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UK – Record year for Playtech through organic growth and acquisitions

By - 27 February 2015

Playtech has reported record revenues for 2014 with a 24 per cent increase in revenue to US$519m.

Of the increase, 13 per cent was derived organically from existing business, including strong growth in mobile casino, sport and Asia, seven per cent from new business and four per cent coming from acquisitions, including PokerStrategy, Aristocrat Lotteries and Eurolive and others.

Casino remains the biggest revenue line item and continues to be a key driver for growth, increasing by 29 per cent to €244.2m, complemented by growth in mobile casino, which contributed six per cent to overall growth, with Live contributing one per cent and premium content an additional one per cent. It is also noticeable that mobile casino growth accelerated as increasing numbers of games were deployed, resulting in an impressive increase of 84 per cent over 2013, reflecting 10 per cent of overall casino revenue.

Reported bingo revenue was €17.5m down five on the year, impacted by certain larger licensees opting to take further product verticals leading to a change in royalty structure, partially mitigated by an appreciation of sterling against the euro. The bingo product vertical also contributed revenues of €11.3 million relating to casino side games in 2014. Mobile bingo, while still in its infancy, continues to grow and accounted for 14 per cent of bingo revenue. Land-based revenue was €16.6man increase of 35 per cent principally driven by acquisitions. Poker also contributes additional revenues of €4.4m from casino side games embedded as part of the poker.

Over 2014, mobile casino grew by 84 per cent to €23.6m becoming 10 the largest mobile segment. Sport, which was the first product vertical to adopt a mobile format, was €22.2m, a 51 per cent improvement benefitting from new business and the football World Cup. While mobile bingo revenue was 21 per cent.

Alan Jackson, Chairman, said: “The Group continues to be highly cash generative, driving progress through strong organic growth, successful acquisitions, strategic partnerships and joint ventures, as demonstrated throughout this year. Playtech’s impressive results have been achieved through the continued growth of its flagship casino product; PTTS services division; strong growth in sport as well as expansion of our mobile and land-based offerings. It is also pleasing to see a progressive improvement in the proportion of revenues generated from regulated markets. The industry is in the midst of a transition towards regulation and the Group is ideally placed to continue taking advantage of this trend.”

Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Playtech continued to improve future regulated markets revenue, starting the year by signing Holland Casino in preparation for regulation of the Dutch market. In addition, the Group completed the migration of Ladbrokes onto its platform, whilst also expanding Ladbrokes in to Spain, Belgium and Denmark. Bet365 extended its activities with Playtech in Italy; the Group launched Skybet with casino and Live; and also provided Live to RAY. Additionally, Playtech signed a turnkey solution agreement with Trinity Mirror and significant structured agreements with Caliente and RCS Media for the Mexican and Italian markets respectively.

“Regulated, regulating and soon-to-be regulated markets continue to present significant opportunities for revenue growth and Playtech is ideally positioned to benefit from global market trends and specifically developments in Europe, Africa and Asia,” he added. “The Board continues to believe that its strategic commitment to, and proven track record in, regulated markets makes Playtech the natural choice for operators in regulated and soon-to-be regulated markets.”

Mr. Weizer added: “Our unique omni-channel solution, combined with our leading sport offering, is attracting much attention from new and existing operators who are keen to adopt this market-leading technology. It will enable them to extend their operations beyond retail to online, as markets regulate across different continents; significantly enhancing the service they provide customers by enhancing the customer journey and meeting changing regulatory demands. While best of breed products are important ingredients of this solution, we now take a holistic view that extends beyond channels, platforms or products focusing on delivering an offering that will create the ultimate player journey. As part of this development, Playtech rolled out its landmark BIT Solution, a package of cutting-edge data-driven performance-enhancing tools, which combine and boost the power of the IMS platform. This flexible tool set consists of: Playtech Optimiser; Game Adviser; Playtech Analytics; BI Reporting and Smart Installer. It enables new levels of insight and personalisation of the entire player lifecycle, from pre-acquisition through to all player activities. Consequently, operators now have greater player intelligence and increased control over their activities.”

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