al gaming technology provider The Stars Group has announced that its group revenues increased by 21% year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017.

Updating its shareholders for the third time this year, the company posted group revenues of $329m during the three months ending 30 September, beating the previous Q3 2016 total of $270m.

Real-money online poker revenues for the quarter were $221.4m, or an increase of approximately 12.5% year-over-year, while real-money online casino and sportsbook combined revenues for the quarter amounted to $95.2m, or an increase of approximately 48.3% year-over-year.

Adjusted earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation jumped 26.5% from $123.1m in the third quarter of 2016 to $155.7m during the same period of 2017.

Total long-term debt outstanding at the end of the quarter was $2.45bn, with the company choosing to repay a $75m second term loan using cash on its balance sheet.

In July, The Stars Group launched the Stars Rewards program, which is a loyalty program focused on customer engagement, retention and experience. During the five months following its launch, over 85% of active customers have chosen to participate with the company awarding over $45m worth of loyalty related gifts.

Rafi Ashkenazi, Chief Executive Officer of The Stars Group hailed the impact of the new reward programme, saying: “Our operations and management continued to perform in the third quarter, delivering strong year-over-year growth bolstered by the launch of Stars Rewards.

“Not only did we see improvement in our poker business, but our casino continues to grow with a significant active player base and our online sportsbook continues to see meaningful growth in turnover. To build upon these achievements, we plan to focus on reinvesting in our core products and increasing our investment in marketing for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018 while continuing to explore further growth opportunities.”