Providing the Engine for Partner Success
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Strategic Report Providing the engine for partner success 4 5 Annual report and accounts 2020 Kambi Group plc Strategic report Kambi at a glance The global betting and gaming industry’s trusted sportsbook partner Kambi is the leading The trusted partner to more than 30 With offices in seven global locations, independent provider of operators on six continents, Kambi including London, Malta, Philadelphia has a track record of proven excellence and Stockholm, Kambi employs a premium sports betting in online and on-property sportsbook growing team of more than 850 highly technology and services to provision, providing operators with skilled employees with a passion for the regulated global betting the high-performance technology sports and technology. The depth of and gaming industry. and regulatory certainty required to quality and expertise that runs through out-compete the market. Offering every facet of Kambi’s global team meaningful scope for differentiation provides the company with the combined with a scalable tech-stack strength of resources needed to help and unmatched sports coverage, the our partners achieve the best results Kambi sportsbook’s capability to and thrive in what is an increasingly optimise operator margin alongside competitive marketplace. boosting acquisition and retention A cornerstone of Kambi’s success drives partner growth. has been its long history of risk Kambi’s services encompass a broad management and ongoing commitment offering, from scalable technology to the highest levels of corporate and odds-compiling through to probity and sporting integrity. As a customer intelligence and risk member of the International Betting management, built on and delivered Integrity Association and ISO 27001 through a sophisticated, in-house and eCOGRA certified, Kambi operates developed software platform. Kambi in an ethical manner, ensuring it harnesses the extensive real-time only conducts business in markets data generated across our network to where gambling isn’t prohibited and continually enhance our algorithmic employing sophisticated risk processes trading models, leveraging this analysis to detect signs of sports manipulation to deliver actionable insights from at the earliest of stages. Our 24/7 which all our partners can benefit. sportsbook control team ensures all matters concerning sports integrity Expertise in matters of compliance has are handled proactively and swiftly, been a defining factor in Kambi’s rise protecting our partners, their to become the industry’s preeminent customers and the sports we love. sportsbook option for visionary operators. With more jurisdictions Kambi Group plc is listed on First regulating, and the complexity and North Growth Market at Nasdaq variation in those regulations rising, Stockholm under the symbol ‘KAMBI’. operators need technology with the flexibility to adapt, under the direction of a team with the strength and dexterity to most effectively put that versatility into practice. Kambi’s outsourced sportsbook model, which offers unparalleled adaptability while reducing costs – limiting an operator’s exposure to external uncertainties such as a global pandemic – is only becoming more attractive as regulated markets expand. 6 Annual report and accounts 2020 Kambi Group plc Strategic report Kambi provides partners with the high- performance technology and regulatory certainty to outperform the market 7 Annual report and accounts 2020 Kambi Group plc Strategic report Introduction Emerging stronger The events of 2020 served Kambi is the trusted partner to some Kambi rose to this challenge, showing as a reminder we reach of the world’s leading operators. As strong management and dexterity always, and particularly during the to protect employees, partners and the best outcomes when past 12 months, Kambi works closely investors, leading to a record second working together. Trusted with partners to find innovative half of the year. This recovery also partnerships and close solutions to changing landscapes. illustrates the success of our partners, collaborations lead to a Kambi’s global footprint provides a with Kambi only able to succeed when continued, high-level service, even our partners succeed. Furthermore, more diverse blend of during a period of significant disruption, it shows the strength of the Kambi insight, skills and knowledge, while its revenue-share model ensures business, proving its ability to combining to solve the partners’ overheads are reduced withstand such seismic shocks and most difficult of challenges. during a time of limited sports events. record increasingly healthy operating margins. Reflecting on 2020, Kambi and its partners have emerged stronger, The commercial success of Kambi and beginning the new year with growing its partners in 2020, combined with optimism and building momentum. continuous product improvements, Although global uncertainty persists, expansion into new markets, new Kambi‘s network of visionary partners partner signings and multiple industry can operate with confidence, in the awards, has strengthened the appeal knowledge that the safety net of of the Kambi model. Kambi’s flexible Kambi’s service and commercial model technology not only ensures a scalable provides much-needed flexibility and compliant service, but provides while minimising risk. a blank canvas on which our partners can build bespoke and proprietary Despite the challenges faced, Kambi products tailored to their target made significant strides forward in audiences. 