The Stars Group overcomes stuttering poker vertical to post Q2 revenue growth
Poker revenues down almost 6% in constant currency but casino and sportsbook revenues make up the shortfall
PokerStars parent company The Stars Group this morning reported a 7.9%cc rise in Q2 revenues to $303.5m, with soaring casino revenues overcoming a significant decline in poker revenues.
Poker revenues fell approximately 5.6%cc compared to the same period last year, with the vertical accounting for 66.5% of total revenue at $203m.
Combined real-money online casino and sportsbook revenues for the quarter were $89.6m, up around 54.3%cc for the quarter.
“Our evolution and transformation into The Stars Group continued as we completed our name change and head office move, while our second quarter saw the strengthening of our core senior management team and continued solid revenue growth led by our real money online casino offering,” said Rafi Ashkenazi, group CEO.
“We plan to use this momentum to continue improving and strengthening our business and pursuing our strategic objectives.”
The firm saw quarterly active unique players (QAUs) of 2.1 million, down around 2% year-over-year, primarily led by a decline on the Full Tilt platform, the new customer registration process in the Czech Republic and the cessation of operations in certain small jurisdictions.
The drop was partially offset by the re-launch of PokerStars in Portugal in late 2016 and the growth of its online casino and sportsbook businesses.
The Stars Group said its online casino offerings had approximately 547,000 QAUs, up 33% year-over-year, making it “one of the largest casino player bases among its competitors”
BetStars had approximately 251,000 QAUs, an 8% increase year-over-year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the group, which recently rebranded from Amaya to The Stars Group, climbed 13% to $146.5m.