Amaya Gaming, the parent company of PokerStars, posted solid gains for the 2017 first quarter Friday morning, while announcing that it intends to change its name.
Rafi Ashkenazi, chief executive officer, announced that Amaya would submit to shareholders a proposal to change its name to The Stars Group to better reflect the company’s current trajectory.
“Our company has experienced incredible growth and change over the past years. We have divested the entirely of our B2B businesses, and today we are a pure play consumer-facing operator with Pokerstars as our primary brand,” Ashkenazi said.
“We have decided to change the name of our corporation from Amaya to The Stars Group, Inc.,” he continued. “We intend to ask our shareholders to improve this name change at our upcoming annual meeting.”
Shareholders will also be asked to approve a relocation of Amaya’s head corporate office from Montreal to Toronto to better accommodate its incoming chief financial officer.
The proposed changes come on the heels of a strong quarter that delivered a 22 percent year-over-year jump in adjusted EBITDA and a 10 percent revenue increase.
“We continued our momentum in the first quarter as we execute on our strategy and reinforce the foundation for sustainable and diversified revenue growth, including through the strengthening of our core management team and operations,” Ashkenazi said. “Our company also continues to evolve through corporate initiatives to deliver the greatest value for our shareholders.”
Total revenues were up from $288 million in the prior year period to $317 million, slightly missing the consensus $319 million estimate. Revenues from poker, Amaya’s bread and butter, were flat when adjusted for foreign exchange rates, but its upstart online casino and sportsbook offerings generated $87 million – up 44 percent year-over-year.
Reflecting the company’s endeavors to diversify its revenue streams, online poker comprised 69 percent of total revenues, and casino and sportsbook made up 27 percent. By comparison, the first quarter of 2016 saw revenues of 75 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was up from $123 million to $151 million, net income grew from $85 million to $113 million and diluted earnings per share were up from $0.28 to $0.33.
Other highlights from the quarter include the company’s licensure and launch in the Czech Republic, making it the first international online gaming operator in the Central European country.
“We are proud to be the first international operator to receive a license in Czech Republic and we are currently operating both online poker and player-versus-player online casino games in that market,” said Daniel Sebag, chief financial officer.
On its balance sheet, Amaya held $2.53 billion in debt at the end of the first quarter at an average interest rate of 4.5 percent. A refinancing deal completed in March projects that lowered the average rate from 4.9 percent projects to save the company $15 million in annual interest payments.
The company also announced the appointment of Robin Chhabra as its new Chief Corporate Development Officer. Chabbra most recently served as an executive with William Hill.
