Playtech has issued a trading update on its full year performance for 2020.
Despite difficulties presented by the pandemic, Playtech has stated that it ‘made significant strategic and operational progress’.
The FTSE250 technology group anticipates its EBITDA to be ‘at least €300 million’ for the year driven by its Finalto trading platform in the first half and its Core B2B and Italian bookmaker Snaitech in H2.
Playtech said that online Casino (including Live), Bingo and Poker sections of its Core B2B division performed very well throughout 2020. However Sports Betting, which is heavily weighted towards retail, was impacted by retail closures and the lack of sporting events at various points during the year.
2020 saw the company enter the US wagering market after securing new technology agreements with bet365 and Entain in New Jersey.
In addition, Playtech has continued to expand its LatAm market presence through the strong growth of its partnership with Mexican market leader Caliente and new launches in Colombia with Wplay and signing new structured agreements in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama.
2020 also saw Playtech continue to streamline its technology assets as the company refocused its business on real money gambling, resulting in the $10 million sale of its former YoYo Games social gaming unit.
The company added a new distributor in Asia in 2020, to add more flexibility in the region going forward after its Asian business was impacted in 2020 by government restrictions in response to the pandemic as well as restrictions on payment processing.
Sustainable Success Playtech’s new sustainable business strategy intended to consolidate Playtech’s position as a global leader in safer products, data analytics and player engagement solutions was also launched.
The company has pledged to support its licensees and partners to ensure that pre-COVID Safer Gambling commitments and industry codes of conduct to further safeguard consumers during the crisis are met and are effective.
Closing its statement, Playtech governance disclosed that the FTSE firm continues to be in discussions regarding the possible sale of its Financials division Finalto.
A statement read: “Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges and the macroeconomic outlook remains highly uncertain, Playtech remains well placed to make further strategic and operational progress in 2021.”
