Amaya Q2 EBITDA on track to reach £72m

PokerStars and Full Tilt are on track to generate revenues of up to CA$326m (£161m) in the second quarter of the year, parent company Amaya Gaming said in its latest trading update.

Amaya expects adjusted EBITDA of up to $146m (£72m) for the period, net of $10m (£4.9m) in VAT and recently introduced gaming taxes including the Point of Consumption tax in the UK.

The gaming giant said the figures related “primarily” to its B2C online gaming brands PokerStars and Full Tilt and excluded contributions from its B2B operations which were recently divested.

Amaya said the Q2 revenues represented year-on-year growth in its core poker and recently launched casino vertical, which accounted for 12% of total revenues (£19m) during the period and double the amount generated in Q1.

PokerStars and Full Tilt saw registered players hit 95 million during the second quarter, an increase of 1.9 million compared with Q1.

In Q1 Amaya posted revenues of $341m (£168m) which would mean revenues for the first six months of the year are expected to be $667m (£329m).

Last year Amaya reported PokerStars and Full Tilt generated H1 revenues of US$567.9m (CA$704m), however, which would suggest a 5% year-on-year drop in H1 revenues on a constant currency basis.

The operator said it planned to announce a full set of detailed H1 results on 13 August.

Amaya’s revenue projections are lower than those of Eilers Research, which issued a report last week predicting a tough Q2 for the operator, although EBITDA numbers were similar

Amaya also confirmed it planned to reduce its debts through the repayment of US$575m (£368m) of an $800m (£512m) loan linked to its $4.9bn acquisition of the Rational Group.

The repayment will be funded through a $400m (£256m) incremental first lien term loan and $195m (£125m) in cash including proceeds from the sale of Chartwell and Cryptologic to NYX Gaming.