by Casino. Our business continues to generate strong cash flows, and our balance sheet is very robust with a record net cash position of EUR 220 million. The Board of Directors has decided to initiate a share buyback program of up to EUR 40 million from today and up until the 30th of April 2026. Our strategic sponsorships form an important part of our marketing strategy and Betsson's commitment to sports in general, continues.

During the quarter, we entered into new sponsorships with the basketball clubs Aris BC and Mykonos BC in Greece. A new sponsorship also began with the Italian football club Bari in Serie B. Following the rebranding from Betsafe to our flagship brand, Betsson, the sponsorships of Žalgiris and the Basketball Association in Lithuania were extended under the Betsson brand. In addition, it was particularly nice to see that Club Brugge managed to qualify for the Champions League in football, which means that 2 clubs in this prestigious tournament will wear Betsson's name on their match jerseys decision. On the product and technology side, we continue to invest to deliver the best customer experience on the market. During the third quarter, the implementation of the new proprietary front-end framework continued. This has been built for increased flexibility and performance and strengthen the user experience by enabling faster and more efficient rollout of new features and updates going forward. The development of native apps continued mainly for the market in Argentina where new app was launched stepwise during the third quarter for the 3 provinces. Within the Sportsbook, the user interfaces were improved and an early payout feature was introduced for football, meaning that players can opt to receive winnings as soon as the team led by 2 goals. And now I will hand over to Martin, who will present our financials in more detail.

Thanks, Pontus, and hello, everyone. As Pontus said, the third quarter was a quarter with revenue and EBIT growth, supported by the highest casino revenue ever for an individual quarter and maintain cost control. The activity was somewhat lower in the third quarter in active customer and customer deposits in all gaming solutions about slightly down compared to the same period last year, with the latter decreased by 2%. The gross turnover in Sportsbook across all bets and Gaming Solutions was down by 19% compared to the same period last year and amounts to approximately EUR 1.3 billion.

Sportsbook margin was 8.8%, which is higher than the 7.4% margin in the third quarter last year and above the 2-year rolling average margin of 8.1%. Sportsbook revenue increased by some 4% compared to last year and amounted to EUR 72 million. The casino turnover is down 6% year-on-year, but casino revenue increased by 6% and is the highest reported casino revenue ever. Casino revenue represented 75% of the group's total revenue in the quarter and sport books 24%. Reported revenue for the third quarter amounted to EUR 296 million, an increase of 6% year-on-year and 11% organic growth. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 16% compared to last year and now constitutes 64% of total revenue compared to 58% last year. Revenue growth comes from both the B2C and the B2B business in the quarter, where the B2B business is the main growth driver with 15% year-on-year growth and amounts to EUR 77 million, representing 26% of total revenue.

Splitting revenue by region. We see growth compared to previous year in all regions, except for the Nordics, which is down by 20% compared to last year. All markets in the Nordic region reported decreased revenue in the quarter compared to the corresponding period last year. As a consequence of decreased marketing investments in the region and the decision to close down the B2C business in the Norwegian markets as of December last year. The Nordic region represented 12% of the group's total revenue in the third quarter. Revenue from Western Europe increased by 27% year-on-year or by EUR 12 million, and reported the second highest revenue ever for the region in a single quarter. The Italian market reported all-time high revenue in the third quarter, mainly driven by the casino product. The sportsbook product continued to show strong growth with increased revenue, both year-on-year and compared to the previous quarter but the sportsbook revenue is still relatively smaller than the casino in Italy. Revenue from Belgium decreased compared to the corresponding period last year and the previous quarter.

