Toronto headquartered Stars Group has praised its US presence, following a “an important step forward in the regulation of sports betting in the United States,” allowing the organisation to be “well-positioned to take advantage” of new business and marketing opportunities.
Continuing the groups growth ambitions, which saw total revenues of $411.5m (+34.8 per cent year-on-year) reported in its latest set of financials, Stars Group followed up an extension of its partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel by announcing a deal with Mount Airy Casino Resort.
Under its new agreement the firm is to enter Pennsylvania’s online sports wagering and gaming market, where it will offer customers in the state its online poker, casino (including slots and tables) and sports wagering products.
In a busy quarter further global expansion saw the $4.7bn purchase of Sky Betting & Gaming completed, with its Australian footprint also enhanced via increasing its equity interest in CrownBet from 62 per cent to 80 per cent, who subsequently acquired William Hill Australia.
Breaking down it’s Q2 figures, Stars Group saw real-money online poker, gaming, and betting revenues represent 52.7 per cent, 24.8 per cent, and 19.7 per cent of total revenues for the quarter, respectively.
Gross profit for the period came in at $327.8m, up 29.8 per cent from 2017’s $252.6m, with adjusted EBITDA standing at $168.2m, a 14.8 per cent jump from $146.5m year-on-year.
Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group’s chief executive officer, commented: “The Stars Group’s quarterly results reflect both continued organic growth within our International business and the contributions of our Australian acquisitions.
“We continued enhancing our products and user experience across all verticals and executing on our cross-selling strategy.
“The continued emergence of our sports betting and casino offerings and the addition of our 2018 acquisitions have transformed our business and greatly enhanced the foundation and diversity of our consolidated revenue base, which will now be nearly equally split among verticals and roughly 75% locally regulated or taxed.
“We are now focused on the next stage of our transformation – integration.
“While this will be a phased and measured process, we expect that it will prepare us to not only be a leader within the world’s largest regulated markets but to also leverage the strength of our combined platform to take advantage of new opportunities and markets.”
The group also issued an update to its full year guidance to reflect partial contributions from its recent acquisitions, and subsequent changes in capital structure:
- Revenues of between $1.995 and $2.145 billion, as compared to between $1.390 and $1.470 billion.
- Adjusted EBITDA of between $755 and $810 million, as compared to between $625 and $650 million.
- Adjusted Net Earnings of between $485 and $545 million, as compared to between $487 and $512 million.
- Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share of between $1.99 and $2.22, as compared to between $2.33 and $2.471.
- Capital Expenditures of between $110 million and $150 million.