ZEAL Network SE, the leading German online provider of lottery products, continued its strong growth path in the first half of 2024 with strong growth in revenue and EBITDA. Group revenue increased by 40 percent and reached € 76.8 million (2023: € 54.8 million). EBITDA increased even more strongly by 46 percent to € 20.1 million (2023: € 13.8 million).

“The very strong development of revenue and EBITDA reflects our excellent operating performance. We are particularly pleased that we have been able to acquire over half a million new customers since the beginning of the year. The acquisition of new customers has not only been exceptionally successful this half year, but also particularly efficient thanks to the significant reduction in acquisition costs per registered new customer. We are thus benefiting from the continuous investment in brand development in recent years,” says Sebastian Bielski, CFO of ZEAL.

Revenue in core business grows by 33 percent

ZEAL’s significant revenue growth in the first half of the year is primarily due to the strong development of the lottery business. Here, billings increased by 23 percent to €507.1 million, while revenue rose by as much as 33 percent to €68.0 million (2023: €51.2 million). The strong increase in billings is due to the 21 percent increase in the average number of active customers (1,353 thousand) and the 2 percent increase in the average billings per active user to € 62.48. In addition, ZEAL improved the gross margin in the lottery business to 13.4 percent (2023: 12.5 percent) thanks to a change in the product mix and further margin optimizations.

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The games business, which was launched in June 2023, continued to develop positively in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter with solid revenue growth and a higher gross margin.

Strong result thanks to significant customer growth and lower acquisition costs

ZEAL once again significantly expanded its customer base in the first half of 2024 in a generally favorable jackpot situation. The number of registered new customers rose by 70 percent to 592 thousand (2023: 349 thousand), the second-highest figure in ZEAL’s history. Acquisition costs per registered new customer (cost per lead, CPL) fell by 26 percent year-on-year to € 33.20 (2023: € 45.09). Due to the company’s strategic decision to use the good jackpot situation in the first half of the year to accelerate customer growth, marketing expenses increased by 28 percent year-on-year to € 25.5 million (2023: € 20.0 million). Due to the high number of new customers and the growth in the games business, direct operating costs also increased to € 8.6 million (2023: € 5.4 million), while other operating expenses rose to € 42.8 million (2023: € 31.6 million).

At € 20.1 million, EBITDA was 46 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year (2023: € 13.8 million) due to the significant growth in sales and improved cost efficiency compared to the previous year. At € 16.1 million, EBIT even exceeded the previous year’s figure (2023: € 9.3 million) by 73 percent.

Due to the good results in the first half of 2024, ZEAL confirms the forecast published on March 20, 2024.

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ZEAL launches first house raffle in Germany

As announced a few months ago, ZEAL launched another charity lottery on 01 August 2024, namely Traumhausverlosung. It is the first raffle in Germany in which participants have the chance to win a fully furnished dream house. Each house is guaranteed to be raffled off regardless of the number of participants. Participants also have the chance to win numerous additional prizes.