ZEAL Network has maintained its grip in the German lottery space with year-to-date revenue in 2025 far surpassing 2024 comparatives, though its profits have dropped largely as a result of costs skyrocketing.
The firm’s trading update for Q3 showed revenue growth of 34% to €162.6m for the first nine months of the year ending September 2025, up from €120.9m the year prior. For the third quarter, revenue was up 38% year-over-year to €61.1m (Q3 2024: €44.2m).
For the past couple of years, ZEAL has had one big focus – marketing. It has pumped investment into marketing over successive quarters, helping boost its brand profile and in turn driving revenue growth.
This of course comes with a cost. Marketing expenses rose 35% to €13m during the first nine months of the year. The firm stated that this helped it gain over 879,000 new customers, likely accounting for a lot of the revenue growth seen this year.
Marketing is not ZEAL’s only expense, however, with costs rising across the board. Direct operating expenses were up 22% to €2.7m, personal expenses were up 20% to €4.7m and indirect operating expenses were up 16% to €2.2m.
These costs had a noticeable impact on profit, which fell 24% YoY for the first nine months from €44.3m to €33.9m, though the figures suggest a rebound during Q3 with profit up 95% to €14.3m (€7.4m).
This may suggest that the firm’s marketing expenses are levelling off against revenue gains, and it is worth noting that although profit was down YoY year-to-date, ZEAL overall remained a profitable enterprise during this period.
Based on its Q3 performance, the firm has opted to raise its guidance for 2025, having initially expected revenue of €195m-€205m and EBITDA of €55m-€60m. This has now been raised to €205m-€215m and EBITDA of €63m-€68m.
The firm is particularly confident in the continuing growth of its lottery product, driven in turn by an increase in lottery users. The company may also be looping at prospects beyond its borders, having invested in Swedish lottery technology firm Random State in July this year, alongside French national lottery operator FDJ United.