NEWS
15 May 2019
Sky Bet and BetEasy push Stars Group Q1 revenue to $580m
By Matthew Enderby

In its financial report, the operator highlighted the positive impact of the UK-facing Sky Bet and Australia-focussed BetEasy acquisitions.

In the UK market, Stars Group made $179m in revenue, 31% of overall group revenue.

Sports betting brought in $74m in the region, while gaming took $90m.

Stars Group finalised its $4.7bn purchase of Sky Betting & Gaming in July.

Australian revenue totalled at $62m, but saw a significant leap year-on-year, up 458%.

BetEasy was re-launched last year when Stars Group CrownBet merged with William Hill Australia.

The Stars Group’s international sector did not experience similarly positive results. Total revenue declined 10% to $340m.

Sports betting was the only vertical to avoid a drop in this market, rising 20% to $20m.

Poker revenue declined 13% to 214m, gaming fell 7.3% to $98m while other areas provided only $7.5m, down 39%.

Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group’s Chief Executive Officer said: “Our United Kingdom segment continues to exceed our expectations operationally with record levels of new depositing customers, and an acceleration of growth in QAUs, Stakes and gaming revenue, although this performance was masked in the reported results by a record low Betting Net Win Margin of 5%.

“As we look at the remainder of 2019, we see opportunities for improved revenue growth, with a deep pipeline of new products, content and offers, leveraging our talent and skills across segments.”

On 8 May, Stars Group announced its deal with Fox Sports to provide a national media and sports wagering partnership with the US broadcaster.

In addition to the agreement, running up to 25 years, Fox Corporation acquired 14 million newly issued shares in The Stars Group, representing 4.99%.