AGM Trading Statement

RNS Number : 0339Z

Playtech PLC

15 May 2019

 

Playtech plc

('Playtech' or 'the Company')

AGM Trading Statement

Full-year guidance reaffirmed

Playtech (LSE: PTEC) is today hosting its Annual General Meeting at which the Company will make the following statement:

"Playtech has made significant progress on executing its strategy and strengthening its corporate governance since the last AGM.  

"To meet the changing demands of our dynamic industry, the Board has evolved significantly over the course of the last year with Susan Ball, John Krumins, Anna Massion and Ian Penrose joining Playtech as Non-Executive Directors.

"With these appointments now in place, the Board, led by Alan Jackson, will now turn its attention to overseeing a full, thorough succession planning process to identify a new Chairman, allowing for a period of stability and integration.

"From an operational perspective, revenues from Regulated B2B Gaming have continued to show similar trends reported at the time of the full-year results in February. We are pleased to have signed a new long-term agreement with GVC to provide Playtech's leading services and products to all GVC brands in existing and new markets, which was announced shortly after full-year results.

"In line with previous announcements, revenues from Non-regulated B2B Gaming are materially lower than in the same period last year due to our continuing shift to regulated markets as well as the drop in revenues in Asia. The backdrop in Asia remains highly competitive.

"In Playtech's B2C Gaming division, whilst the Italian legislative changes have, as expected, impacted Snaitech, the underlying operational performance of the business has been very strong. As announced in February, the Sun Bingo contract has been extended for up to 15 years with no further minimum guarantees from mid-2021. We continue to expect the contract to be profitable in 2019.

"TradeTech's underlying KPIs have been encouraging during the start of 2019. However, trading revenue has been impacted by most major instruments trading within extremely tight ranges and market volatility being well below historical averages.

"Playtech continues to make significant balance sheet progress, successfully raising a €350m 7-year bond at 4.25% in March 2019, the proceeds of which will be used to repay the convertible bond which is due to mature in November 2019 as well as for general corporate purposes.

"The €40m share buyback programme, launched in February, has been successfully completed. This, combined with our rebased dividend, has resulted in a more balanced approach to shareholder distributions.

"Finally, management is confident that actions taken in 2018 and in 2019 to date have delivered a strong platform for further strategic and operational progress in 2019 and beyond. Management reiterates its previous guidance for 2019 Adjusted EBITDA in the range of €390 million to €415 million."

- Ends -

For further information please contact:

Playtech plc Chris McGinnis, Director of Investor Relations and Strategic Analysis James Newman, Director of Corporate Affairs	[phone]
Headland (PR adviser to Playtech) Stephen Malthouse, Chloe Francklin	[phone]

About Playtech

Founded in 1999 and premium listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, Playtech is a market leader in the gambling and financial trading industries.

Playtech is the gambling industry's leading technology company delivering business intelligence driven gambling software, services, content and platform technology across the industry's most popular product verticals, including, casino, live casino, sports betting, virtual sports, bingo and poker. It is the pioneer of omni-channel gambling technology through its integrated platform technology, Playtech ONE. Playtech ONE delivers data driven marketing expertise, single wallet functionality, CRM and responsible gambling solutions across one single platform across product verticals and across retail and online.

Playtech partners with and invests in the leading brands in regulated and newly regulated markets to deliver its data driven gambling technology across the retail and online value chain. Playtech provides its technology on a B2B basis to the industry's leading retail and online operators, land-based casino groups and government sponsored entities such as lotteries. As of June 2018, through the acquisition of Snaitech, Playtech directly owns and operates the leading sports betting and gaming brand in online and retail in Italy, Snai. Snaitech operates a B2B2C model as a service provider to franchisees in the retail market while operating the leading brand, Snai directly online as a B2C business.

Playtech's Financials Division, named TradeTech Group, is a technology leader in the CFD and financial trading industry and operates both on a B2B and B2C basis.

Playtech has in total c.5,800 employees across 17 countries and is headquartered in the Isle of Man.

 

END

 

 

TSTSFSFALFUSEEI