Amaya Gaming Posts Record Q3 Results, Sees Sports As Way Forward

Home » Poker News » Amaya Gaming Posts Record Q3 Results, Sees Sports As Way Forward

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 | Written by Charles Washington

Amaya Gaming acquired PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for $4.9 billion in August this year, and just a few months later the Canadian company has now posted its results for Q3 2014 revealing a record rise in revenues to $239 million, up from the $38.6 million generated a year earlier. Commenting on the company’s astronomical revenue jump, Amaya CEO David Baazov said:

“In these early days I could not be happier with the initial performance of the business and the professionalism and expertise of the PokerStars management team. They are implementing strategic plans that leverage exciting, innovative poker variants, new gaming verticals and the mobile platform to increase engagement and new consumer acquisition.”

Record Results In Q3

In the third quarter through to the end of September, the Montreal-based company reported a massive 512% rise in revenues to $239 million, while adjusted net income also rose by a staggering 900% to $70 million from the $6.8 million posted in the same quarter of 2013. That adjusted profit figure translated into 43 cents per share for the Q3 period compared to seven cents per share a year earlier, and commenting on the impressive result, CEO David Baazov said:

“The acquisition of PokerStars has transformed Amaya and delivered immediate value to our shareholders while setting the stage for additional future growth.”

Following announcement of its Q3 results a few day ago, shares in the company increased by 2.96% to $35.87 per share, and as of today are currently trading at $37.58 giving the Amaya Gaming a market capitalization of $4.91 billion.

Q4 Results To Be Even Stronger

Looking ahead, an Amaya Gaming statement said the company expects its results to be even better in the traditionally busier fourth quarter, which should subsequently drive its full-year revenues to “the high end of the range” between $669 million and $715 million, and adjusted EBITDA up to between $265 million and $285 million.

Some Key Details

In a recent earnings call by Amaya, a number of interesting details were released about the latest quarter, including the following statistics:

– Mobile continues to drive growth at PokerStars, with over 50% of new registrations in Q3 coming via mobile, compared to 40% in Q3 2013.

– More than 50% of PokerStars active customers play the sites “Spin and Go’s” regularly, while the rollout of casino type games on Full Tilt Poker has also been positive with over 30% of “eligible poker players” playing a casino game during Q3.

– PokerStars is continuing to develop a proprietary sports betting product which together with its other casino products expected to be launched in 2015, should make the “addressable market for casino and sportsbook” around 45%-60% of the company’s poker market, according to CEO David Baazov.

Sports And Casinos The Way Forward

Up until its purchase by Amaya Gaming, PokerStars had focused solely on the online poker market estimated to be worth around $4 billion each year. The plan to extend its offering to include casino games will give the site access to a market worth an additional $25 billion a year, while a new sportsbook would facilitate access to another $17 billion market. As David Baazov explained back in August:

“The focus is to grow the sector. The exciting part of this company is that it comes with 86 million customers. Not 86 million gamblers specifically; 86 million customers.”

As a result, Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov said the company will continue to “invest heavily” in developing a proprietary sports betting platform, which it can then attach to its poker brands PokerStars and Full Tilt.

A Benefit To PokerStars Customers

A number of PokerStars regular players have stated their opposition to sports and casino gambling options being added to the site, a move which they see as diluting the poker playing ecosystem and drawing the “fish” away from the virtual tables. Nevertheless, Amaya Gaming has insisted that its sports betting and casino products will help improve the health of online poker by driving traffic up, whilst the loyalty program it intends to offer will allow players to earn loyalty points across a single platform.

Finally, Amaya said it will further extend its operation into more regulated markets across the Americas, Europe, and Asia in the future, with Baazov stating:

“We believe there are important benefits from regulating online gaming operations [including] protecting consumer funds, ensuring game integrity, combating collusion fraud and money laundering, and ensuring responsible gaming processes are in place.”