Stars Group braces for impact

The cancellation of major sporting global events is affecting the business of The Stars Group, says CEO Rafi Ashkenazi in a performance update.

While the group is observing all of the local ordinances for its employees and customers and staff are, where possible, working remotely, there is bound to be a material impact on sports betting revenues.

He said that 62 per cent of revenues in 2019 were generated from poker and gaming, but Ashkenazi was confident in the group’s ability to continue driving growth further ahead, despite the disruption.

Ashkenazi said that there was an improvement in the international segment in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the group is currently performing ahead of expectations in the first quarter of 2020.

The group owns or licenses some major names, including PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championships, European Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, PokerStars Festival and PokerSars Megastack.