Jackpot for Playtech shares on Caliplay deal, earnings upgrade
Shares in Playtech rose sharply on Monday after the UK gambling technology maker said it had struck a revised deal with Mexican gambling operator Caliente Interactive over their Caliplay joint venture and said annual adjusted earnings would be slightly ahead of expectations, driven by its business-to-business (B2B) division.
FTSE 250
20,404.55
17:14 30/12/24
FTSE 350
4,479.42
17:14 30/12/24
FTSE All-Share
4,437.14
16:55 30/12/24
Playtech
710.00p
16:40 30/12/24
Travel & Leisure
9,164.32
17:14 30/12/24
The revised deal ends a dispute between the duo over unpaid fees. Caliplay has also resumed paying Playtech its software and services fee with more than €150m (80% of the total) already being paid.
Playtech also said it has entered into an agreement with Caliplay and will take a 30.8% equity stake in Cali Interactive, Caliplay's new holdoing company.
Under the terms of the deal, Playtech will have the right to appoint a director to Caliente's board and also entered a revised eight-year B2B software licence and services agreement.
Playtech on Monday said the B2B unit’s Americas region posted strong revenue growth in the six months to June 30, while overall cost control also contributed. Share in the firm were up 13% in London.
In its business-to-consumer business, Playtech’s Italian Snaitech unit continued to see underlying growth in wagers against a tough comparative while being negatively impacted by customer-friendly sporting results in Italy, particularly at the start of the year.
Playtech last month confirmed it was in talks with Flutter around the potential sale of Snaitech and on Monday said “discussions continue, although there can be no certainty that any transaction will ultimately be agreed, or as to its terms”.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com