PokerStars Revenue Up 22% to $329M in Q3 2017

The Stars Group Inc, parent company of PokerStars, has released its latest financial results revealing a revenue spike of 21.7% to 329.4 million for Q3 of 2017, compared to the same three-month period last year.
Furthermore, the company managed to record its impressive growth without noting any increase in the number of its poker players during the quarter, with the Stars Group asserting that the feat had been accomplished due to 85% of its existing customers taking full advantage of the site’s new ‘Stars Reward’ loyalty program.
Overall, online poker revenue was higher by 12.5% to $221.4 million in Q3, with the vertical currently accounting for around 67.2% of the company’s total business. Greater engagement by its poker customers also led to a surge in the popularity of its casino and sports betting products, whose combined revenues jumped by 48.3% to $95.2 million year-on-year.
For the first nine months of 2017, the Stars Group has now returned an EBITDA of $453 million, and is now predicting this figure to rise to between $590m and $610m for the whole of the year, with revenues expected to fall in the $1.285bn and $1.315bn range. Commenting upon the company’s performance and expectations going forward, CEO Rafi Ashkenazi, explained:
“Not only did we see improvement in our poker business, but our casino continues to grow with a significant active player base and our online sportsbook continues to see meaningful growth in turnover. To build upon these achievements, we plan to focus on reinvesting in our core products and increasing our investment in marketing for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018 while continuing to explore further growth opportunities.”
One of those growth opportunities will involves boosting the number of live betting markets it offers via its sportsbook by improving its product, as well as through potential acquisitions. Meanwhile, another opportunity for the company includes offering its products in Pennsylvania when the state eventually launches its online gambling market. The potential rewards from Pennsylvania are significant, too, as the state has a population twice that of New Jersey, where PokerStars already enjoys a strong presence.