Caliente and Snaitech combine to boost Playtech H1 trading
Peel Hunt upgrades full-year EBITDA estimate by 5% to €280m following online B2B gains in Mexico and digital B2C growth in Italy
Playtech has revealed H1 trading is likely to perform in line with expectations after strong segmental performance from Caliente in Latam and Snaitech in Italy.
Providing an update on the period between 1 January to 30 June, the London-listed supplier said performance in the online business had been “very strong” since its previous update on 26 May.
The drivers were different to those initially anticipated by Playtech, with B2B online growth in Caliente and B2C online growth in Snaitech combining to power the strong performance.
“Snaitech’s online business offset the impact of the longer than expected retail closures in Italy,” the provider told investors, although retail began to open from mid-June.
Playtech’s business in Asia remained stable throughout H1 and in line with levels achieved during the second half of last year.
Issuing an update on the pandemic, Playtech said: “While Covid-19 continues to pose challenges and the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain with the possibility of further unexpected lockdowns, given the strong H1 performance and the momentum within the business, the board is confident of the company’s prospects for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.”
Playtech will report its final H1 2021 figures on 23 September 2021.
Peel Hunt analyst Ivor Jones upgraded his full-year EBITDA forecast for Playtech by 5% to €280m based on today’s trading update.
He said: “Playtech is at an early stage in a commercial and strategic transformation, which should see it generate more and more revenue from licensed activities in the Americas while harvesting cash from more mature markets.
“This potential is masked, in part, by the drag from retail-exposed business in both the B2B and B2C parts of the business.
“We expect Playtech’s operating leverage and cash generation to become apparent as retail continues to recover,” he added.
Elsewhere, Playtech has today become the first recipient of GamCare’s newly developed B2B safer gambling standard.
The standard is GamCare’s independent quality standard which assesses the measures businesses have put in place to protect customers from experiencing gambling-related harm.