Quarterly Report: Portugal Forges Ahead in Q3
Published November 4, 2017 by Lee R
The Portugal market’s baby steps suggest stabilization and future sustainability.
After signs of stalling out in Q2, the growth of Portugal’s regulated online gambling returned to recent form, re-inflating local hopes in the process.
Q3 Reported Figures
Figures released by Portuguese regulatory body Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) revealed that online gambling operators licensed in Portugal generated a combined revenue take of €29.3m for the three months leading up to September 30.
The Jump Back
The Q3 total jumped an encouraging 15.6% over the €25.4m the Portugal market turned in for Q2 2017, the first quarter of sequential revenue decline since the market’s launch quarter of Q3 2016.
The robust Q3 revenue figure also represented a 21.5% year-on-year jump over 2016 Q3’s opening €24.1m.
2017 So Far
For the full nine months of 2017, Portugal’s total online gambling revenue stands at €86.3m, with the government’s share €24.5m.
Of that take, sports betting is responsible for a €47.7m (55% of the overall market), with the second top contributor being online casinos and poker at €38.4m.
Q3 Verticals
Sports betting’s €16.3m revenue take represented the most significant quarterly improvement at 6.6% over Q2 to reverse two consecutive quarters of decline. The bounce back was accredited to the return of football, accounting for nearly 78% of online sports wagering.
The Q3 online casino vertical and poker revenue take of €13.1m represented a 15% jump over Q2’s figure, despite an €800k drop from Q1 before the short decline.
Overall, slots remain Portugal’s main casino revenue generator contributing 42% of overall revenue for Q3, a jump of four points from Q2. Poker games ranked second at 22% after dropping two points, followed by roulette (19.3%, -0.5 points), blackjack (9.1%, flat) and tournament poker (7.5%, -1.2 points).
Q3 Growth Figures
As for expansion in Q3, figures reported 82,400 new customer signups to reverse a year-long downward trend. These customers were served by seven companies licensed to operate in Portugal at quarter’s end, with all offering casino products and four offering sports betting as well.
Overview
In a fledgling touch-and go market set to expand, the overall growth and recovery from a hiccup has to be seen as encouraging in Portugal with a promise of future robustness.
