Online gambling software provider Playtech PLC reported strong revenue growth in Q3 2013, according to an interim management statement issued on Tuesday. Total revenue for the three months ending Sept. 30 came in at €90.6m, a 13% rise over the same period in 2012 – a 16% improvement using constant currency terms. Casino remains Playtech’s dominant vertical, rising a healthy 24% to €46.8m, while services revenue – including the first contributions from the newly acquired PokerStrategy training site operation – rose 7% to €28.5m.
Among Playtech’s ‘also ran’ categories, sports betting recorded the single biggest revenue gain, rising 39% to €3.4m, and CEO Mor Weizer told analysts that sports betting remained the company’s chief acquisition vertical. Videobet revenue rose 7% to €2.9m while bingo revenue was flat at €4.2m. At €3.2m, poker was the lone declining vertical, falling 21% year-on-year and down 12% from Q2 2013, despite the recent additions of Betfair, Betclic Everest and Unibet to Playtech’s iPoker Network.
Playtech’s geographical revenue generation was largely unchanged year-on-year, with Europe accounting for 64% of the pie (down from 65%), Asian grey- and black-market operations rising two points to 25% and the rest of the world falling one point to 11%. Looking ahead, Playtech said average daily revenue for the first month of Q4 was up 12% year-on-year and up 5% sequentially. Playtech’s cash and cash equivalents on hand amount to €523.2m, down from €576.2m in Q2, all but confirming the rumored £37m share purchase of Ladbrokes, with whom Playtech struck a five-year licensing deal in March.
Investors greeted Playtech’s report with a collective yawn, leaving the share price virtually unchanged at 745.5p. However, for anyone with ready access to a time machine, the company’s shares have risen nearly 75% since the start of the year.
