Acquisitions dent Amaya Gaming Q3 results

Montreal-based online gambling group Amaya Gaming released its Q3-2013 financials Friday, reporting impressive revenue increases to $40.2 million, up y-o-y by 120 percent, but nevertheless incurring an almost $3.5 million net loss, mainly as a consequence of its ambitious acquisition strategy.

In the nine months of 2013 to end September Amaya’s revenues have rocketed almost 200 percent year-on-year to reach $115.5 million.

Positive contributors to the company’s soaring revenues included a rise in subsidiary Cadillac Jack’s machine sales to Latin America following its acquisition by Amaya a year ago .

On the debit side of the ledger were third quarter expenses, which rose 148 percent – mainly on acquisitions and tax – to $40.3 million, bringing expenses for the year to end September to a steep $130.2 million – a rise of almost 180 percent.

EBITDA in the quarter reached $14.6 million.

Operational highlights of the quarter included:

* Cadillac Jack’s success in sealing a 10-year deal to supply gaming units to the Latin American market now and in the future.

* Content supply agreement with Caesars Interactive Entertainment for its New Jersey online gambling venture.

* Upcoming business in New Jersey following deals with Bwin.Party, Betfair and Golden Nugget.

* The successful $70 million sale of former Crypto subsidiary WagerLogic to Goldstar.

* The company’s transition from the TSX Venture exchange to the main Toronto exchange.

CEO David Baazov emphasised his company’s strong positioning to exploit developments in the US market, mentioning New Jersey in particular.

“Our technology, content and services are supporting the launch of multiple web and mobile gaming portals operated by gaming operators with strong brands in New Jersey, which officially launched real money online gaming this week,” he said.

“We believe we are currently delivering the most extensive offering of all gaming suppliers to operators in the market. Our Casino Gaming System is providing operators with access to our extensive library of proprietary casino games as well as high quality third party content, and we have officially launched our new Amaya Game Office gaming platform in North America as part of our partnership with CIE.”

“Our interactive revenues declined in Europe in the third quarter, primarily due to a shift in resources towards completing our preparations for entry into New Jersey, which carried strict timelines,” continued Baazov.

“However, we are currently addressing the backlog of platform launches and we therefore anticipate revenues to increase in Europe.”