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On Monday, August 12, The Stars Group reported its financial results for the second quarter of the year ended June 30.  In addition to that, the company’s officials also provided updated 2019 full-year guidance ranges and announced that that it The Stars Group has appointed an additional director to its Board of Directors. There were several other additional updates and highlights as well.

According to the financial figures that were released on Monday, the company’s overall revenue went up 55 percent to $637.6 million in the second quarter of the year. Operating income also went up by a mind-boggling 8,730 percent with the company booking net earnings of $4.6 million. Online sports betting was the most profitable gaming vertical and it accounted for 36 percent of the earnings. Online casino games and online poker accounted for 31 and 30 percent respectively.

As it turns out, the increase in revenue during the second quarter of the year was primarily thanks to contributions from Sky Betting & Gaming. The Stars Group acquired Sky Betting & Gaming in July 2018. The acquisition allowed the company to draw a whopping 36 percent of its overall revenue from betting.

“The second quarter underpinned the success of last year’s acquisitions, particularly with the record performance of Sky Betting & Gaming and our increasing product and geographic diversification, as we continue to transform and position the business to execute on our strategy for strong, sustainable future growth,” Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group’s Chief Executive Officer, commented.

More Developments

The CEO further pointed out that 2019 is going to be “a year of integration, execution and debt reduction” for the company. One of the ways that The Stars Group hopes to pursue those goals is by inking more partnership deals. For instance, in May, the company partnered with FOX Sports and they have plans to launch FOX Bet, a national media and sports betting partnership primarily targeting the US market. During Q2 2019, The Stars Group also prepaid $250 million outstanding on its USD first lien term loan.  Furthermore, the gaming operator has also recently announced partnership deals with the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort in New York and Penn National Gaming.

As mentioned earlier, one of the announcements that The Stars Group’s officials made was that the company’s board was adding an additional member. John Schappert has been appointed as a new independent director and member of the Board’s Compensation and Technology Committees, effective August 12, 2019.