Trading update from Amaya released
News on 20 Jan 2017
News on 20 Jan 2017
The Montreal-based Amaya online gambling group has issued a trading update covering FY 2016 and improving its forecast revenue and earnings numbers.
Highlights include:
* Revenues of $1.153-1.158 billion, up from previously predicted $1.137-1.157 billion;
* Adjusted EBITDA of $521-526 million (previous forecast $510 million);
* Net Earnings of $364-374 million (previous estimate $334-354 million)…an improvement on FY 2015 final figures of $290 million.
Chief executive Rafi Ashkenazi rather bullishly commented:
“We anticipate that 2016 will be a record year of revenues for Amaya. We saw better than expected fourth quarter results from our casino offering, operational excellence program and a successful re-launch in Portugal, all while continuing to take an efficient and measured approach to marketing our product offerings.
“We built positive momentum in 2016 that accelerated throughout the year and which we believe was largely the result of the positive impact of our strategy to improve the poker ecosystem for recreational players and leverage our global competitive advantage in online poker to acquire new customers, cross-sell existing and new customers into our online casino and sportsbook offerings, and maximise the lifetime value of all of our customers.
“We expect to continue this momentum and execute on our strategy in 2017 despite anticipated further headwinds, including continued declines in the value of our customers’ local currencies against the US dollar, which has been significant over the past two years, and the previously announced potential cessation of our real-money online poker offering in Australia.
“We anticipate that certain operational initiatives, including the introduction of a new cross-vertical customer loyalty program, the potential expansion into new markets, our continued focus on achieving product parity in our online casino and sportsbook, and our operational excellence program, will help to both drive our business forward and mitigate these and future headwinds.”
