• Core business and customer base expanded, market share increased
• Lottery revenue up by almost eleven percent
• Billings and EBITDA increase by almost 17 and 29 percent respectively
• Annual General Meeting convened on August 27 – resolution on squeeze-out]

LOTTO24 AG, a subsidiary of ZEAL Network SE and the German market leader in online lotteries, today published its annual report for 2023. The company can look back on a strong sales and earnings performance. In the past financial year, the company increased its billings by 16.7 percent to € 885.0 million (2022: € 758.4 million). Lottery revenue also increased by 10.8 percent to € 115.4 million (2022: € 104.2 million). In addition, LOTTO24 AG reached an important milestone in its business development with the launch of its online games offering, thus taking a significant next step in expanding its market leadership.

“In 2023, we further expanded our position as market leader and our brand awareness. We are proud of the fact that the LOTTO24 brand in particular has developed into a real hotbed of winners, producing more record winners last year than any other lottery provider in Germany,” comments Andrea Behrendt, CFO of LOTTO24 AG. “Our strong sales and earnings performance and our market share, which has grown to 41.4 percent, show that we are on the right track. In addition, our own product innovations were well received by our customers in the past financial year. Thanks to the positive business development, we are optimistic about the coming financial years.”

Strong EBITDA growth despite investment and expansion of the product portfolio

LOTTO24 AG gained 597 thousand customers in the past financial year (2022: 703 thousand). The year-on-year decline can be attributed to the significantly negative jackpot situation. Due to the company’s strategic decision to invest in brand development through increased TV advertising, marketing expenses were 5.5% higher than in the previous year at € 34.8 million (2022: € 33.0 million).

Despite the increased investment in brand development and the launch of online games, the company recorded a very strong EBITDA growth of 28.8% to € 33.0 million (2022: € 25.6 million).

Successful start for online games

In June 2023, LOTTO24 AG launched virtual slot games via the web stores of its LOTTO24 and Tipp24 brands, generating billings of € 41.6 million in its first year. Revenue generated with online games amounted to € 39.6 million.

Outlook for 2024

For the 2024 financial year, LOTTO24 AG plans to further expand its market leadership as an online provider of lottery products in Germany. The company expects revenue in the 2024 financial year to be in the range of € 267 million to € 277 million and EBITDA in the range of € 40 million to € 45 million.

Squeeze-out of LOTTO24 AG

LOTTO24 AG has today shared the invitation to its Annual General Meeting. This will take place on August 27, 2024 as an in-person meeting in Hamburg. The Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting the payment of a dividend of € 0.04 per share (2022: € 17.00).

The agenda also includes a resolution on the squeeze-out of the company’s minority shareholders. The main shareholder of LOTTO24 AG, ZEAL Network SE, has specified its transfer request of March 2024 and informed the Management Board of LOTTO24 AG that it has set the cash compensation for the intended transfer of the shares of the minority shareholders of LOTTO24 AG at € 479.25 per share. The amount of the cash compensation was determined by ZEAL Network SE on the basis of a company valuation carried out by KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft. The appropriateness of the cash compensation was confirmed by the court-appointed expert auditor ADKL AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft. The main shareholder holds around 95.45 percent of the share capital and voting rights of LOTTO24 AG.