Interactive
Canada – Amaya reports huge profit increase
By Phil - 15 May 2015
Having sold off some of its non-core assets, Canada-based Amaya, owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt, saw quarterly revenue increase to C$340.1m from C$12.8m for the first quarter of 2015.
Profit increased to C$82.5m from C$1.3m.
PokerStars estimates it increased its share of the online poker market, based on cash game and tournament players, to approximately 66 per cent in Q1 2015 from 62 per cent in Q1 2014, with the increase driven primarily by its increasing share of tournament player activity and the popularity of its Spin & Go tournaments.
During the first quarter, Amaya’s continuing operations included its core B2C business, primarily the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands, and its B2B online casino business. As a result of the announced sale of Cadillac Jack for US$382 million and the completed spin-off of 60 per cent of Amaya’s interest in Diamond Game Enterprises for $34m in gross proceeds through the initial public offering of Innova Gaming Group, Cadillac Jack and Diamond Game were classified as discontinued operations and their assets and liabilities as held for sale.
“We saw continued strength in our core consumer online gaming business in the first quarter with gross deposits at PokerStars increasing approximately 9% on a domestic currency basis and PokerStars estimating an increase in its share of the global online poker market,” said David Baazov, CEO of Amaya. “We believe that this healthy engagement helped counter new sales taxes and gaming duties in certain major European jurisdictions as well as a significant decrease in the purchasing power of our consumer base stemming from a sharp decline in the value of their local currencies versus the U.S. dollar (USD), which is the predominant currency of gameplay.
“PokerStars recently made multiple strategic marketing investments to help grow the global poker sector, including the sponsorship of new poker pros, celebrities and athletes, notably football megastar Neymar Jr, who we anticipate will help attract new players to the game,” said Baazov. “These investments were in part driven by our expansion into adjacent gaming verticals including casino and sports betting, which have provided new revenue streams since their introduction. We ended the quarter with more than 93 million cumulative customer registrations, an increase of nearly 2.5m during the quarter.
“We continue to execute on our strategy to divest our B2B assets and have completed the spin-off of Diamond Game through the IPO of Innova, and announced strategic transactions to sell Cadillac Jack to AGS, and sell Chartwell and CryptoLogic to NYX Gaming Group. We anticipate these divestitures will substantially reduce our indebtedness and fund a portion of the buyback of our common shares. We also expect the continued strong cash flow generated from our B2C business to allow us to delever throughout the remainder of 2015, support the buy-back of our common shares and allow us to pursue, among other things, potential strategic investments or acquisitions.”
PokerStars launched its sportsbook beta offering at the end of Q1 and it is being rolled out in various jurisdictions on the .com shared network, with completion anticipated by the end of the second quarter, with rollout in the segregated markets of Spain and Italy by the end of Q3 2015.
PokerStars announced the sponsorship of football megastar Neymar Jr. and PokerStars.net announced the sponsorship of Japanese model and actress Yuiko Matsukawa as a new celebrity brand ambassador. Neymar Jr and Matsukawa will join a roster of PokerStars sponsored celebrities including Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo, and poker professional Daniel Negreanu.
