Amaya to change title

Alongside its Q1-2017 results, Pokerstars parent group Amaya revealed that change is in the air in Montreal, with plans to change the Amaya brand name to “The Stars Group Inc.” and move to Toronto.

The changes are subject to shareholder approval, and are part chief executive Rafi Ashkenazi’s efforts to transform the online gambling company after a difficult period which has seen merger deals fall through and former CEO David Baazov step down to fight official accusations of insider trading in the acquisition deal on The Rational Group.

Ashkenazi has worked diligently to pay down debt, install a new management team and lessen the company’s exposure to the online poker business by diversifying into other gambling verticals.

Most recently the company appointed strategic planning ace and former William Hill executive Robin Chhabra to focus on mergers and acquisitions, which Ashkenazi has said could play a central role in the second half of 2017.

Amaya posted Q1-2017 results that included:

* The first increase in revenue from poker in three quarters: Poker made up 69 percent of company revenues, down from 75 percent in the same period last year as a result of diversification strategies;
* First quarter poker revenues came in at Cdn$218.7 million – up a modest 1.1 percent y-o-y;
* Online casino games and sports book accounted for 27.3 percent of revenue, up from 21 percent;
* EBITDA exceeding analyst expectations was up 18.5 percent year-over-year to Cdn$65.75 million;
* Active player numbers rose 5 percent year-on-year to about 2.7 million, with total registrations at 111 million;
* Net income rose to Cdn$65.8 million, or 33 cents per share in the first quarter, from Cdn$55.5 million, or 28 cents per share, last year;
* Excluding items, Amaya reported a profit of 56 cents per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of 52 cents;
* Revenue rose 10 percent to Cdn$317.3 million – analysts on average had expected Cdn$316.7 million;
* The company is addressing what it describes as “material weaknesses” in internal controls over financial reporting as of Dec. 31;

“We continued our momentum in the first quarter as we executed on our strategy and reinforced the foundation for sustainable and diversified revenue growth, including through the strengthening of our core management team and operations,” said Ashkenazi.

“Our company also continues to evolve through corporate initiatives to deliver the greatest value for our shareholders.”