Stocks Tracker: March M&A madness and results day rewards

888  1 March closing: 303p  31 March closing: 395p  Peak March closing: 404.5p  888 posted a 52% increase in full-year revenue for 2020 to 849m on 18 March, which set its share price soaring for the remainder of the month. After closing at 333.5p on 17 March, the London-listed operator closed at 348.5p the following day, and has seen steady, incremental daily increases since. Peaking at 404.5p on 29 March, 888 backers were buoyed by the group’s expansion plans, which includes a three-year roadmap in the US and a $100m war chest for M&A in Europe. After several European tech-led operators were acquired by US-facing casino giants, investors are increasingly hopeful that 888 will be next. Speaking to EGR, CEO Itai Pazner said: “Organically, we’re planning to grow in all verticals, but if I have to pin down the focus on where we’re planning to grow, the US is one strategic area and sports betting is another. “In terms of M&A, at the moment there aren’t the attractive M&A opportunities in the US that we are looking for, so we are looking elsewhere. We’re looking mainly in our core markets in Europe,” he added.

Gamesys 1 March closing: 1,400p 31 March closing: 1,932p Peak March closing: 2,005p Gamesys’ share price rocketed on 24 March after US casino giant Bally’s tabled a £2bn offer for the London-listed operator. Bally’s cash offer would see Gamesys’ shareholders receive 1,850p per share in business, although its closing share price on 24 March of 1,944p far outstripped this as a result of sale hype. Gamesys CEO Lee Fenton, who would also lead the newly combined business, added: “From our first meeting to now it has been the entrepreneurial energy of the two businesses that has brought us to the edge of creating a uniquely powerful company”. Elsewhere, Gamesys moved in to a new 7,500 square foot Isle of Man office, where its Japan-facing operations will be managed. On 9 March, Gamesys reported a 29% uptick in full-year revenue to £727.7m. The company is reliant on gaming revenue from the UK and its recent gaming growth has come from Japan. William Hill 1 March closing: 270.9p 31 March closing: 272p Peak March closing: 272.9p While William Hill’s FTSE 250 rivals 888 and Gamesys ended March on a high note, the octogenarian bookmaker faced a month of stagnation after a set of uninspiring 2020 results. On 4 March, Hills posted a 16% year-on-year decrease in full-year revenue to £1.3bn, while pre-tax profit plummeted 91%, mainly thanks to the closure of its retail empire due to Covid-19. A monthly shift of 2p is very little to write home about, though, given the share price growth Hills’ rivals are recording. Elsewhere, hedge fund and Hills shareholder HBK Investments has claimed the aforementioned takeover may have misled shareholders over concerns regarding future bidders for the company. Caesars had warned Hills that any potential takeover of the business by Apollo Global Management, which rivalled Caesars in the bidding process, could jeopardise the pre-existing US JV between the two parties. Kindred Group 1 March closing: SEK139.5 31 March closing: SEK153.75 Peak March closing: SEK153.75 A steady monthly rise in share price for the Stockholm-listed operator is perhaps the least interesting angle to explore for Kindred Group. Looking back to March 2020 and the initial period of Europe’s coronavirus nightmare, Kindred saw its share price slam to SEK24.44, the lowest it had been since 2011. Fast forward 12 months, and the firm’s share price is the highest it has been since February 2018, having taken full-advantage of Covid-19’s silver linings including gaming uptick and online migration. Elsewhere, the operator revealed that 4.3% of its gross winnings revenue was generated by high-risk players in Q4 2020. On 1 March, Kindred actioned a two-month share repurchase programme to buyback shares totalling SEK190m (£16.1m) from existing shareholders, which it intends to cancel at an AGM in May. Finally, it was revealed Kindred was the third-largest advertiser in Sweden for January and February, spending £8.4m, up 56% from the same period of 2020. Playtech 1 March closing: 485.3p 31 March closing: 446.2p Peak March closing: 514.2p A month that started off with the London-listed supplier’s best closing price in more than a year ended with a sustained slump following the publication of its 2020 financial results on 11 March. With both its B2B and B2C arms impacted by Covid-19, Playtech posted a €73m loss in 2020, along with a 19% decrease in EBITDA to €310m. While its share price didn’t immediately fall following the results announcement on Thursday 11 March (496.3p), by the end of the week, Playtech’s share price had fallen to 449.3p. A monthly low of 414.6p on 16 March has since risen and stabilised, without threatening to reach its pre-results peak of early March. Speaking to EGR, CEO Mor Weizer said Playtech would continue to action its expansion roadmap throughout the Americas. He said: “Our focus is turning to Brazil. Our intention is to establish ourselves in Brazil through a local partnership with one of the key participants across the gambling space. “It is a very exciting opportunity, not least because it’s a 200 million-plus population and the importance of football,” he added.