iGaming Daily

Fernando Noodt (00:01.099)
Okay.

Buzz Bingo is maintaining its growth streak, yet its business is clearly being impacted by the turbulence of the UK economy at a time of heightened pressure for all UK gambling firms. On the positive side, Buzz has reported headline growth across its retail and online bingo offerings as leadership underlines the brand's unique ability to engage customers, consumers across generations. Yet economic scars are visible.

Online profitability has been hit by the UK's new tax regime for remote gambling, while the retail business faces rising employment and operating costs. Today we discuss the long-term options for Buzz Bingo as it navigates complex UK storms that extend beyond gambling alone. Welcome to iGaming Daily, brought to you by Optimov, the creator of positionless marketing and number one player engagement solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. I'm Fernando Nott.

Media manager for SBC and your host for today in a mano-a-mano episode with Ted Memier, editor at large for SBC. Ted, how are you today?

Ted Menmuir (01:03.976)
He

Ted Menmuir (01:08.267)
Very well Fernando, like the way you describe that. Lucha, lucha, mano, mano, Lucha libre. Yeah.

Fernando Noodt (01:12.814)
Yeah, yeah. I mean it I think it's it's time to educate our audience, our English speaking audience. You you will see in in movies a lot w people saying mano y mano, which is wrong. It's actually wrong. It's actually mano a mano. You don't say mano y mano, you say mano a mano. But anyway, enough of the Spanish because we are going to talk about the UK, which is mm pretty much the opposite of Spanish. but so

Ted Menmuir (01:32.213)
Yes.

Fernando Noodt (01:42.828)
You guys are off a a bank holiday break in the UK as we record this this episode on the September the first dead. So we return to business by examining Busbing's latest accounts. Why are these results so intriguing for the audience of iGaming Daily?

Ted Menmuir (02:01.001)
So thanks Fernando and I guess this is my welcome back. So today we're kind of zooming in on Buzz Bingo and the reporting with Corporate Accounts for the financial year of 2025 to 2026.

And what immediately jumps out is that Buzz Bingo, to me, is an innovative business that is reporting growth, both across its land-based venues and online. So both verticals are helping the business secure an income of 240 million pounds. This is the third successive year that Buzz reports headline growth.

it has a clear strategy to overcome its current kind of economic headwinds. Yet the economic pressures and changes see it announce kind of a doubling in losses to 60 million. This is in part due to kind of transformation costs of venues and the wipeout of online gaming beta via taxes.

To me, put simply, Buzz tells us how difficult growth is across any levels for UK gambling incumbents, but it is unique business to zoom in and focus on and review.

Fernando Noodt (03:10.123)
And of course Basbingo has been going through a lot of changes, has undertaken a significant transformation over the last decade. So how is it co its its current business structured and what makes its position in the in the UK gambling market so unique?

Ted Menmuir (03:27.861)
So that's very true. mean, the 2000s have been tumultuous decade for Buzz, as it has been for all kinds of other mass market incumbents. Yet in 2023, coming off two years of COVID disruption, leadership led by CEO Dominic Mansour secured a 25 million credit line to support the transformation programme, backed by the majority shareholder of Intermediate Capital Group.

The program saw buzz countdown states to 75, but implement significant improvements across venues in its cross-sell via a new kind of omnichannel strategy, which has been effective as of last year, 2024.

In many ways, Buzz has met the challenge head on, making these kind of tough choices prior to any kind of tax application and focusing its strategy on moving venues beyond kind of its bingo offering alone. It's a much changed business in 2026. And again, like on reflection of accounts, what we're seeing is that it's a business that has many wins to show, but it also has many battle scars.

Fernando Noodt (04:38.315)
And of course we are talking about buzz bingo because there's some some headwinds going their way, there's some struggles for them. But again, like we did in previous episodes, let's not only focus on the bad things, let's give the audience some some good some good reflections. What what are the positives for Buzz and where is the business finding its growth rhythm?

Ted Menmuir (04:55.049)
Okay.

Ted Menmuir (05:04.691)
Okay, so the good news and I think the rhythm of Buzz Bingo is really shining kind of the headline numbers. So income is up to 11 % to 140 million. And if we kind of break down, we see this kind of a continued revival of Buzz's land-based venues generating 190 million in group income, which stands at around 80%. Look, other positives, online cross-sell improvements can be seen. And this is witnessed across kind of an activation of under 35 customers.

and the cross sale there which is helping generate online revenues of 49 million. Customer KPIs are underlining very strong with Buzz reporting 190,000 new customers of whom 50 % are under 35.

