Bally’s Intralot delivered a huge year-on-year turnover boost in Q1 2026 as the company’s acquisition of Bally’s International Interactive (BII) dramatically expanded its scale, online gaming footprint and profitability.
The newly combined business reported first-quarter revenue of €268.1m (£232.7m), up 180.5% YoY from €95.6m, while adjusted EBITDA surged 231.8% to €100.2m (Q1 2025: €30.2m).
EBITDA margin improved to 37.4%, compared with 31.6% in the same period last year.
The growth was overwhelmingly driven by the October 2025 acquisition of BII, which contributed €183.9m in revenue and €72.7m in adjusted EBITDA during the quarter, representing a 39.5% EBITDA margin.
Because of the deal, Athens-listed Bally’s Intralot is now a much larger online-focused gaming operator and its ambition is starting to be realised as it hunts down a cut-price deal for LSE-listed evoke.
Management highlighted continued strength in the company’s UK online business, where revenue rose 10.5% year-over-year during the quarter.
This could potentially grow exponentially if the £225m deal for the William Hill owner goes through, which yesterday was delayed until 8 June.
Preliminary April figures showed UK momentum continuing, with revenue reaching £52m, up 11.5% from the prior year despite upcoming gaming duty changes and broader regulatory pressures coming into play from that month.
Bally’s Intralot’s B2B struggles
While the acquisition of BII drove headline growth, the company’s legacy operations faced more mixed results.
Excluding BII, legacy revenue declined 11.9% on a reported basis and 7.1% in constant currency terms.
The decline was attributed to foreign exchange headwinds, weaker US lottery activity and changes to the remuneration structure at Turkish betting platform Bilyoner – a market which saw a 19.2% revenue decline to €16.6m.
Despite softer revenue trends in legacy operations, profitability remained relatively resilient, with legacy adjusted EBITDA declining only modestly, while EBITDA margins improved above 32%.
The company also emphasised the resilience of its B2B lottery technology business, where EBITDA remained broadly flat despite lower revenue. Even though it stated resilience, US B2B revenue declined by 6.2%, while B2B revenue as a whole dropped by 10% to €63.5m.
On a pro forma basis, combining Bally’s Intralot and BII for the trailing twelve months ended 31 March 2026, the business would have generated €1.06bn in revenue and €427.2m in adjusted EBITDA.
Addressing the debt situation
The acquisition, however, has also materially increased an eye-watering figure in arrears. As of 31 March, 2026, Bally’s Intralot reported total debt of €1.75bn and adjusted net debt of €1.49bn.
Bally’s Intralot said liquidity remains solid, supported by €257.3m in cash and a fully undrawn €160m revolving credit facility, but this has been the main alarm bell ringing in a potential evoke acquisition.
The William Hill owner itself is carrying £1.9bn worth of debt. Therefore a combined entity would be one with debt of over £3.4bn – a factor which may have played a role in yesterday’s delay to negotiations.
Despite this, Bally’s Intralot Chief Executive Officer Robeson Reeves seemed keen on securing a purchase of the embattled group.
“We see a compelling opportunity to bring our operating model to a significantly larger business,” he said.
Management also pointed to its continued expansion opportunities following the quarter – namely deals which it has already signed on the dotted line for.
In April, the company secured a new 15-year electronic gaming machine monitoring license in Victoria, Australia, and signed a new long-term lottery and sports betting technology agreement with Chile’s state lottery operator, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia.
The key challenge going forward will be balancing continued growth with debt reduction as the company looks to deal with increasingly stringent regulatory environments and potential major M&A activity.