STS Group has reported a strong start to year trading, completing its first business quarter as a Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) enterprise.   

Filing its Q1 2022 financial results, STS achieved group revenues of PLN 282 million (€61m), up 6% on pre-WSE results of PLN 265 million.

Period trading saw STS pay combined Polish lottery and sports betting taxes of PLN 123 million, income taken from Gross sales.

Q1 Topline results saw STS declare a ‘record breaking’ group NGR of PLN 158 million (€34m), up 15% on corresponding 2021 results of PLN 138 million.

Peak NGR was achieved despite STS registering a 4% decline in group wagers to PLN 1.08 billion.

Further period KPIs saw active players down from 359,000 to 338,000, combined with a 33% drop in first time depositing customers from 62,000-to-41,000.

Commenting on player KPI declines, STS President Mateusz Juroszek explained that the business will focus its customer acquisition efforts later in 2022, following its WSE settlement.

“It is worth noting that this year, increased acquisition, and activity of players will occur during the second half of the year due to how sports events are scheduled, including the World Cup in Qatar, where our national team will also be playing,” – Juroszek told investors.

A breakdown of Q1 business costs saw STS account for an outlay of PLN 86 million (€18.5m) – of which PLN 16 million was attributed to player bonuses.

Reflecting an operating margin of 45%, STS reported a Q1 EBITDA result of PLN 72 million (€15m) – up 17% on corresponding 2021 results of PLN 61 million.

Closing its Q1 2022 accounts, STS would declare operating profits of PLN 61 million, up 13.5% on 2021 results of PLN 54 million.

As stands, STS reports that it maintains a reserve capital of PLN 305 million, including PLN 185 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Mateusz Juroszek concluded –  “Throughout the first three months of 2022, despite the war and inflation, we were able to achieve excellent operational and financial performance.” 

During that period, adjusted EBITDA increased by 17% year-on-year, while net profit of STS S.A., our main operating company, by an impressive 24% year-on-year. As declared, we will be sharing the generated profit with shareholders of STS Holding.”