Playtech EBITDA tops €100m in first three months of year

Gambling software development company Playtech rallied on Thursday as it said adjusted EBITDA for the first three months of the year topped €100m and pointed to progress in takeover talks with investor group TTB.

The strong performance was driven by both the B2B and B2C businesses, Playtech said. Meanwhile, Italian business Snaitech has seen the same trends continue from the second half of last year, with an "excellent" start to the year driven by the online business, retail recovery and favourable sports results.

The B2B performance has been driven by very strong momentum from the Americas, in particular Caliplay in Mexico, and a strong performance across the wider B2B operations, including Live Casino.

Playtech said the Live Casino business has also signed several new licensees and launched several new games. In North America, the group has signed multiple new customers in the US and launched several new partnerships in Canada following the opening of the Ontario market.

"The excellent start to the year gives the board great confidence in the prospects for FY 2022," the company said.

"As would be expected, the board remains cautious and focussed given that we are at an early stage in the year, combined with the uncertain macro backdrop due to the pandemic and the war in the Ukraine.

"The board is also conscious there cannot be any certainty that the strength across the business so far will be repeated throughout the remainder of the year. That said, the company's performance to date and current trends in the business positions the company very well and the board would hope to be able to update the market further as we progress through the year."

Playtech also said there had been "some positive progress" in discussions with the TTB investor group regarding its potential takeover offer.

At 0830 BST, the shares were up 5.7% at 544.50p.