2020. It was a year in which Kambi demonstrated its scalable model, with When taken as whole, 2020 was a growth in revenue far outstripping year in which Kambi strengthened its costs, to deliver its strongest financial position in the market and, moreover, performance yet, a remarkable demonstrated the commercial success achievement in the circumstances. its business model is able to generate, Impacts of the pandemic included a illustrating its scalability, and emerging near complete suspension of sports, from the year in a stronger position with the latter part of Q1 and the than it entered. majority of Q2 only offering a minimal sporting calendar. 8 Annual report and accounts 2020 Kambi Group plc Strategic report Reflecting on 2020, Kambi and its partners have emerged stronger, beginning the new year with growing optimism and building momentum 9 Annual report and accounts 2020 Kambi Group plc Strategic report Chairman and CEO statements Chairman’s statement Lars Stugemo Summarising a year as remarkable as 2020 is no easy task. It really was a year like no other, one consumed and defined by the impact of a global pandemic which turned the whole world upside down and left few aspects of our lives untouched. My deepest sympathies are with those unfortunate enough to have been negatively affected – I have little doubt the ramifications of the pandemic will be felt for many months and years to come. Like many leisure industries, sports betting was not immune to during those difficult months of 2020, largely due to not having the effects of coronavirus. There were unprecedented levels of to contend with the material fixed costs an in-house sportsbook disruption to the sporting calendar with countless high-profile operation demands. fixtures, leagues, and tournaments either cancelled or postponed, from Euro 2020, to the global tennis tour, to key US sports. There’s no escaping the fact that the disruption of last spring However, Kambi was able to adapt quickly and the way it executed brought some difficulties, however, Kambi’s astute leadership and its strategy during H1 was truly remarkable. Thankfully, by the sound financial management meant we were in a strong position to late summer months, most major sports and leagues had returned, navigate those choppy waters, a position which enabled us to take with a silver lining of some postponed events rescheduled for 2021, a long-term view of the situation, rather than make any knee-jerk providing us with an expected bumper year of sport. reactions. That said, had someone suggested to me a year ago that 2020 would end up being a record financial year for Kambi, I would What’s clear is that the pandemic has changed the world rapidly certainly have paused for thought. I must, therefore, commend all and permanently in terms of how we travel, socialise, meet, and Kambi partners and employees who adapted and excelled under work. And with temporary retail closures forcing a change in such challenging circumstances. consumer behavioural habits, the drive for digitalisation has quickly gained pace compared with 12 months ago as we’ve In short, Kambi’s position as the industry’s trusted sportsbook seen a dramatic consumer shift towards online channels. partner has only been strengthened by the events of 2020. Despite temporary shutdowns to top-tier sports, Kambi was able to emerge Underlining this expedited transition from offline to online, in fine shape with a strengthened balance sheet, demonstrating a McKinsey Global Survey of executives last year found that our robustness and capability to adapt to any situation. I believe companies had fast-tracked the digitisation of their customer/ we’re extremely well positioned to push forward and capitalise supply chain interactions and internal operations by three to four on the ongoing changes in market conditions and continue our years, while the share of digital or digitally enabled products in success over the months and years ahead. their portfolios had accelerated by seven years. So, there should be little doubt that COVID-19, like many crises before it, has been and will be a major catalyst for change. As a predominantly online business, Kambi and its partners are in a Lars Stugemo great position to benefit from this change. Kambi was born digital and its legacy has been in the online sports betting business for more Chairman than 20 years, over which time the product has been continuously developed and improved with the end user in mind. While an even distribution of new online players would be a positive, those with a market-leading sportsbook should be set for greater gains. One other potential gear shift as a result of the pandemic could be in how companies view their share of fixed costs.