Amaya share price down 33%
Following a review of its financial performance, PokerStars' parent company loses almost a third of its share value.
The Canadian company behind poker brands PokerStars and Full Tilt, this week released their third quarter financial results which resulted in a drop in share value.
The figures, 14% lower than predicted, impacted on the share price with the value dipping by around 33% by the end of trading Tuesday, just days after announcing major changes to their VIP program.
Shares are valued at just short of $20 CAD, the lowest in a year, with CEO David Baazov blaming the strength of the US Dollar against the Euro, the delayed sportsbook launch and their withdrawal from the markets in both Portugal and Greece:
"The general strengthening of the US dollar relative to certain foreign currencies, primarily the Euro, has resulted in an approximate 19 per cent decline in the purchasing power of our customer base and has had a significant negative impact on our revenues, higher than we previously anticipated. Other factors negatively impacting our previously anticipated revenues included a recent strategic decision to delay the rollout of significant aspects of our new online sportsbook offering across geographies while we enhance the consumer product experience and complete the product offering, as well as the temporary cessation of our operations in Portugal and Greece.
71% of the poker market
Without the impact of these contributing factors, revenues would actually have grown around 12% compared to the same period last year and, according to Amaya, PokerStars and Full Tilt enjoy a combined 71% of the online poker market.
The Rational group, headed by recently appointed CEO Rafi Ashkenazi, operate Amaya's poker brands and report that PokerStars have a 68% share of the customer base and Full Tilt 3%.
Amaya also announced a delay to the launch of “significant aspects” of their sportsbook in order to “enhance the consumer product experience and complete the product offering".
Having recently acquired the domain for BetStars.com, sportsbooks have been live on the PokerStars site in certain countries for some months now, while the group are predicting a full scale, dedicated roll out in the New Year.
