Playtech forecasts “strategic progress” after strong 2017
Playtech has reported year-on-year growth across a number of key financials for 2017, which it said sets the company up for “strategic progress” this year.
Revenue in the 12 months through to December 31, 2017, amounted to €807.1m ($992.1m), up 14% on €708.6m in the previous year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at €322.1m, which represents an improvement of 7% on 2017.
Elsewhere, adjusted net profit increased by 14% year-on-year to €231.4m, while reported net profit also jumped 28% to €248.1m.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the year amounted to 66.8 euro cents, up 14% on last year, while total dividend per share was up 10% to 36 euro cents.
Confirmation of the results comes after Playtech in November warned it could fall short of expectations for the year due to the impact of certain Asian markets and its contract with Sun Bingo.
Playtech chairman Alan Jackson said: “Playtech delivered double digit revenue growth in 2017 despite headwinds in both regulated and unregulated operations.
“Playtech’s performance continues to be converted into strong cash generation enabling a 10% increase to the full year dividend
“Playtech’s strategy to improve the quality of earnings for the group, organically and through M&A, was evident in the increase in regulated revenue to 54%.
“The health of the core business coupled with the strength of the balance sheet means Playtech is strategically well placed to execute on M&A that will continue to drive this growth and further diversify Playtech’s revenue base.
“Management is confident 2017 has delivered a strong platform for strategic progress in 2018 through execution of organic opportunities and M&A.”
Meanwhile, Playtech has agreed a long-term casino deal with Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG).
Under the agreement, Playtech will supply its Neon casino management system to OEG’s worldwide land-based casino operations
The solution will connect over 100 casinos in five countries and cover around 3,500 electronic gaming machines and more than 150 gaming tables.
OEG already operates the Playtech Neon solution in many of its venues and the new arrangement will build on this existing relationship.
Oleg Jurtšenko, chief information officer at OEG, said: “We are looking forward to taking full advantage of Neon by operating the system across all of our international operations.
“We evaluated all the leading systems and selected Playtech because of their understanding of our requirements, modern architecture and willingness to adapt Neon to our needs.”
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