Stars Group revises guidance & accounting to reflect its enlarged identity

Toronto TSX-listed The Stars Group Inc has published its unaudited Q2 2018 results, and further revises its full-year corporate guidance, to reflect its new business entity having undertaken a series of transformative acquisitions.

Updating the market, the Stars Group reports consolidated group revenues of $410 million up 29% on corresponding Q2 2017’s $305 million as the company reports growth across its core verticals of Poker, Casino and Sportsbook.

Closing a busy Q2 period in which Stars Group governance completed its acquisition of CrownBet and William Hill Australia assets, the Toronto enterprise records an adjusted EBITDA of $168 million (Q2 2017: $146 million).

However, the Australian transactions undertaken during Q2 2017 trading sees the Stars Group declare an operating profit of $1 million, with the online gambling group accruing net-losses of $155 million.

In its update, the Stars Group details that it has restructured its corporate reporting to reflect the group’s future enlarged capacity, as the company moves to incorporate the assets of Sky Betting and Gaming (deal completed July 2018).

In light of its pending enlargement, the Stars Group governance has revised its 2018 full-year guidance reflecting ‘the contributions of its Australia acquisitions and Sky Betting and Gaming assets’, and further accounting for  corporate adjustments incurred through its new long-term debt corporate structure.

Updating the investors, the Stars Group anticipates FY 2018 group adjusted EBITDA of between $755 and $810 million, combined with targeted FY-2018 net earnings of between $485 and $545 million, as compared its previous guidance of  $487-512 million.

Rafi Ashkenazi,  Chief Executive of the Stars Group Inc commented on the update;

“The continued emergence of our sports betting and casino offerings and the addition of our 2018 acquisitions have transformed our business and greatly enhanced the foundation and diversity of our consolidated revenue base, which will now be nearly equally split among verticals and roughly 75% locally regulated or taxed,”

“We are now focused on the next stage of our transformation—integration,” concluded Mr. Ashkenazi. “While this will be a phased and measured process, we expect that it will prepare us to not only be a leader within the world’s largest regulated markets but to also leverage the strength of our combined platform to take advantage of new opportunities and markets.”