The decline is driven by lower activity in the Sportsbook product following some technical issues in connection with the migration from a third-party sportsbook provider to the Betsson Sportsbook. The Western Europe region represented 19% of the total revenue in the quarter. Revenue from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the Sika region increased by 3%. Croatia and Greece reported all-time high revenue in the third quarter. The growth in Croatia is driven by the casino product, whilst Greece reported growth in both the casino and the sportsbook products. Lithuania and Latvia reported increased revenue compared to the same period last year but decreased revenue compared to the previous quarter. Georgia and Estonia reported decreased revenue, both compared to the same period last year and the previous quarter. The decline is primarily driven by the casino product. The Sika region represented 40% of the group's total revenue. Revenue in the Latin America region increased by 10% compared to the same period last year but decreased compared to previous quarter. The increase compared to last year is driven by the casino product. The decline compared to previous quarter is explained by reduced activity in the sportsbook product, mainly because of seasonal variations and a lower sportsbook margin.

Argentina continued to show strong underlying growth in customer deposits and increased turnover and reported higher revenue compared to the same period last year, although facing FX headwinds. Peru and Colombia reported growth compared to the same period last year but decreased revenue compared to the previous quarter. The growth is primarily driven by the casino product. The Latin America region represented 26% of the group's total revenue in the third quarter. Explaining the development in operating income, this picture breaks down the different components in the profit and loss statement to display the impact from the different line items. Revenue has increased by some EUR 16 million and following that, increased cost of services provided as well. The increase in customer services provided is a part from revenue growth, mainly explained by higher gaming taxes following a 64% share of total revenue coming from locally regulated markets. Gross profit increased by EUR 11 million compared to the same period last year and amounts to EUR 190 million, which corresponds to a gross profit margin of 64% equal to last year.

Marketing spend increased by EUR 2 million compared to last year and corresponds to 16% of total B2C revenue and to some 21% when including affiliate marketing costs as well. Increased marketing spend is primarily explained by enhanced marketing efforts in Western Europe. Personnel expenses increased by some EUR 10 million compared to last year, explained by increased number of employees following geographical expansion and acquisitions. This, in combination with organic focus on product and tech development explains the bulk of the increased number of headcounts in the group. Depreciation and amortization costs were flat compared to last year. Other items include capitalized development costs, other external expenses, and other operating income and expenses. The latter 2 are more or less flat compared to last year. The movement in other items relates to increased capitalized development costs following increased focus on product and tech development and also following the acquisition of Sporting Solutions, adding new employees within tech and product development.

Operating income amounts to EUR 67 million, an increase of 4% compared to last year. And the EBIT margin was 22.6% compared to 23.0% last year. Operating cash flow amounts to EUR 65 million compared to EUR 63 million in the same period last year. Operating cash flow is driven by increased operating income but negatively impacted by changes in working capital by some EUR 16 million, mainly explained by decreased accrued expenses. Cash flow from the investing activities is positive in the quarter. Investments in own product and technology development are maintained, but the total number is impacted by a reversal of the purchase consideration of the discontinued acquisition of Holland Gaming Technology and Holland Power Gaming. Cash flow from financing activities impacted the cash flow by EUR 8 million, mainly driven by dividend paid to shareholders with noncontrolling interest and lease payments. Betsson has, as end of September, a net cash position of EUR 220 million and an equity ratio of 60%.

Operating cash flow is slightly up year-to-date with a strong start in the first quarter in 2025, followed by a somewhat weaker second quarter and now in the third quarter, again, showing year-on-year growth with a total operating cash flow of close to EUR 200 million year-to-date as of end of September. When it comes to earnings per share, we can also conclude an increasing trend over time. And as of end of September, the EPS has increased by 12% compared to the same period last year and now amounts to EUR 1.05 per share compared to EUR 0.94 accumulated as for the same period last year.

And now back to you, Pontus to present a trading update and to give some more details on the share buyback program that was initiated earlier today.

Yes. Thank you, Martin. Now let's have a look at how the fourth quarter has started. The average daily revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, up until and including the 19th of October was 2.1% higher than the average daily revenue of the full fourth quarter of 2024. And about the share buyback program, the Board of Directors has decided a share buyback program of EUR 40 million of Class B shares in Betsson. The buyback program starts the earliest today on the 24th of October 2025 and continues through 30th of April 2026. The buyback program will be carried out in accordance with the so-called safe harbor regulation.

