Bally’s Intralot’s lottery growth seemed to hit a roadblock in Q1 2026, despite the newly-merged business growing overall revenue by 180% year-on-year to €268.1m (£232.7m).
The company described its B2B lottery segment as resilient, as EBITDA remained flat YoY at €20.4m and its largest market, the US, saw revenue dip by 6.2% in constant currency terms because of what it described as “softer lottery activity”.
B2B revenue as a whole dropped by 10% to €63.5m, but after the close of the quarter, the business took a major step by securing a new long-term lottery and sports betting technology agreement with Chile’s state lottery operator, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia.
Positives aplenty for Bally’s Intralot despite lottery dip
There were definite positives away from revenue for the Athens-listed entity, as adjusted EBITDA surged 231.8% to €100.2m (Q1 2025: €30.2m).
EBITDA margin improved to 37.4%, compared with 31.6% in the same period last year.
Bally’s Intralot looks to be becoming more and more B2C-focused with every passing results announcement, though, and the acquisition of Bally’s International Interactive (BII) contributed €183.9m in revenue and €72.7m in adjusted EBITDA during the quarter.
This B2C focus could be set to grow even further if the group manages to reach an agreement to acquire William Hill, 888 and Mr Green owner evoke, for which talks are ongoing and a deadline was set back yesterday until 8 June.
Foreign exchange headwinds, a weakening of US lottery activity and problems at its Turkish brand Bilyoner caused setbacks for the business, which also reported total debt of €1.75bn and adjusted net debt of €1.49bn.
However, with growth at Bally’s Intralot clearly visible, and a liquidity situation which sees it supported by €257.3m in cash and a fully undrawn €160m revolving credit facility, the company is looking to capitalise on aggressive M&A.
Combining Bally’s Intralot and BII for the 12 months ended March 31 2026, the business would have generated revenues surpassing the €1bn mark, while adjusted EBITDA hit €427.2m on a pro forma basis.
While a shift away from lotteries completely for Bally’s Intralot seems unlikely, a push way beyond the sector is definitely on the horizon.
Further lottery growth in recent times came from it adding the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) to its growing list of North American lottery contractors, showing that it has not completely forgotten the lottery segment of its business.
