Online poker and casino company The Stars Group Inc, which runs online poker giant PokerStars, saw its revenue grow 16.1% for the three months to 31 December 2017 and 13.6% for the full year on the back of major growth in its online casino and sportsbook segments.
Announcing its financial results overnight, The Stars Group revealed that revenue reached US$360.2 million in 4Q17, pushing annual revenue to US$1.31 billion, while net earnings soared by 91.3% for the full year to US$259.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA fell by 0.4% for the quarter to US$147.0 million but grew 14.5% to US$600.3 million annually.
The gains were made primarily through The Stars Group’s relatively new online casino and sportsbook, where combined revenues for 4Q17 were US$112.5 million, up 40.3% year-over-year, and US$384.0 million for the year, an increase of 45.4%. The company attributed the segment growth to a combination of geographic expansion and product improvements.
Online poker revenues for the quarter were US$234.4 million, an increase of 7.9% on the prior period, and US$877.3 million annually, up 3.7% year-over-year. The Stars Group said it saw a positive impact from its strategy of focusing on recreational players and the introduction of Stars Rewards, which helped counter regulatory headwinds including the cessation of operations in Australia and Colombia.
“2017 marked our evolution and transformation into The Stars Group,” said CEO Rafi Ashkenazi. “We maintained our global dominance in online poker, with the business experiencing year-over-year growth in that vertical. Our online casino has already become one of the largest in the world since its launch in 2014 and our emerging online sportsbook not only recorded meaningful growth in turnover and revenues, but started to become a secondary customer acquisition channel.
“During the year, we strengthened our core senior management team, delivered another year of record revenues, significantly deleveraged and continued to strengthen our balance sheet, all while investing in marketing, growth initiatives and technology infrastructure to support the long-term growth of our business.
“In 2018 we are continuing to execute on our growth initiatives, including through geographic expansion, inorganic growth and improving our focus on and understanding of our customers, and we are beginning to realize our goal of becoming the world’s favorite iGaming destination.”
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