So now let's quickly sum up the highlights of the third quarter of 2025. We saw continued profitable growth and strengthened market positions in the third quarter. Group revenue was up 6% year-over-year, driven by Western Europe and Latin America and the casino product. Casino revenue was at a new all-time high. EBIT was up 4% year-over-year. The growth figures should be seen against the backdrop of challenging comparative figures for third quarter last year, which included the European football championship and the Copa America. Also, we faced FX headwinds in the past quarter in both our B2C and B2B businesses.

The share of revenue from locally regulated markets was 64%. We have a strong balance sheet with record EUR 220 million in net cash. So now let's move over to Q&A, and we welcome your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

The next question comes from Georg Attling from Pareto Securities.

I have 2 questions, if I may. Just starting with the morning's news on the buybacks. Thanks for that. It's been long awaited. But I'm just wondering what's the reason for you actually pulling the trigger on this right now. Is it just merely a consequence of the net cash ballooning or is it fewer M&A opportunities on the line or the valuation or anything else?

No, this is -- I mean, as Pontus mentioned, we are now in a position where we have the highest net cash ever. And this is a decision taken by the Board. to kind of better reflect a nice and sound capital allocation. But we believe that this is not impacting at all any kind of future M&A agendas or any future organic growth initiatives. So this is just a way to kind of balance and look at the proper capital allocation.

Yes, correct, Martin. And we can add to that, that it's not in any way so that there are less M&A opportunities and that, that should be a reason for the buyback. We have a full box of cash, and we're investigating several opportunities as we speak, as we always do for M&A. So this has nothing to do with the climate for M&A.

That was very clear. My second question is just more high level on the strategy, the partnerships with sports clubs. They're becoming quite many. So it seems like you're shifting quite a bit of marketing maybe from casino to more sports focused marketing. Just wondering if this is what we should expect going forward also and how you balance your investments in sports versus casino?

Yes. I would say that sports is a very good way of marketing the brand. And it goes for both Casino and Sports. And I think the most clear example of that is what we can see now in Italy, where we do a very strong sports and very sports-oriented sponsorship with Inter, but still we see the casino marching on. And this is being able, as we are now to sponsor large clubs that has a global reach. It's a fantastic opportunity for us of building the brand and marketing our brand. And as we all know, there has been some challenges with restrictions in marketing in certain markets and taking that into account the sponsorship is a great way of building a good brand, both for casino and sports globally.

That's very clear. That was my questions.

There are no more phone questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

There are no written questions here. So thank you all for attending the conference. Bye-bye.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Betsson's presentation of the Second Quarter 2025. I'm Pontus Lindwall, the President and CEO of Betsson. With me today is also our CFO, Martin Ohman.

Betsson is well positioned to capture global growth opportunities in the structurally attractive market for online gaming and in the second quarter of 2025, we continued to deliver value to customers, partners and shareholders. Group revenue increased by 12% and operating income increased by 8% compared to the same quarter last year, which then included the European Championship and Copa America in football. Revenue growth was mainly driven by continued strong growth in Latin America and Western Europe, where revenue increased around 35% and reached new record levels.

In LatAm, Peru and Argentina was the main drivers, and I'm very pleased to see how we continue to strengthen our leading market positions in these countries. The Sportsbook margin in the past quarter was pretty favorable at 9.5%, driving 15% revenue growth in our Sportsbook. Casino revenue increased by 11% year-over-year. In the second -- the second quarter featured a high level of activity throughout the organization. Following our marketing strategy, our global flagship brand, Betsson, was launched in Georgia and Lithuania during the quarter. The aim is to realize economies of scale through international marketing and exposure through major sponsorships.

In front of 45,000 spectators in Georgia's capital, Tiblisi, a selection of the country's best football legends, together with Betsson's CCO, Ronni Hartvig, was matched against former star players from Barcelona, including Ronaldinho in an exhibition match where the Betsson brand was launched at the same time as we celebrated 10 years of the market presence in Georgia.

