Zeal Network SE has reported first-quarter revenue growth of 6% year-on-year to €54.3m ($61.4m), as higher lottery activity and games revenue offset a weaker jackpot environment in Germany.
The German online lottery operator said EBITDA fell 13% to €15.5m, compared with €17.7m in Q1 2025, reflecting higher marketing and personnel costs linked to product expansion and customer acquisition. The release did not disclose Q1 net income.
Lottery remained the main driver of the business. Revenue from the segment rose 5% to €48.7m, while lottery billings increased 1% to €268m. Zeal also improved its lottery gross margin to 17.8%, up from 17.1% a year earlier.
Customer activity also increased. Average monthly active users rose 5% to 1.575 million, while new registrations grew 11% to 274,000.
The results come as Zeal continues to reduce its reliance on jackpot cycles by building out proprietary raffle products and online games. Its latest product addition is Traumautoverlosung, known in English as Dream Car Raffle, which launched in Germany on 14 April.
The raffle follows freiheit+ and Dream House Raffle, making it Zeal’s third charity lottery product in the German market.
Zeal CFO, Andrea Behrendt, said: “The first quarter of 2026 shows that we are consistently executing our strategy even in a weak jackpot environment: our core business is growing and we have continued to invest in diversifying our business model.”
Games revenue rose 14% to €3.9m. Zeal said the segment benefited from an expanded B2C portfolio of more than 740 titles and higher monthly active users.
The investment push was visible in the cost base. Marketing expenses rose 13%, while personnel expenses increased 21%, as Zeal continued to scale its platform, charity lottery offering and games operations.
For 2026, Zeal has forecast revenue of €250m to €260m and EBITDA of €70m to €75m, based on average jackpot development.
The update follows Zeal’s full-year 2025 results, when the operator reported 16% revenue growth to €218.5m and adjusted EBITDA of €68.8m, supported by raffle and games expansion.
Zeal said its games portfolio now includes more than 740 titles, up from more than 650 at the end of 2025
