David Baazov, chairman and chief executive of Amaya Gaming, has said that an “exciting” second quarter helped the company post year-on-year growth across key financials during the six months through to June 30, while the firm has also acquired daily fantasy sports website Victiv to support its expansion into the sector.
Revenue in the first half amounted to $656.9 million (€592.2 million), up from $624.7 million in the corresponding six-month period in the previous year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped from $248 million in the first half of 2014 to $279.5 million in the same period this year, while adjusted net earnings increased from $138.9 million to $170.4 million.
In addition, adjusted net earnings per diluted share hiked from $0.69 to $0.85.
Reflecting on the results, Baazov highlighted Amaya’s performance in the three-month period through to June 30 as one of the main factors behind the first-half results.
Revenue in the second quarter was up from $289.3 million to $319.6 million, while adjusted EBITDA also jumped from $111.8 million to $138.2 million.
Elsewhere, adjusted net earnings grew from $59.7 million to $86.1 million, with adjusted net earnings per diluted share also up from $0.30 to $0.43.
“This was another exciting quarter for Amaya,” Baazov said.
“Our core poker business remains strong and our customers have embraced our expansion into non-poker offerings.
“We’ve completed our transition to a pure B2C technology company having finalised the divestiture of our B2B businesses.
“We substantially reduced our leverage and improved our financial condition. Since the acquisition of our B2C business, we’ve repaid approximately $529 million of our long-term debt, thereby eliminating an estimated $62 million of related interest expense.”
Meanwhile, Amaya has also acquired daily fantasy sports website Victiv as part of a move to expand its services into the fantasy sports market.
Under the agreement, Victiv is to be rebranded as ‘StarsDraft’ and will continue to be managed by the current Victiv team.
StarsDraft will be available to access in select US markets and later through the Amaya-owned PokerStars platform.
Matthew Primeaux, chief executive of Victiv, said: “StarsDraft will combine Victiv’s innovative platform and experienced DFS team with Amaya’s expansive consumer base and operational excellence as the world’s preeminent online gaming brand.
“We intend to capitalise on what we believe is strong crossover between online poker players and daily fantasy sports.
“PokerStars is the most trusted brand in online gaming and brings unmatched security, customer support and technical infrastructure that we believe all players can rely on.”