Our strategic sponsorships continue to form an important part of our marketing strategy. Inter's success in the Champions League meant that Betsson's brand was shown to several hundred million TV viewers during the playoffs and the final. In June, a 3-year jersey sponsorship agreement was signed with the renowned Belgium football club, Brugge, that is set to play in Europe during the autumn and hopefully can repeat previous year's European success. Further, our involvement in tennis also continues. Recently, we extended our sponsorship with a classic ATP tournament in Båstad in Sweden.

Betsson's gaming sites and apps are largely operated on our own platform, Techsson, that makes up the core of the offering and user experience. The platform manages payments, customer information, account management as well as the games offering. Our proprietary platform provides flexibility and enables rapid adaption to new market conditions and ahead of launches in new markets.

During the second quarter, the rollout of new front-end frameworks was initiated. The framework has been built in-house for increased performance and strengthens the user experience by enabling faster and more efficient rollout of new features and improvements going forward. The development of native apps continued in the quarter, mainly for the Argentinian market, where new app is being launched stepwise for the three provinces during the third quarter. For our Sportsbook, the user interfaces were improved and the Betbuilder feature was further expanded. Also in June, we began to integrate Betsson's own Sportsbook for BetFIRST in Belgium.

Betsson continues to take an active role in supporting a sustainable gaming culture. In May, for the second year in a row, we organized a Sustainability Day at one of the largest industry events in Europe, NEXT Valletta. The agenda included topics such as sustainable gaming regulations, promotion of responsible gaming and the positive contribution of sports sponsorships to local communities. During the quarter, Betsson obtained three certifications and two attestations from the International Standardization Organization, ISO. The areas covered were quality management, environmental management, energy management, human capital and social responsibility. The audits were part of the licensing process for our business in Italy.

And now I will hand over to Martin, who will present our financials in more detail.

Thanks, Pontus, and hello, everyone. The second quarter was another good quarter with revenue and EBIT growth supported by year-over-year growth in deposits and increased Casino turnover, increased Casino and Sportsbook revenue and maintain cost control. Number of active customers is more or less flat compared to last year, following Betsson's decision in the end of 2024 to pull out the markets without a clear part of the local regulation in a few African markets such as Kenya and Algeria as a consequence of the ongoing evaluation of the group's market strategy for Africa. Another impacting factor is that the second quarter last year included both the Euros and Copa America we typically see increased player activity.

The gross turnover in Sportsbook across all bets and gaming solutions was close to EUR 1.5 billion, a decrease of 4% year-over-year. Sportsbook margin was 9.5%, which is higher than the 8.6% margin in the second quarter last year and above the 2-year rolling average margin of 7.9%. Sportsbook revenue increased by some 15% compared to last year and amounted to EUR 90 million, which is the second highest Sportsbook revenue ever, only beaten by Q4 last year by some EUR 1.3 million.

Casino turnover is slightly up year-on-year and Casino revenue increased by 11%, which is also the second highest Casino revenue ever, only beaten by Q4 last year by some EUR 1.5 million. Casino revenue represented 70% of the group's total revenue in the quarter and Sportsbook some 29%. Reported revenue for the second quarter amounted to EUR 304 million, the second highest revenue ever in a single quarter and an increase of 12% year-on-year and 16% organic growth. Revenue from locally regulated markets increased by 33% compared to last year and now constitutes 66% of total revenue compared to 55% last year.

Revenue growth is coming from both the B2C and the B2B business in the quarter, where the B2C business reported all-time high revenue and contributed with EUR 228 million, while some EUR 76 million came from license revenue from the B2B customers.

Splitting revenue by region, we see growth compared to previous year in all regions, except for the Nordics, which is down by 28% compared to last year. All markets in the Nordic region reported decreased revenue in the quarter compared to the corresponding period last year as a consequence of decreased marketing investments in the region. The Nordic region represented 11% of the group's total revenue in the second quarter. Revenue from Western Europe increased by 36% year-on-year or by EUR 60 million and reported the highest revenue ever for the region in a single quarter.

