Playtech revenues up but poker falls
Total revenues up 7% overall and 19% like-for-like excluding France, however poker revenues fall by nearly one third.
With the exception of poker, Playtech recorded like-for-like revenue increases in all verticals, the AIM-listed company announced this morning in its trading update for the three months ended 30 June.
Total revenues rose 19% year-on-year (excluding France), and 7% overall, to 39.6m, while casino revenues rose 7% (24% excluding France) to 27.3m.
However, the story was different for poker, where the 3% quarter-on-quarter drop recorded in Q1 was followed by a further 12% quarter-on-quarter loss, bringing the figure down 32% year-on-year including the French market and 24% without.
Playtech will hope poker picks up after the launch of cash games in Italy, with its iPoker network joining Ongame in offering cash as well as tournament poker now that the Comunitaria decree has come into force.
Ipoker.it members SNAI and SISAL have already begun offering cash games to players, while William Hill and Titan have also been added to the Italian network.
Following the trading update, and also bearing in mind today’s twofold announcement of the buyout of mobile specialist Mobenga and a 10-year licensing deal with Gala Coral “ one of Playtech’s largest ever contracts “ analyst James Hollins of Evolution Securities reiterated his firm’s ‘buy’ stance on the company.”Playtech remains the market leading, go-to online gambling software provider in the industry.”
Q2 was eventful for Playtech even before today’s announcements, with the company’s SciPlay joint venture selected by the California Online Poker Association (COPA) for its online poker platform with potential US intrastate regulation in mind.
The company also entered the Spanish market via its partnership with Casino Gran Madrid in May, while the end of the quarter saw the completion of its deal for PT Turnkey Services, the Europartners holding company which was previously owned by founder Teddy Sagi.
Chief Executive Mor Weizer said the latest developments “reflect the success of our ongoing investment in the business and many months of intense preparatory work”, adding that “We would expect to announce further wins in the coming months.”