Q1 round-up: Galaxy Entertainment and Paysafe post revenue growth
Analysing the latest Q1 financial results, iGB looks at how gaming growth drove revenue up at Galaxy Entertainment and how Paysafe reported a wider net loss despite posting higher revenue.
Galaxy Entertainment heralded the performance of its gaming operations during Q1, with this pushing up revenue and adjusted EBITDA. Paysafe also posted healthy revenue growth but losses on foreign currency translation hit its bottom line.Â
Looking first at Galaxy, revenue for the three months to 31 March amounted to HK10.60bn (£1.02bn/€1.19bn/US$1.28bn), up 49.6%.
Some HK$8.18bn of all revenue came from gaming operations, an increase of 53.7%. Non-gaming revenue also climbed 55.5% to HK$1.61bn, while construction materials revenue was up 9.6% at HK$765m.
Galaxy Macau generated the most revenue in Q1, with this rising 55.5% to HK$8.31bn. Of this total, $6.89bn came from gaming operations, with Galaxy noting higher rolling chip and electronic gaming volumes, as well as mass table drop.Â
StarWorld Macau posted HK1.37bn in revenue, up 46.0%, while Broadway Macau revenue jumped 156.0% to HK$46m. A further HK$58m in revenue came from the City Clubs arm, up 12.0%.
Galaxy did not go into full details on costs and profits for the quarter. However, it did set out that adjusted EBITDA in Q1 was 48.7% higher at HK$2.84bn.Â
“We were particularly encouraged with our casino performance over the May Golden Week and post the reconfiguration of Galaxy Macau’s gaming floor,” Galaxy chair Lui Che Woo said.
“Our balance sheet remained healthy and liquid. As of Q1 2024, cash and liquid investments were HK$26.4bn and the net position was HK$25.0bn after debt of HK$1.4bn.”
Paysafe upbeat despite wider net loss
Turning now to Paysafe and CEO Bruce Lowthers said the business got off to a “great start” to 2024 in Q1, despite net loss increasing.
Revenue in Q1 increased by 7.7% to US$417.7m, helped by year-on-year growth across its two core segments. Merchant Solutions revenue jumped 11.0% to $231.4m while Digital Wallets revenue was up 5.0% to $190.5m. Some $4.1m in inter-segment revenue was discounted from the overall figure.
“We are off to a great start this year,” Lowthers said. “We delivered 8% year-on-year revenue growth in the first quarter, reinforcing that our strategic initiatives and associated investments are driving momentum in the business and setting us up for long-term success.”
Looking at expenses, spending was higher in all areas, with the main outgoing being cost of services at $170.4m, up 7.2%. Net non-operating costs amounted to $22.6m for Q1.
As such, pre-tax profit stood at $10.4m, a marked improvement on just $71,000 in the same quarter last year. Paysafe paid $7.3m in tax, leaving a net profit of $3.1m, compared to a $3.8m in 2023.
However, when accounting for a negative foreign currency translation impact of $7.6m, this pushed Paysafe to a comprehensive net loss of $4.6m. Last year, bottom line loss amounted to $1.6m after the group benefitted from a positive foreign currency translation impact of $2.2m.
As for adjusted EBITDA, this was 3.8% higher year-on-year at $111.9m.
“We remain confident in our financial outlook for this year, which reflects stronger underlying revenue performance, anchored by improved operational execution,” Lowthers said.
