Playtech Plc has published its 2020 interim results for the period ended June 30, citing a cautious approach for future trading and underlining the view that growth in US and LatAm markets remains high on the agenda.
The headline figures revealed a 23% drop in corporate revenues to $665m (H1 2019: $858m) as the FTSE250 technology group absorbed a series of trading shocks reported by its B2C unit. The group’s adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, totaled $191.4m (H1 2019: $227.4m), marking a 15% decline compared to last year.
Group adjusted profits came in at $51.9m (H1 2019 $92m) with corporate management stating that profits had been secured by early decisive actions lowering the firm’s fixed cost base across all trading units.
According to CEO Mor Weizer, the US and Latin American markets remain a key priority for Playtech, with the group outlining its intention to ‘increase its scale and distribution in these markets by leveraging its range of products and services across the gambling value chain’.
He stated: “As well as increasing our work with existing tier one licensees and adding more than 50 new brands to our SaaS model, we have also continued to execute our expansion into strategically important markets such as the US with our first launch in New Jersey and further structured agreements in Latin America.
“The scale of our technology and the breadth of our product offering mean Playtech can capture commercial opportunities in the fast-growing US and Latin America markets outside the remit of traditional B2B suppliers and we are investing in accelerating this strategy.”
Commenting more generally on the results, Weizer stated “The attitude of our people coupled with the resilience and diversification of our technology-led business model has delivered a strong first-half performance during an extremely challenging period for the industry.
“These strengths, combined with early decisive action to focus on the safety of our employees and protect the Group’s cash flow, has placed us in a strong position to benefit from the recovery and to capture the exciting market opportunity in the US and Latin America.
“The extraordinary trading conditions during the pandemic have brought us closer than ever to our licensees and we have seen even greater demand for our products, with an increased focus across the globe on intelligent software and personalised player journeys and protection tools.”