Playtech Hails Resilient First Half Performance Amid Covid-19

Wed, 05th Aug 2020 10:51

(Alliance News) - Playtech PLC on Wednesday said its "resilient" performance in the first half of 2020 was driven by its online businesses and the "exceptional" performance of its trading platform TradeTech.

The FTSE 250 listed betting and gaming operator said that despite the pandemic severely hurting some of its businesses, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization was EUR160 million compared to EUR190.6 million the year prior.

Playtech said TradeTech benefited significantly from increased market volatility and trading volumes during the first six months of 2020.

It said its online casino businesses saw significantly heightened levels of activity, adding that while activity has begun to normalise, it remains above pre-Covid levels. Closures in the UK and Greece as well as the cancellation or postponement of major sporting events severely hurt the B2B Sports business. Revenues in B2B Sports have started to recover amid the reopening of betting shops in the UK and Greece, however, figures are not at pre-Covid levels

Turning to the B2C Gambling division, Snaitech lost significant revenue due to closures and event cancellations. However, the impact was minimised by the low fixed costs in the business, revenues generated from online, as well as certain mitigating actions

The company's business in Asia was also hurt by government restrictions. However, it benefited from a contract with a leading provider of Live Casino in the region.

Turning to current trading, Playtech said it has had a strong performance in July with continued strength in online and TradeTech in addition to seeing the benefit of retail locations reopening and many sporting events resuming. It added that its adjusted Ebitda in July approached normalised levels.

"Thanks to the outstanding response from our people and the early actions taken to protect the business, Playtech has demonstrated outstanding operational resilience during this challenging period. It is pleasing to see the impacted parts of the business starting to demonstrate positive momentum and I am confident the actions we have taken will help us emerge stronger and cement our market-leading position," said Chief Executive Mor Weizer.

As at the end of June, Playtech had over EUR600 million of available liquidity. Early in the third quarter, it received the remaining EUR36 million from the sale of Snaitech land in Italy.

The stock was trading 3.3% higher at 325.50 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com

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