Also, kind of leadership underlines Gen Z's under 25s as the fastest growing segment, finding value in entertainment, hospitality and price of its venues. So look, this Gen Z metric is very strong and what it tells us, it's a metric that buzz is activated. Yet what we're not seeing is kind of its transfer being passed on to kind of bottom line profits.

Fernando Noodt (06:14.699)
And where is that that rhythm being interrupted, right now, like and what does that bottom line tell us?

Ted Menmuir (06:22.535)
It's just the cold heart realities of UK gambling. The bottom line is where they're exposed and where kind of know, it beats as being wiped out. Online the margin is being squeezed by the 40 % remote gaming tax increase and that's kind of doubled its tax profile. But again, this is no new story. Euro accounts saw Buzz swallow 80 million pound impairment charge that it had kind of previously forecasted. And to me it kind of sees management kind of knew that profitability would be undone.

the year so it's better just to swallow costs upfront. concern here is that cap expenditures are increasing to 58 million to accommodate increases in staff costs, venue modernizations and kind of system upgrades. Going forward or for next year it will be interesting to see how that figure is tamed on paper on the 2026 accounts 2027.

Fernando Noodt (07:16.875)
And of course we've been addressing the situation in the UK OnIGaming Daily for quite some time now. a couple dozen episodes maybe. a couple dozen episodes. But of course BuzzBingo is not the only one struggling, the high street is struggling and most operators are struggling. But how is Buzz specifically uniquely positioned to address these challenges compared with these other UK gambling operators we've been talking about?

Ted Menmuir (07:33.013)
Mm-hmm.

Ted Menmuir (07:46.924)
It's a prominent question and I think this is what I find most interesting about Buzz. So all our audiences know, especially in the UK, it's grim out there, but Buzz is executing a different strategy. It is a mass market operator. It's not giving kind of this easy rhetoric of like, it's about omnichannel conversion. It's a brand that really is going out and acquiring new customers and revitalizing its consumer base with Gen Z and millennial audiences. And that strategy alone kind

carries many risks and liabilities in getting it right, yes, and it carries kind of a higher expenditure as we've seen. The improved metrics with Under 35 and Gen Z are great, but again, the big question is how does that transfer to the bottom line and long-term sustainability? To me, it's a company that even those kind of metrics and that strategy alone, we have to keep a close eye on.

Fernando Noodt (08:44.448)
We'll have to hashtag wait and see what's happening with BuzzBingo, what happens now, what happens next. Of course, a lot of things going on in the UK. We've been talking about it on iGaming Daily. So make sure you follow iGaming Daily on all social media and your preferred podcasting platform and subscribe to all SVC media newsletters to keep up to date not only with Buzz Bingo and the UK gambling industry, but all developments in the iGaming and sports betting industries around the world.

Right now we're gonna do a very quick outbreak, but we will continue talking about Buzz Bingo right after this very short break. We'll be right back.

Fernando Noodt (09:45.293)
And we're back with more iGaming Daily to continue discussing Buzz Bingo and how it's facing the UK storm, the UK pressure, tax pressure, a lot of political pressure for gaming, and Buzz Bingo continues its transformation ahead of this whole situation in the United Kingdom. But as it continues its transformation program,

Where do you expect that its investment and operational changes to be applied under these conditions?

Ted Menmuir (10:22.379)
I think that BuzzBinger are at crossroads and its strategy of expansion meets the reality of getting bottom line profits. On reflection, look, they are entering year four of its transformation programs. The KPIs are going well, but as mentioned, the maths is just not carrying through to the bottom line.

Now I can see them using that 25 million credit to double down on this strategy. It is working in the sense of creating new audiences and bringing in new players and it's executing via kind of cross-sell. The metrics are improving from retail to online. But I think that you then have to reverse it back to the pressure that's coming back from investors who will want to see kind of.

bottom line profits, what can be delivered. And I think that that will probably come, it be kind of pressured on from 2027 onwards. The good thing that I think that Buzz has done is that I think that they have done those hard choices.

of kind of closing down venues and executing an omnichannel strategy that works. We see kind of a lot of easy rhetoric in UK gambling and I think in other markets too where leadership just says, yeah, it's omnichannel will work and we never see it kind of on paper. They can actually say that they are delivering improvements, which is a different take and it's a positive one at that.

Fernando Noodt (11:48.715)
And on the first half of this episode we've been we've discussed the Gen Z, like leadership for Buzz Bingo has underlined growing engagement with the Gen Z segment. So why is that such a positive narrative for Buzz to present to the market right now?

