SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Playtech has praised its company’s resilience in navigating COVID-19 realities, despite its B2B and B2C gambling divisions taking a ‘severe’ hit.
Issuing an update on its first-half performance and current trading, Playtech noted that adjusted EBITDA amounted to ‘more than €160 million’, which was largely driven by the company’s online division and TradeTech performance.
Mor Weizer, CEO, commented: “Thanks to the outstanding response from our people and the early actions taken to protect the business, Playtech has demonstrated outstanding operational resilience during this challenging period.
“In addition to navigating near-term headwinds, we’ve continued to focus on setting up the business for success in the long-term. During the period, we’ve worked hard to add new brands, expand relationships with our existing customers and entered the New Jersey market with our long-standing strategic partner bet365.
“It is pleasing to see the impacted parts of the business starting to demonstrate positive momentum and I am confident the actions we have taken will help us emerge stronger and cement our market-leading position.”
Playtech’s B2C gambling division bore the brunt of the COVID-19 disruptions, however, its Snaitech retail estate lost ‘significant revenue’ as a result of retail closures and the cancellation or postponement of sporting events
Its B2B sports business, which was heavily weighted towards retail closures in its main markets of the UK and Greece, was also ‘severely impacted’.
Playtech remained positive, however, claiming that the reopening of betting shops and the resumption of live sport is ‘leading revenues in B2B Sports to recover albeit not to pre-COVID-19 levels’.
