Despite a profitable first half in 2025, Frankfurt-listed bookmaker bet-at-home has swung firmly into the red for the equivalent period in 2026.
The DACH-focused operator reported a net loss of €2.2m for H1 2026, reversing the €1.8m profit it recorded during the same period last year.
Gross betting and gaming revenue fell 4% year-on-year to €24.3m, while reported EBITDA dropped sharply from +€2.34m in H1 2025 to -€1.85m this period.
Marketing and advertising expenditure rose 26.3% year-on-year to €10.3m, largely driven by the operator’s commercial activity around the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Leadership acknowledged the tournament’s impact, noting its positive influence despite the company’s broader financial challenges during the reporting period.
“From the management board’s perspective, an additional positive influencing factor is the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which started in the reporting period,” the company stated, adding that the forecast remains unchanged.
The statement also noted that the World Cup supported the outlook through “increased customer activity at the start of the FIFA World Cup, despite a decline in new registrations compared with the corresponding period in 2025.”
New customer registrations for H1 2026 reached 40,716, falling marginally short of the 41,519 new registrations recorded across the same period in 2025.
To address this softness in acquisition, bet-at-home introduced new targeted digital marketing initiatives in late April designed to drive stronger registration numbers into H2 2026.
Online casino proved a bright spot, with GGR in that vertical rising 26.8% year-on-year to €3.63m, largely reflecting strong performance from the operator’s German operations.
The company is also eyeing international expansion, confirming plans to enter Finland when its existing monopoly system comes to an end in July 2027.
Bet-at-home is already preparing licence applications covering both sports betting and online casino ahead of its intended entry into the Finnish market.
On the question of financial stability, leadership moved to reassure stakeholders that the business would not need to raise external capital in the near term.
“The management board expects that the available liquid funds, together with the anticipated cash inflows from operating activities, will be sufficient to continue business operations in the 2026 financial year,” the company confirmed.
