Q1 2015 a "defining quarter" for Amaya, says Baazov
Toronto-based gaming giant sees revenues increase 2558% following PokerStars and Full Tilt acquisition
Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov said Q1 2015 was a “defining quarter” for the firm as revenues grew 2558% to CA$340.7m and EBITDA up 7694% to $140.3m following the acquisition of PokerStars and Full Tilt last year.
Amaya said growth had been primarily generated by PokerStars and its B2C operations, having divested the bulk of its B2B business during the three month period.
Revenues included contributions from its B2B online casino business Chartwell and Cryptologic, which were sold to NYX Gaming after the quarter ended, but not Cadillac Jack and Diamond Game which were divested during the period.
Baazov said he was “encouraged by the early success” of cross-selling poker players onto its recently launched casino and sportsbook products on PokerStars.
The firm revealed that poker made up 94% or $317m of B2C revenues, while casino contributed just 6%, or $20m, of the total, but said it anticipates the vertical will account for 13% of revenue by year-end.
More than 20% of poker players on PokerStars.com played casino games during the period “despite slots games not yet being available” and live dealer only recently launched.
Full Tilt achieved a higher rate of cross-sell between poker and casino – 33% – which Amaya said was due to its more “fulsome offering” of table games, live dealer and slots, but Amaya expects PokerStars to reach 30% cross-sell in the future.
Amaya said it was too early to provide data on its recently-launched PokerStars sportsbook, but that average revenue per user had been “higher than anticipated.”
The operator expects to complete the sports rollout on the dot.com network by the end of Q2 and in Spain and Italy by the end of Q3.
“We are encouraged by the early progress we have made in strategically extending the PokerStars brand and consumer base to these new verticals,” Baazov said.
Amaya reported that sales and marketing expenses increased from $3m in Q1 2014 to $59m this year, while general and administrative costs grew from $12.8m to $193.8m.
The firm also offered full-year 2015 guidance and expects revenues between $1.4bn and $1.5bn and adjusted EBITDA between $600m and $650m.