Playtech has announced its results for the first half of 2021, together with a trading update for July and August 2021.
The results were in line with expectations at the start of the year with online strength offsetting the impact of the longer than expected retail closures in Italy.
There was very strong performance from B2B online, particularly Caliente, as well as Snaitech's online business. The Americas is now the group's biggest growth driver with revenue growth of 106 per cent at constant currency versus H1 2020.
Valuation of the group's options embedded in Latin America agreements (Caliente, Wplay and others) results in significant unrealised gain of €299.9m.
Andrew Garrod, an analyst at Third Bridge, said: “Playtech has largely reinforced the optimistic message from its May and July trading updates, highlighting that progress is being made against its strategic objectives in the B2B segment.
“Substantial growth in the Americas has been bolstered by LatAm performance and while the US strategy appears to be gaining traction with licence applications pending and partnerships launched, execution remains to be seen. The UK still appears challenging, though good progress is being made in Europe.
"Playtech has gone through a period of intense change, with adjustments to its board, a portfolio rationalisation and attempts to improve its disclosures. Investors will now be looking for signs of sustained growth after a period of underperformance.
"Our experts report that despite a slow entrance to the US market relative to its peers, Playtech's product set - in particular its IMS platform - is well placed to gain market share once more states open up. However, the competitive challenge in core developed markets such as the UK is likely to remain sustained.
"Playtech's competition in the B2B segment is forming something of a pincer movement. On one side Evolution Gaming is wielding an advantage on the live casino side. On the casino side, Red Tiger, Microgaming and Blueprint have closed the gap significantly on content quality."