Zeal's investment strategy during H1 and prior brought in almost 500,000 new players during the period.

In H1 Zeal overcame subdued jackpot conditions to deliver a surge in earnings for the period, powered by a rise in new players.

While group revenue increased by 32% to �101.5 million in the first six months of the year, EBITDA rose by a significant 76% to �35.4 million, compared to the same period in 2024.

In its half-year results, Zeal said its lottery business was the key driver for revenue growth.

Despite lower average jackpot levels for LOTTO 6aus49 and Eurojackpot, compared to the prior-year period, lottery billings (total value of tickets sold) increased by 4% to �527.3 million.

The business said successful marketing initiatives saw the average number of active customers per month rise by 12% to 1.51 million.

The Hamburg-headquartered group was also able to improve the gross margin by 3.8 percentage points to 17.3%. This was driven by a price increase implemented in the previous year and a shift in product mix.

The simultaneous increase in billings and gross margin resulted in a significant 34% rise in lottery business revenue to �91 million.

Zeals iGaming segment also continued its development in the first half of the year. Its B2C games portfolio expanded to more than 480 titles and increased revenue in segment by 49% year-on-year to �6.7 million.

While Zeal sanctioned an increase in expenses across the board, this business decision proved fruitful. Its strategy of invest[ing] heavily in sustained growth saw it bring in 499,000 new customers during the period.

Andrea Behrendt, Zeals chief finance officer, said: Our half-year results are a true team success especially given that the jackpot situation was rather weak compared to the previous year. Challenging market conditions particularly underscore our operational excellence. The significant increases in revenue and EBITDA were driven by further expansion of our customer base and profitability.

Through efficiency gains and the scalability of its business model, Zeal was able to increase EBITDA disproportionately to revenue by 76% to �35.4 million. EBIT nearly doubled year-on-year, reaching �31.1 million.

Indirect operating costs increased by 20% to �10.4 million, driven by external consulting services, freelance personnel and software expenses. The ongoing development of the product mix led to an increase in direct operating costs by 14% to �9.8 million.

Marketing expenditure increased by 14% to �29.1 million, with acquisition costs per new customer up by 41% to �46.93. Meanwhile, other operating expenses rose by 15% to �49.4 million.

Helmut Becker, Zeals outgoing chief executive, said: We once again achieved strong results in the first half of 2025. Zeals continued growth path proves that our business model is highly robust and scalable over the long term.

We are in an excellent position to further expand our market leadership in a growing industry.

The positive results come amid major personnel changes at Zeal. In the last three months, the group has announced the appointment of a new CEO and chair.

In July, Zeal announced that Stefan Tweraser will replace Becker as chief executive from 15 September. Becker, who has served as the operators CEO for almost 10 years, will step aside as CEO on 14 September but remain available as a consultant until early next year.

Becker is expected to move into investing and starting new projects outside of gaming once his tenure at Zeal ends.

New to the gambling sector, Tweraser was most recently CEO of German NewSpace start-up Rocket Factory Augsburg. He was also chief marketing officer of music streaming service Deezer and CEO of hospitality data business SnapShot.

In May, Zeal appointed Carola Gr�fin von Schmettow, former CEO of HSBC Germany, as its new chairwoman to replace the outgoing Peter Steiner.

Gr�fin von Schmettow was elected to the position at the Zeal annual general meeting. She has been a member of the companys supervisory board since November 2024.