Mor Or Less? Bafflement, The Americas and Italy Drives Playtech’s H1

Despite a big tax payment, the Americas drove a respectable 8.5 percent, year-on-year, growth in Group Revenue to €859.6 million in H1 for Playtech (£737.11m), the world’s biggest gambling software supplier.

B2B operations covered almost 40 percent of total half-year revenue, with Playtech deals in Mexico and Brazil driving regional LatAm growth of nearly 43 percent, totalling €99.7 million (£85.49m).

Regulated markets in Europe, ex-UK, realised more modest growth of 4.8 percent in H1 of €96.6 million (£82.83m), while Isle of Man-headquartered Playtech saw its British market decline 1.6 percent to €62.9 million (£53.93m).

The UK fall was attributed to “the continued impact of the uncertain regulatory climate,” said Playtech in a company statement.

Revenue from Playtech’s “unregulated” B2B markets, both inside and ex-Asia, meanwhile, fell by some 13.5 percent — and totalled €72 million (£61.74m).

The company’s B2C operations accounted for over 60 percent of Group Revenue in the half, ending June 30, €532.1 million (£456.27m), most of it–€488.4 million (£418.8m)–coming from Playtech’s retail and iGaming Italian vertical, Snaitech, which saw 9.5 percent, year-on-year, growth.

Decline

Playtech reported EBITDA of €207.3 million in the half, a comparative increase of 19.2 percent (£177.76m).

But it declared a post-tax profit of just €3.1 million (£2.65m), compared to €71.4 million (£61.22m) of last year’s H1.

The decline was due to “an overall reduction in the fair value of the derivative financial assets recognised in the income statement. And the ‘derecognition’ of brought-forward deferred tax assets,” said the company.

Obfuscation and bafflement aside; make of this what you will.

“In the first half of 2023, we delivered our highest ever Adjusted EBITDA demonstrating the benefits of the continued strategic and operational progress made in recent years,” affirmed Playtech CEO Mor Weizer.

“Our success in the period was driven by our diversified portfolio, spanning B2B and B2C, in some of the fastest-growing regulated markets around the world.

“Having laid the groundwork in the US, we are growing our offering across multiple states and are confident in our future prospects.

“Additionally, we further cemented our leadership in LatAm with Caliente in Mexico and Galera.bet in Brazil.

“Snaitech in Italy enjoyed another strong period, with the management team continuing to leverage their retail presence to grow the online business.”