The Italian market reported an all-time high revenue, mainly driven by the Casino product. The Sportsbook product reported increased activity and significantly higher revenue, both compared with the corresponding period last year and the previous quarter, but the Sportsbook revenue is still relatively smaller than the Casino in Italy. Revenue from Belgium is in line with the corresponding period last year. This, although lower activity in the Sportsbook in this quarter following the big football tournament in the comparable period last year.

The Western Europe region represented 20% of total revenue in the quarter. Revenue from the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the CEECA region, increased by 4%, driven by Sportsbook and Casino. Last year, Lithuania and Croatia reported increased revenue both quarter-on-quarter and compared to last year. Georgia and Greece reported increased revenue compared with the corresponding period last year, and Estonia reported decreased revenue driven by lower activity in the Casino products. The CEECA region represented 39% of the group's total revenue.

Revenue in Latin America region increased by EUR 22 million, representing an increase of 35% compared to the same period last year. The all-time high revenue is mainly driven by high customer activity with all-time high in both turnover and deposits for the Casino products. The Sportsbook product benefited from higher Sportsbook margin and reported increased revenue turnover [Technical Difficulty] covering both the Casino product and the Sportsbook and reported all-time high revenue in the second quarter.

Peru reported revenue growth compared to the corresponding period last year and previous quarter driven by the Sportsbook product. The Latin America region represented 28% of the group's total revenue in the second quarter.

Explaining the development in operating income, this picture is broken down to display the impact from the different line items in the profit and loss statement. Revenue has increased by some EUR 32 million. And following that, increased cost of services provided as well. The increase in cost of services provided is apart from revenue growth, mainly explained by higher gaming taxes, following a 66% share of total revenue coming from locally regulated markets. Gross profit increased by EUR 17 million compared to the same period last year and amounts to EUR 194 million, which corresponds to a gross profit margin of 64% compared to 65% last year.

Marketing spend increased by EUR 4 million compared to last year and corresponds to 16% of total B2C revenue and to some 22% when including affiliate marketing costs as well. Increased marketing spend is primarily explained by enhanced marketing efforts in Western Europe.

Personnel expenses increased by some EUR 8 million compared to last year, explained by increased number of employees following geographical expansion and acquisitions. This, in combination with organic focus on product and tech development, explains the bulk of the increased number of headcounts within the group.

Depreciation and amortization costs increased by EUR 1.5 million compared to last year. Other items include other external expenses and other operating income and expenses, which are more or less flat compared to last year. Decreased other items relates to increased capitalized development costs following increased focus on product and tech development.

Operating income amounts to EUR 69 million, an increase of 8% compared to last year. The EBIT margin was 22.7% compared to 23.6% last year. Operating income has increased steadily over time. This, although we have continued to invest in growth through investments in both marketing and product development. We have also seen an increased percentage of revenue coming from locally regulated markets, which comes with higher gaming taxes and impacts the gross profit margin. Still, we have absorbed the higher tax cost and managed to increase the operating profit and maintain a high EBIT margin.

Operating cash flow amounts to EUR 41 million compared to EUR 76 million in the same period last year. Operating cash flow is driven by increased operating income, but negatively impacted by changes in working capital by some EUR 50 million in opposite to a positive working capital contribution by some EUR 40 million in the same period last year. The negative contribution from working capital comes from decreased debt to players and increased accounts receivable. Operating cash flow is also negatively affected by increased paid taxes in the quarter due to seasonality and increased revenue from high-tax countries such as Argentina and Croatia.

Cash flow from investing activities sums up to EUR 13.9 million and relates to investments in own product and technology development. Cash flow for financing activities impacted the cash flow by EUR 66 million, mainly driven by paid dividend to shareholders, including the first half of the ordinary dividend distribution and an extra dividend payout of EUR 13.7 million. We have also repurchased bonds amounting to EUR 3.6 million in the 2023, 2026 bond series.

