Online gaming company The Stars Group has reported a 23% year-on-year increase in its revenues during the first quarter of 2018.
Issuing its first trading update of the year, the Toronto listed company reported group revenues of $393m, surpassing the $317m accrued during the same period of 2017.
Company net earnings increased by 13.1% year-on-year during Q1 2018, rising to $74.3m and driving a 9.1% increase in diluted net earnings during Q1 to $0.36 per share.
Higher revenue figures for the company were mirrored in both its adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net earnings which rose year-on-year by 15.9% or $175m and by 22.8% or $139m respectively.
In addition, net cash inflows from operating activities rose by 38.2% year-on-year from a Q1 2017 high of $95.5m to a record $132m during the same period of 2018.
Speaking about the results, Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group CEO said: “The Stars Group’s strong first quarter results continued our organic growth trajectory.”
Drilling down into individual business areas, real-money online casino and combined sports book was the big winner, with revenues rising by 55% year-over-year to a Q1 2018 figure of $134.5m.
The Stars Group core PokerStars offering also reported a revenue rise during the period, with real -money online poker revenues increasing by 12.4% year-over-year to $245.9m.
Ashkenazi welcomed the positive revenues, adding: “We are pleased with the performance of each of our verticals, poker, casino and sportsbook, which are benefiting not only from the continued success of Stars Rewards but also from our strategy of focusing on the customer and continued improvements to our product offerings.”
It has been a busy quarter for the company who have concluded two big acquisitions, firstly in February when it agreed a $117.7m deal to acquire a controlling interest in Australian sports betting operator CrownBet before following this up with a second monster deal, paying $4.7bn to acquire Sky Betting & Gaming last month.
Speaking about the potential direction of these new businesses, Ashkenazi added: “These acquisitions will help diversify our revenue base, increase our exposure to regulated markets, and transform our combined sportsbook into a second customer acquisition channel.
“These new additions will accelerate not only the organic growth we are seeing in our existing business but also our progress towards realizing our vision of becoming the world’s favourite iGaming destination.”
