Amaya Gaming sees casino revenue double, poker struggle, debt juggle

Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming says it’s on track to realize second quarter earnings projections after online casino revenue doubled from the previous quarter.

Amaya, which operates both the PokerStars and Full Tilt online gambling brands, says it expects to post revenue of between C$314 and C$318m in the three months ending June 30, with earnings coming in around C$135 and C$139m. Final Q2 numbers will be revealed on Aug. 13, but Amaya says it’s sticking with its previously issued full-year revenue guidance of between C$1.45b and C$1.56b.

Amaya said its new online casino operations accounted for around 12% of the company’s overall Q2 revenue, roughly twice the vertical’s contribution during Q1. Amaya said contributions from its fledgling sports betting division were “negligible” due to its limited rollout in select markets during the quarter.

Amaya said its core online poker operations grew on a year-by-year basis, but the combination of its reported Q1 results with its Q2 projections suggest that H1 poker revenue was either flat or actually contracted slightly on a constant-currency basis, which would jibe with global trends in online poker activity. Regardless, Amaya said Stars and Tilt’s combined real-money and free-play customers grew by 1.9m from Q1 to 95m.