Betsson has, as end of June, a net cash position of EUR 152 million and an equity ratio of 60%. On an yearly basis, operating cash flow has increased over time, although we have seen fluctuations intra quarters mainly from changes in working capital and from paid taxes. But on a year-to-date basis, operating cash flow is slightly up compared to the same period last year. When it comes to earnings per share, we can also conclude an increasing trend over time, somewhat negatively affected in 2024 by increased taxes following the implementation of the Pillar 2 framework. However, this year has come to a good start with EPS growth compared to the same period last year and compared to the previous quarter.

And now back to you, Pontus, to present a trading update and to summarize the quarter.

Okay. Thank you, Martin. Now let's have a look at how the third quarter has started. The average daily revenue for the period first of July to the 13th of July has been 5.2% higher than the average daily revenue for the entire third quarter last year. Now let's quickly sum up the highlights of the second quarter 2025.

We saw continued profitable growth and strengthened market positions in the second quarter. Reported revenue was up 12% year-over-year, and EBIT increased 8% year-over-year. Earnings per share, EPS, increased 9% year-over-year. The growth figures should be seen against the backdrop of the comparative figures for second quarter last year, which included the European football championship and the Copa America. Also, we faced FX headwinds in the second quarter, both on our B2C and B2B businesses. During the quarter, we continued to strengthen our market positions in Peru and Argentina. Revenue from LatAm was up 35% year-over-year. The share of revenue from locally regulated markets was at an all-time high of 66%, up from 55% last year.

The higher share of revenue from locally regulated market means that we are absorbing more gaming taxes than a year ago. The business continued to generate significant cash flows, and we have a very strong balance sheet with room for continued investments going forward.

So that's all we had to say today. So now it's time for Q&A, and we welcome your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Georg Attling from Pareto Securities..

I have a couple of questions. So starting with the B2B growth here, a bit softer, down 16% sequentially. Could you add any more color on the drivers for this and maybe point out the Sportsbook margin in B2B, if that's impacting at all?

No, it's -- it always fluctuates between quarters where growth comes from. And for this quarter, the B2B was a little bit weaker. I remind myself about the first quarter of 2024, then we had no growth, hardly in LatAm, and now it's 35-ish percent. So it's very hard to -- not every quarter are on a straight line. There are fluctuations between quarters. So that's the only thing I can say about that.

Yes. Fair enough. Second question on the trading update, also looks a bit soft and you point out the comps here from Copa America and Euros. Just wondering if you view the comps tougher in Q3 compared to Q2 because obviously, most of the tournaments were in Q2. So it surprised me that it's only 5% growth here in the trading update.

I haven't compared the comps for the second and third quarter like that. So it's hard to comment upon. But if you look at the full quarter of last year, obviously, there was high activity in the beginning and there was also high activity in the end of the quarter because that's when the leagues kick off. So it's a bit of seasonality also within the quarter.

Q2 is always a tough quarter in that sense because normally, it's more quiet in the beginning and then picks up, leagues, et cetera, in the end of the -- sorry, Q3 in the end of the quarter. So looking at the very short period in the beginning of this period is maybe not the best to kind of build your forecast on.

Yes. And just a final question here on M&A. Now that this acquisition in the Netherlands fell through. What's your current objectives in terms of M&A? Where are you looking? How close are you? How does the pipeline look like? If you could just add some more color there.

We can comment on a few parts of that question. We have a pipeline which we assess as always. And it's -- we have some interesting opportunities. Secondly, we are in a very, very strong position, better than ever to be able to do M&A in the sense that we have a very solid balance sheet. I can't comment on any timings, but on kind of what we are looking for, I think, it's obvious that the regions that we focus on and has done for some time, which we have communicated is mainly Western Europe and LatAm. And these are the regions where we mainly look for acquisitions. It can be in existing markets where we want to strengthen our presence or it can be acquisitions to buy into new markets.

That's helpful. And just a follow-up on that. When you speak about the LatAm acquisitions, have your view on opportunities in Brazil changed at all now with taxes looking to increase?

