Snaitech online growth offsets Q1 retail dip
Online revenues increase by 35% to €19.7m as the Italian operator’s core retail business is impacted by a tax increase on gaming machines
Italian betting operator Snaitech reported a strong period of online growth in Q1 as total online revenues jumped 35% to €19.7m.
Online sports betting wagers increased by 17.7% to €126m while online gaming turnover rose by 17.3% to €335m.
Snaitech CEO Fabio Schiavolin pledged to focus the operator’s future efforts on its flourishing online sector as overall Q1 revenue dipped by 1.7% to €223.5m from €227.4m after a tax increase on gaming machines negatively impacted Snaitech’s core retail business.
Overall earnings shot up 34% to €38.1m, driven by a combination of favourable sports betting results and the strong online performance.
The Italian government has announced plans for a 35% reduction in the number of AWP machines throughout the country this year which is likely to provide another blow to Snaitech’s retail arm. The operator scrapped 9,500 of them of in the first quarter of 2018.
Snaitech was acquired by Playtech for €846m in April when the tech giant’s CEO Mor Weizer told EGR he wanted to introduce a William Hill Online-style single wallet experience to inspire an online turnaround in the business.
Weizer said at the time: “We want a single point of view and a single point of reference for the customer, so no longer six wallets, but one wallet, connected to the same infrastructure where our data analysis software can harness our marketing and CRM tools that have worked so well with similar businesses like William Hill and Ladbrokes Coral.”
Playtech shareholders have clashed over a pay dispute for Weizer this month with the long-standing chief executive set to receive an annual pay increase of 78% despite the firm issuing a profit warning last year.