Playtech plc (LON: PTEC), a leading technology provider, published its financial results for the year 2020, showing the impact of COVID-19 on the sports and gambling business, whilst aggressive international expansion increased expenses.
The revenue of the company for the year came in at €1.07 billion, 25 percent lower than the previous year, with sports events closed for months only to resume slowly behind closed doors, heavily impacting betting activities.
However, the numbers did not deviate from the company’s earlier projection of its 2020 income. Playtech’s adjusted EBITDA, including its business from trading technology division Finalto, remained at €310 million, which was higher than the projected €300 million.
Most of Playtech’s 2020 business was driven by the Finalto, previously known as TradeTech, which ended 2020 with a revenue of €121.9 million, 80 percent higher than the previous year. The adjusted EBITDA of this division skyrocketed 623 percent to €56.4 million.
As Finance Magnates reported earlier, Playtech is now in talks to sell Finalto and is considering an initial bid between $200 million to $250 million.
Aggressive International Expansion
The potential sale of Finalto has pushed the group company to focus on its core gambling business. Playtech is now aggressively expanding the international footprint of its B2B gambling business, especially in the United States and Latin America. However, these expansions heavily increased the expanse of the London-listed company.
In its London Stock Exchange filing, Playtech revealed that it started 2021 on a positive note and is expecting a sharp growth in its B2B and B2C online businesses.
“The attitude and skill of our people and the strength and diversification of our technology-led business model has enabled us to deliver a robust financial performance in spite of the challenging backdrop,” Playtech CEO, Mor Weizer, said in a statement. “Playtech also made significant strategic and operational progress by adding new brands, expanding existing relationships and entering new markets.”
“The significant strategic and operational progress we achieved in 2020 has placed us in a strong position to capture the exciting market opportunities ahead.”