Our view hasn't -- on Brazil as market hasn't changed anything. And we remain with our view that in any newly regulated market, it's a little bit shaky initially in terms of competition, marketing spending, potentially regulatory changes when the framework is brand new. So we are a careful company. We don't jump in. We don't buy the first one we see there. We want things -- the dust to settle a bit, and then we will, of course, be ready for both our own expansion and M&A in Brazil.

Next question comes from Martin Arnell from DNB Carnegie.

I have -- my first question is, could we discuss the OpEx situation a little bit, Martin, perhaps? Your personnel expenses are up quite a lot. I think it's like 20% year-on-year, and it's a bit rare to see being up more than the revenues. Will it slow from here or -- the growth? Or is this a trend that will continue throughout the year?

Good question, Martin. We don't -- we try to stay away from giving forecast of what's going to happen, but rather comment on the history. And in this case, I think you can see a bit of the acquisitions we have done. We have added more than 500 new employees from acquisitions and new ventures. So I think this will set -- we always work on getting our costs in a good manner. So hopefully, we will be able to continue in the way we have done in the past with good cost control.

Yes. I think I can add to that, Martin. Looking over a very long time and even historically, of course, we don't want the personnel costs to be at a higher growth rate than our revenues over time. So that's, in general, our objective.

Fair enough. And in this -- I want to ask you on the CEECA region. It's been a fantastic performance. It's still growing good. But if you look on a sequential basis, it seems to be down a little bit. Is there any reason you can point out for explaining?

No, not that we can point out as such, I believe. But as I said previously, there are always fluctuations between quarters and regions. And growth happens in steps in all the regions. And sometimes, it's more flattish and sometimes it's more upwards. So that's how it goes. It will always be like that, that certain markets and regions will perform better some quarters and others will perform less good.

Yes. And in a normal period without you guiding or anything, but it's normal to assume a bigger second half than the first half, also in the CEECA region, right?

You mean on the third quarter, is that how you think or...

No, sorry, I meant that like in a normal year, given the underlying growth in the sector and in this CEECA markets, it would be fair to assume a bigger second half than the first half, given seasonality and the underlying growth in these markets.

Yes, yes. That's correct.

Perfect. And then my final question is on -- I mean, you have always been really strong and resilient with your margins. And now it looks like gross margin is down. EBIT margin is down a little bit, and there are good explanations here. But how should we think about the factors that you can use to mitigate the effect from higher gaming taxation because that's basically what it looks like now. Betting duties are up, and then you're in a period here maybe temporarily with personnel costs up, so margin is down. And how should we think about your mitigation areas, what you're working with to protect the margins?

Yes. First of all, my personal view is that margins is not down that much. That's one thing to mention. Secondly, margins are -- our margins are strong in this business compared to comparable companies. I think we have good margins. And everybody knows that as we take on more and more regulated markets, we will carry more tax burden. And the increase of regulated revenues is quite high year-over-year in this quarter. It's a strong increase if you may call it that and it has an impact on the margin. Yes, we have taken on employees in the quarter, but these are investments that cater for future growth possibilities. And we will harvest from those investments in the future, for sure.

And that will, of course, mitigate any further impact on the margin from tax. So yes, I think that's what I can say on this one. But obviously, we hope to be even stronger in regulated markets in the future. That will come with some more tax. But on the other hand, we hope to be able to grow our business a lot more and that will mitigate.

Okay. It sounds like a good balance and thanks for the answer.

Yes, yes. And I just want to add on. We are really cost cautious in the company. But we also -- we are very optimistic about our situation and about our future. And when we have that kind of view of the future is our responsibility to keep on investing and make sure that we can grow, and that's what we do with this when we take on the stuff like this.

There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for written questions and any closing comments.

Okay. Let's see, there are no questions. I guess the report was clear and understandable, which I'm happy about. So we will get back to work, and thank you, everybody, for listening in. Thank you. Bye.