Playtech share price falls over Malaysia concerns
iGaming Business – Shares in Playtech dropped nearly 9% yesterday to 635.5p following news that the Malaysian government had taken measures aimed at blocking online betting and gambling sites targeting players there.
The igaming software giant updated to the markets late Thursday afternoon saying it was “monitoring the position closely and, regardless of the potential impact of any changes in the Malaysian market, remains confident of meeting the latest market consensus, following the recent Q3 IMS, for 2014 and beyond”.
Canaccord issued a note saying there had been recent “reports of ISP blocking of over 170 Malaysian websites” and that Playtech “generated 8% of revenues from Malaysia in 2011, but we believe this has fallen given growth in regulated European markets and elsewhere in Asia”.
Numis for its part estimated Playtech’s revenues from Malaysia to be in “single digit percentage” levels and that as the country looked to update its gambling laws, possible outcomes were: “A ban; regulation and taxation; and, no change. If change comes it will require legislation and implementation which will take time although there could be disruptive enforcement action under the existing law before then. There have been previous proposals to reform Malaysia’s law. There is no political consensus over the direction of change.”
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iGaming Business – Shares in Playtech dropped nearly 9% yesterday to 635.5p following news that the Malaysian government had taken measures aimed at blocking online betting and gambling sites targeting players there. The igaming software giant updated to the markets late Thursday afternoon saying it was “monitoring the position closely and, regardless of the potential…