- The international segment fell 8.9% year-over-year in Q4 2019 to $323 million.
- In 2019, online poker was down 11.8% to $782 million, the lowest in five years.
- The shift from online poker to casino games stretched throughout the year.
- Sky Betting and Gaming was a standout, up 27% in Q4 2019 to $223 million.
The international segment of The Stars Group, which comprises the “legacy” brands of PokerStars, BetStars and PokerStars Casino, fell 8.9% year-over-year in Q4 2019 to $323 million.
It concludes a year of revenue in the business vertical. In total, 2019 annual revenue of $1.3 billion represents a fall of 8.8% on 2018 and the lowest in three years.
Online poker led this decline, down another 11.7% in Q4 2019, matching falls in the previous three quarters. For the year overall, online poker was down 11.8% to $782 million, the lowest in five years, and undoing the slight gains reported in 2017 and 2018.
The shift from online poker to casino games stretched throughout the year. Poker still makes up the largest share of revenue in this segment, at 59% across 2019, but casino has grown to represent a third of international revenue.
Revenue across the group’s entire business, which includes Sky Betting and Gaming and two Australian sports book acquisitions, grew to over $2.5 billion in 2019. Sky Betting and Gaming, referred to as the UK business, was a standout, up 27% in Q4 2019 to $223 million. It completed the year up a healthy 12.6% on 2018.
The Australia business also enjoyed growth of 11.7% in the fourth quarter.
The international segment is still the operator’s largest, at 47% last quarter, but this is a reduction of 52% on the previous quarter and 54% the year before.
In terms of product, sports betting is now the group’s largest vertical across all its businesses. Across the year as a whole, the makeup is very close to an equal split, with sports at 34% and casino and poker at 31% (“other” makes up the remainder).
However, quarterly figures show an increasing reliance on sports betting. In Q4 2019 it accounted for 39% of all group revenue in Q4; casino was second, with 31%; poker has fallen to last, with 28%.
