The Stars Group confirms job losses in Malta

The Stars Group has confirmed it will make redundancies in Malta just days after announcing job losses in the Isle of Man.

While the owner of Poker Stars has not discussed numbers, it has been reported that around 50 redundancies have already been made. It is believed the operator’s Malta hub employed 300 people at its peak.

The Stars Group blamed an evolving industry for its decision to reduce numbers, in a similar statement to that released following the Isle of Man announcement just last week.

However, it added, it would maintain a presence in Malta.

“Given rapid changes in the industry, we are constantly reviewing our cost base, and have decided to review some potential changes to certain locations to better align our costs with our global growth strategy,” a Stars Group spokesperson said.

“We believe our proposals will help to position us to deliver our mid-term growth targets and long-term sustainable growth. Malta will remain an important hub for the business.”

The Stars Group first opened its Malta office in 2012, housing workers from departments including business development, marketing, human resources and IT.

The announcement comes just months after The Stars Group opened a new office in Bulgaria.

The Stars Group saw an 11.7% decrease in international poker revenue during the second quarter of 2019. The group said late last year that it would be impacted by regulatory changes in Switzerland and Russia, while its profitability has been affected by the acquisitions of Sky Betting & Gaming in the UK and BetEasy in Australia.

In announcing its Q2 2019 results, the operator said: “Poker revenue for the quarter decreased year-over-year primarily as a result of adverse foreign exchange fluctuations and continued disruptions and regulatory headwinds in certain markets, including reduced deposits by customers as a result of local restrictions on some methods of payment processing and on certain methods of downloading The Stars Group’s poker applications, which was partially offset by continued organic growth in most other markets.”