SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Issuing a corporate filing, the governance of FTSE250 Playtech Plc has updated investors on its Italian market contingencies countering the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Stating that ‘Italy faces its darkest hours’, on Sunday night (8 March) Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree that enforced severe restrictions on the movement of 16 million people within the regions of Lombardy and 15 other provinces.
Respecting the Italian government’s Decree, Playtech has moved to close down market leading subsidiary Snaitech’s entire retail portfolio consisting of betting shops, arcades and bingos until 3 April 2020.
Seeking to revitalise its B2C presence, in April 2018 Playtech sanctioned its biggest M&A deal to date by acquiring Snaitech for €850 million.
Operating one of Italy’s largest retail networks, Snaitech maintains a portfolio of 2,150 gaming points of which the company states approximately 1,600 feature a ‘direct gaming concessions’.
Publishing its full-year 2019 results, Playtech marked Snaitech as its ‘standout performer’ recording a 62% increase in revenues to €830 million (FY2018: €511m) and contributing an EBITDA result of €162 million (FY2018: €93m).
Yesterday, trading on Playtech’s FTSE stock saw the technology group’s share price close at a year low 213p (market high 224p). Closing its statement, Playtech governance details that it is monitoring Italian COVID-19 developments closely and will update investors as appropriate.
