Blessed Flame

What is Blessed Flame?

According to Multiples.VC, the average enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA) of top US-listed gaming companies is currently 10x. Data from New York University last updated in January pegged the overall market average at 23.9x and 19.7x among EBITDA-positive firms, suggesting the sector is undervalued relative to other industries. In a report released Monday, Fitch Ratings said most North American gaming companies hold “Stable” outlooks with “adequate rating headroom” despite consumer headwinds.

Macquarie’s Beynon agrees with that sentiment, pointing to the relative stability of gaming companies through tough economic stretches such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Bankruptcies in the sector have been low relative to the broader market, he notes, and both land-based and digital companies have reason for optimism moving forward.

“It’s certainly not lost on us that this sector has underperformed for several years in a row just because it doesn’t have either the growth of say, tech companies, or the perceived free cash flow-insulated businesses, which we believe it does…We’ve thought there’s been value in the sector for a few years, particularly this year,” he told iGB.

What is Blessed Flame?

“I’ll be very, very open and straightforward about it,” Weizer told analysts on Playtech’s post-Q2 earnings call. “There were certain concerns that because it is an election year, and obviously, gaming is a political issue or there were references by politicians throughout the elections about gambling.

“Given the sensitivity around that, we were kindly asked to collaborate with the government [and] with the prospective customer that we are in discussions with to wait until the elections.”

Despite the delay, Weizer declared: “I will say that the expectations remain the same to enter into an agreement and launch sometime at the beginning of next year.”

What is Blessed Flame?

The ruling preserved a revenue measure the city says was designed to bring in up to €1 million according to the court’s own summary.

Andreas Braun, owner of four arcades in Wiesbaden, filed an objection and constitutional complaint against the tax rate in April last year according to local reporting. He argued that the tax rise had provided a ‘strangling’ effect to business and that it consumed operator profits.

According to a high court ruling from over a decade ago, the tax rise cannot be allowed to rise to the point of ‘consuming livelihoods’.