Kambi Group has announced a series of cost saving measures to strengthen its financial platform and increase its ability to withstand the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the sporting calendar in the last two weeks of the first quarter, Q1 revenue was strong and is expected to be in the range of €27.5–28.0m. Opex is expected to be €21.0–21.5m, giving EBIT of €6.0–7.0m. The cash balance at the end of the quarter was in the range of €45–47m.

The sporting calendar has been severely impacted by COVID-19 since mid-March. In the last three weeks, revenue from sporting activities was in the range of 25–30% of those in Q4 2019.

The cost saving programme will result in savings across the whole business, including significantly reduced travel and marketing costs, a freeze on staff recruitment and a substantial reduction in data costs associated with fewer sporting events.

Kambi has also decided to apply for the financial support packages recently announced by the Swedish and UK governments, both of which are designed to protect jobs. Furthermore, with effect from 1 April 2020, Kambi Board members, the CEO and Executive Management have agreed to salary deferrals of 20%, 15% and 10% respectively.

Based on these savings and several smaller initiatives, operating expenditure in Q2 2020 is anticipated to be in the range of 10–20% lower than in Q4 2019. The cost saving package will also result in associated savings in capitalised development costs of 20–30% compared to Q4.

“Kambi is conscious of its duty to protect the company, its staff, partners and investors at all times, but particularly during a period of such uncertainty. The cost saving measures we are announcing today enable us to do just that for a significant period of time,” Kristian Nylén, CEO of Kambi, said.

“Kambi is a technology company powered by skilled and experienced people, all of whom have helped establish Kambi as the global market leader, and who will be pivotal to us pushing on further in the coming years. Therefore, it is in Kambi’s long-term interests to retain these staff while also reducing our costs, including payroll, and I firmly believe we have found the right balance in order to achieve this goal. When sports resume, we are ready to gear up to normal activity immediately, and in the meantime, we are being creative and agile in order to offer a high-quality and compliant service to our partners and their end users,” Kristian Nylén added.