Playtech to use war-chest in regulated market push
London-listed firm to significantly ramp up its investment in new markets as it also targets further sports betting partnerships with top-tier operators
Playtech CEO Mor Weizer (pictured) told eGaming Review the software supplier giant will use its substantial war-chest to “accelerate” growth in regulated markets on the back of record profits announced this morning.
The London-listed firm currently has a cash stock pile of approximately 700m and Weizer told eGaming Review this morning would be used to boost growth in re-regulated markets to new levels.
“The investment we made and the operational highlights in 2014 are all about regulated markets which is already reflected partly in the numbers,” he said.
According to its full-year 2014 financial results released this morning, 36% of revenues were derived from regulated jurisdictions last year and at a faster growth rate than unregulated revenue streams.
Last year Playtech expanded into a number of new markets including Mexico in partnership with land-based casino operator Caliente and RCS Media in Italy, in addition to launches from Ladbrokes in Spain, Belgium and Denmark.
“Our investment is all into regulated income streams and we obviously have a large war chest which will allow us to further accelerate growth, bearing in mind that our focus and future is in 100% regulated markets,” Weizer added.
Playtech has highlighted over 25 jurisdiction targets as either regulated or in the process of regulating, including Southern and Eastern Europe, where the company aims to significantly ramp up its capabilities.
One new online gambling region picked out by Weizer for future growth was Africa, which he claimed was growing faster than any other market worldwide.
“We’re putting a lot of effort into Africa as some of these operators are quite significant in size,” Weizer said.
“We definitely see that as an exciting opportunity and we’ve already started establishing ourselves there with a handful or customers which we certainly expect to grow,” he added.
Growth in sports betting
At the heart of Playtech’s strategy for entering new markets is its omni-channel solution which aims to create a seamless customer journey between retail, web and mobile and a key part of this will be growth in sports betting.
Sports betting was the fastest growing vertical for Playtech last year with revenues soaring 54% year-on-year from 17.1m in 2013 to 26.3m, while mobile sport revenues grew by 51%.
And Weizer said he expected the company to sign further strategic partnerships with top-tier sports betting operators in the future to boost growth.
The long-awaited completion of the Ladbrokes migration and roll-out of its omni-channel solution with Gala Coral places Playtech in a strong position within the UK, although Weizer refused to be drawn on plans for the UK market.
“Over time Playtech will position itself where it’s in a stage to announce some significant opportunities and partnerships with well-established sports betting operators,” he said.
“We invest into sports heavily and we do that in each and every market but at the end of day even in the UK through Mobengam we work closely with some of the leading retail bookmakers,” Weizer added.