Ted Menmuir (11:55.317)
Mm-hmm

Ted Menmuir (12:06.599)
I agree. It's a very broad narrative for Buzz to sell to market. And, you know, they are a mass market brand that is engaging with Gen Z audiences. the reality is that I don't think many of these competitors can say the same thing. What CEO Dominic Mansour underlines is that Buzz Bingo is creating kind of a better value proposition for Gen Z's at venues that is specific to that audience engagement. Now, one of the things to remember is that

UK especially with younger audiences is that they feel they're kind of being priced out of kind of entertainment and hospitality and Fernando had the bad news to to tell you that the average pint of beer in the UK is now at £6.50. The kids aren't drinking their kilmes.

Fernando Noodt (12:52.629)
my god, no. no. no. We're gonna have to we're gonna shut we're gonna have to call this this recording off.

Yeah.

Ted Menmuir (13:05.931)
Look, going back to what Dominic Mansell said, I think that he has really changed the face of Buzz Bingo and his strategy. And I think that he views Gen Z and millennials and giving them kind of a very value proposition is the key to a longer kind of longer term sustainability for the business.

Fernando Noodt (13:30.102)
Hold on, there's like a massive noise in the background here, the fixing the the the sidewalk right in front of my building. But you Ted you mentioned the competitors for Buzz Bingo and compared with its counterparts, Buzz does or does Buzz actually have a strong platform to restore profitability by the end of next year.

Ted Menmuir (13:54.826)
It's a good point to bring up.

And in many ways, BUSH shows much better KPIs than many in the UK market, especially kind of as all kind of PLCs and tier ones are in the same boat. Now, in the past three years, it has proved that it can execute a strategy very well in tough economic conditions. And again, on reflection, I don't think that many others, I'm not just talking about those in Bingo, but I'm talking about those across all the UK spectrum. I don't think that many can.

With regards to return to growth, I think that they're building kind of a unique standalone platform. And the view here is kind of that return to kind of long-term sustainability and profitability. The positive here is that the number of new customers and their Omni-channel is executing well alongside kind of the cross-sell on Omni-channel. Look.

That's, you your reference back to 2027 and, you know, what the platform will be like and return to growth. That is the number one question that I think investors are asking across all UK PLCs. In my opinion, if Buzz continues with stronger kind of KPIs, it could well take market share in the wider gaming, in iGaming market in the UK come 2027, 2028, but it's a long, long road ahead.

Fernando Noodt (15:24.768)
And of course when you mention bus bingo, the first the f first thing you think about, the first first thing first thing, that's a freaky one for me to say. the first thing that comes to mind is bingo, the bingo segment. But why should bus be on everyone's radar in the UK gambling sector, regardless of that part of the business, regardless of whether they operate in vehicle or not?

Ted Menmuir (15:38.858)
Yeah.

Ted Menmuir (15:51.948)
Okay, so to finish off the podcast, I mean, I'll just leave it with the nugget here that I think Buzz is taking a different approach to tackling generational issues. The positive for me is what kind of leadership are saying about its strategy and they are actually kind of thinking of their proposition beyond gambling. It is about hospitality, it is about leisure. And it's also that it's answering...

these tough conundrums for UK business, let's say, in terms of, you know, consumer price point, what it's offering and how it engages with its consumers on a daily basis. It gives them actually good value. It's funny because, you know, we come from the period of, you know, tuning into kind of interim statements on performance. And one thing that I find kind of refreshing is that buzz bingo.

actually prepared to kind of talk quite candidly about these issues that are outside of the gammon sphere. Look, to me I wish them good luck and I think that we are now in kind of times where no business owns its elements. It's everything to play for.

Fernando Noodt (17:10.131)
And Ted, we are inviting all our listeners to not only follow iGaming Daily on social media and subscribe on their preferred podcasting platform, but also to subscribe to all SVC media newsletters. And in relation to that, where do you think we should put the eye on? Not only for for for BuzzBingo itself, but in the UK gambling industry. Where should our readers put their eyes on going forward as they subscribe to SVC News, of course?

Ted Menmuir (17:40.427)
Just drink your Kilmes. That's too hard of a question.

Fernando Noodt (17:44.363)
Alright. And keep an eye on the on the on the on the price of of pints. we'll be monitoring that as well. Ted is gonna do as as he leans forward again, he's gonna do study, a thorough study, and we will certainly be doing an episode on on pints and why the the price has gone up

Ted Menmuir (17:54.025)
Yep, yes, yes, that is the most, yep.

Fernando Noodt (18:09.321)
But in all seriousness, we will continue monitoring what happens with Buzz Bingo, what happens with the UK gambling industry. in the middle of this whole tax pressure increase situation. but hashtag wait and see. We'll see what happens. Subscribe to all SVC Media Newsletter and follow us on social media to keep up to date. Ted Memier, thank you very much. Thank you very much, Anya McDonald, for producing this episode. I'm Fernando Nott, and to our listeners out there, we'll see you in the next one. Goodbye.