ZEAL off to a successful start in 2022

• Transaction volume and revenue increased
• Profitability significantly improved
• Expansion of product range

(Hamburg, 12 May 2022) ZEAL Network SE (LOTTO24, Tipp24) has made a successful start to the year 2022: Compared to the previous year, ZEAL was able to increase billings by 11% to € 181.2m (2021: € 163.3m). Total revenue also grew by 11 % to € 25.1m (2021: € 22.6m).

At € 4.1m, personnel expenses were below the previous year's level (2021: € 5.2m). Other operating expenses also fell slightly to € 12.4m (2021: € 12.9m). As a result, EBITDA increased to € 8.9m (2021: € 4.6m). EBIT and net profit for the period were also significantly higher than the previous year's figures, at € 6.8m and € 5.0m respectively (2021: € 2.4m and € 2.5m).

"We have made a good start to 2022 and were able to increase revenue and profitability once again. This gives us momentum to invest in further growth this year," says Jonas Mattsson, CFO of ZEAL Network SE.

Successful new customer acquisition

ZEAL continued to invest in building its customer base in the first quarter, acquiring 154K registered new customers (2021: 156K). The increased acquisition costs per registered new customer (cost per lead, CPL) of € 38.09 (2021: € 33.48) resulted mainly from a special promotion for the charity lottery freiheit+, which effect will only become apparent over time. Without this promotion, the CPL would have been at a similar level as in the previous year at € 33.95.

German Dream House Lottery launched

In January, ZEAL launched the German Dream House Lottery. After freiheit+, this is the second charity lottery within two years that ZEAL has implemented in cooperation with the non-profit organisation BildungsChancen. In customer surveys, ZEAL has found that the desire to purchase real estate is one of the most important reasons why people play lotteries. With the Dream House Lottery, ZEAL enables customers to fulfil their individual dream of living in a home worth € 1m.

Special dividend of € 1.10 per share

In order to optimise the company's capital structure, ZEAL decided in March 2022, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to propose to the Annual General Meeting the payment of a special dividend of € 1.10 per share in addition to a basic dividend of € 1.00 per share, i.e. a total of € 2.10 per share.

Unchanged business forecast

ZEAL's forecast for transaction volume, revenue and EBITDA remains unchanged. For the financial year 2022, ZEAL still plans to maintain its market leadership as an online provider of lottery products as well as to introduce new products, including "online games" based on the applied-for license for virtual slot games.

Depending on the general conditions - in particular the jackpot development - ZEAL continues to expect a billings volume of at least € 750m, revenues of at least € 105m and an EBITDA of at least € 30m for the German segment. ZEAL plans to invest significantly more in new customer acquisition compared to the previous year and expects marketing expenses of around € 30m.

About ZEAL: ZEAL Network SE, the leading online provider of lottery products in Germany, is an e-commerce group of companies based in Hamburg, which mainly brokers customers' tickets to the state lottery companies and to charity lottery operators under the LOTTO24 and Tipp24 brands. Its product range includes LOTTO 6aus49, Spiel 77, Super 6, Eurojackpot, GlücksSpirale, lottery clubs, Keno, the Deutsche Fernsehlotterie, the Deutsche Traumhauslotterie and freiheit+. Founded in Germany in 1999, ZEAL started out as a German lottery broker under the name Tipp24. In 2005, it went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) as one of the most successful IPOs in Germany at the time. In 2019, ZEAL took over LOTTO24 AG.

Contact:

Frank Hoffmann
Investor Relations
T: +49 (0)40 809036042
frank.hoffmann@zealnetwork.de