The Stars Group Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results; Updates 2019 Full Year Guidance; Appoints New Independent Director

- "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," said Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group's Chief Executive Officer.   "2019 has been and remains a year of integration, execution and debt reduction," said Mr. Ashkenazi. "We are committed to those key strategic priorities for the rest of the year while we also build our foundation and momentum to become a market leader in the U.S. We are confident that the actions we have taken over the last year, and are pursuing now, including to reassess our fixed cost base, put us in a strong position to deliver our mid-term growth targets from the end of 2019," concluded Mr. Ashkenazi.       _____________________________ 1  Non-IFRS measure. For important information on The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures, see below under "Non-IFRS Measures" and the tables under "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures".   International _____________________________ 1 Sales and marketing includes $1.2 million and $2.7 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively, that the Corporation excluded from its consolidated results as it related to certain non-gaming related transactions with the United Kingdom segment. 2 Non-IFRS measure. For important information on The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures, see below under "Non-IFRS Measures" and the tables under "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures".     United Kingdom ____________________________ 1 Other revenue includes $1.2 million and $2.7 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively, that the Corporation excluded from its consolidated results as it related to certain non-gaming related transactions with the International segment. 2 Non-IFRS measure. For important information on The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures, see below under "Non-IFRS Measures" and the tables under "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures".   Australia _____________________________ 1 The Stars Group acquired 62% of BetEasy on February 27, 2018 and a further 18% on April 24, 2018, with BetEasy acquiring William Hill Australia on the same day. 2 Non-IFRS measure. For important information on The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures, see below under "Non-IFRS Measures" and the tables under "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures".   For additional information regarding The Stars Group's reporting segments and major lines of operations, please see The Stars Group's interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 (the "Q2 2019 Financial Statements"), including note 5 therein, and management's discussion and analysis thereon (the "Q2 2019 MD&A").   2019 Updated Full Year Guidance The Stars Group is updating its 2019 full year consolidated financial guidance ranges as follows: In addition to the updated assumptions detailed below, the expected revenue and Adjusted EBITDA ranges reflect the impact of negative foreign exchange fluctuations, a historically low Betting Net Win Margin in the first quarter for the United Kingdom segment, the slower than planned recovery in certain disrupted markets and some delays in launching The Stars Group's newly licensed operations in certain jurisdictions, such as Switzerland. In addition to approximately $15 million for negative foreign exchange fluctuations, the expected Adjusted EBITDA range also reflects the impact of the following factors: The Stars Group continues to expect to achieve the medium-term financial and leverage target ranges set out in its news release on March 27, 2019, but now over the three to five year period from the updated 2019 financial guidance ranges above. In addition, to provide further clarity with respect to certain key assumptions and the impact of its 2018 acquisitions on its full year 2019 expected results, The Stars Group is also updating information for certain financial items, which unless noted below remain unchanged from the previously announced ranges: These unaudited expected results, targets and other information reflect management's view of current and future market and business conditions, including certain accounting assumptions and, other than as noted directly above or below, assumptions of (i) expected Betting Net Win Margin of approximately 8.5% (with the remainder of the year and the medium-term targets unchanged from the previous estimates of approximately 9%), (ii) no further material changes in the current challenging operating conditions in certain markets from prior regulatory changes, including constraints on payment processing and accessing certain products, and no material changes to current expectations with respect to certain macroeconomic or political events, including Brexit, (iii) no other material regulatory events or material changes in applicable taxes or duty rates, (iv) no other material investments associated with the entry into new markets and no material change in The Stars Group's current estimate of its aggregate addressable U.S. market size of approximately 23 states and $9.3 billion by 2025, (v) other than as updated below, no further material foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, particularly against the Euro, Great Britain pound sterling and Australian dollar, (vi) no material impairment or write-down of the assets to which depreciation and amortization relates, (vii) no material change in the prevailing EURIBOR or LIBOR rates as at June 30, 2019 (previously December 31, 2018) and no material adverse impact on applicable hedging counterparties, (viii) no material change in the mix of taxable income by jurisdiction, rate of corporate tax or tax regimes in the jurisdictions in which The Stars Group currently operates; (ix) no material change in the mix of geographies where The Stars Group currently offers its products, and (x) no material change in The Stars Group's Diluted Shares. Such guidance, targets and information are also now based on an updated Euro to U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.12 to 1.00 (previously 1.135 to 1.00), a Great Britain pound sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.22 to 1.00 (previously 1.31 to 1.00) and an Australian dollar to U.S. dollar exchange rate of 0.69 to 1.00 (previously 0.712 to 1.00), for the second half of 2019. Consolidated Financial Statements, Management's Discussion and Analysis and Additional Information The Stars Group's Q2 2019 Financial Statements, Q2 2019 MD&A, and additional information relating to The Stars Group and its business, can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, Edgar at www.sec.gov and The Stars Group's website at www.starsgroup.com. The financial information presented in this news releases was derived from the Q2 2019 Financial Statements. In addition to press releases, securities filings and public conference calls and webcasts, The Stars Group intends to use its investor relations page on its website as a means of disclosing material information to its investors and others and for complying with its disclosure obligations under applicable securities laws. Accordingly, investors and others should monitor the website in addition to following The Stars Group's press releases, securities filings and public conference calls and webcasts. This list may be updated from time to time. Conference Call and Webcast Details The Stars Group will host a conference call today, August 12, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss its financial results for the second quarter 2019 and related matters, and provide additional detail with respect to the information in this news release, its webcast presentation and related filings. To access via tele-conference, please dial +1-877-451-6152 or +1-201-389-0879 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. The playback will be made available two hours after the event at +1-844-512-2921 or +1-412-317-6671. The Conference ID number is 13693490. To access the webcast please use the following link: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=134939. Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures The tables below present reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Earnings and Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share to net earnings (loss), which is the nearest IFRS measure.  For additional information, see "Reconciliations" in the Q2 2019 MD&A.             The table below presents certain items comprising "Other costs" in the reconciliation tables above:   The table below presents a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to net cash flows from operating activities, which is the nearest IFRS measure:   The table below presents a reconciliation of Net Debt:   The table below presents a reconciliation of The Stars Group's updated 2019 financial guidance ranges for Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share to their corresponding 2018 historical balances. Reconciliations of such 2018 historical balances to their nearest non-IFRS measures are as presented in the news release issued by The Stars Group on March 6, 2019, under the heading "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures". _____________________________ 1 For relevant assumptions, see above under "2019 Updated Financial Guidance". Note that certain reconciling or adjusting items and costs for 2019 cannot be projected or predicted with reasonable certainty without unreasonable effort due to a number of factors, including variability from potential foreign exchange fluctuations impacting financial expenses, the nature and timing of other non-recurring or one-time costs (such as impairment of intangibles assets and certain professional fees), which could vary materially based on actual events or transactions or unknown or unpredictable variables, as well as the typical variability arising from the preparation and completion of annual financial statements, including, without limitation, certain income tax provision accounting, annual impairment testing and other accounting matters. Other adjusting items and costs (such as stock-based compensation, acquisition and integration-related costs, operational efficiency-related costs and other strategy-related expenses) may otherwise reveal commercially or competitively sensitive information. The Stars Group has also not provided a reconciliation of the non-IFRS measures to the nearest IFRS measures included in its updated full year 2019 guidance provided in this news release because of these reasons. 2 With respect to the relevant adjusting items for 2018, see the Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation in the news release issued by The Stars Group on March 6, 2019, under the heading "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures". With respect to 2019, The Stars Group currently expects to incur and adjust for substantially similar items as it did in 2018 except for "acquisition-related costs and deal contingent forwards", which related to the acquisitions of Sky Betting & Gaming and BetEasy and comprised the majority of such adjusting items in that year. 3 With respect to the Other costs for 2018, see the "Other costs" reconciliation in the news release issued by The Stars Group on March 6, 2019, under the heading "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures". With respect to 2019, The Stars Group currently expects to incur and adjust for substantially similar costs as it did in 2018. 4 "Depreciation and amortization" means total depreciation and amortization, excluding amortization of acquisition intangibles, which is not adjusted for in this measure. 5 "Interest" means total net financing charges, including interest on long term debt and other interest (income) expense but excluding interest accretion, ineffectiveness on cash flow hedges, re-measurement of deferred contingent consideration, and re-measurement of embedded derivatives, each of which is not adjusted for in this measure. 6 "Taxes" means total income tax expense, excluding the impact of tax on "Adjusting items" and "Other costs" included in the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA for each period. For additional information on The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures, see the Q2 2019 MD&A, including under the headings "Management's Discussion and Analysis", "Non-IFRS Measures, Key Metrics and Other Data", "Segment Results of Operations" and "Reconciliations". About The Stars Group The Stars Group is a provider of technology-based product offerings in the global gaming and interactive entertainment industries. Its brands have millions of registered customers globally and collectively are leaders in online and mobile betting, poker, casino and other gaming-related offerings. The Stars Group owns or licenses gaming and related consumer businesses and brands, including PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, BetStars, Full Tilt, FOX Bet, BetEasy, Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky Casino, Sky Bingo, Sky Poker, and Oddschecker, as well as live poker tour and events brands, including the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship, European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, PokerStars Festival and PokerStars MEGASTACK. The Stars Group is one of the world's most licensed online gaming operators with its subsidiaries collectively holding licenses or approvals in 21 jurisdictions throughout the world, including in Europe, Australia, and the Americas. The Stars Group's vision is to become the world's favorite iGaming destination and its mission is to provide its customers with winning moments. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, certain financial and operational expectations and projections, such as certain future operational and growth plans and strategies, and certain financial items relating to the full year 2019 results. Forward-looking statements and information can, but may not always, be identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "would", "should", "believe", "objective", "ongoing", "imply", "assumes", "goal", "likely" and similar references to future periods or the negatives of these words or variations or synonyms of these words or comparable terminology and similar expressions. These statements and information, other than statements of historical fact, are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including market and economic conditions, business prospects or opportunities, future plans and strategies, projections, technological developments, anticipated events and trends and regulatory changes that affect The Stars Group and its customers, partners, suppliers and industries in which it operates or may operate in the future. Although The Stars Group and management believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and information are reasonable and are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates as of the date hereof, there can be no assurance that these assumptions or estimates are accurate or that any of these expectations will prove accurate. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to significant business, regulatory, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies that could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Specific risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: customer and operator preferences and changes in the economy; reputation and brand growth; competition and the competitive environment within addressable markets and industries; macroeconomic conditions and trends in the gaming and betting industry; ability to predict fluctuations in financial results from quarter to quarter; ability to mitigate tax risks and adverse tax consequences, including, without limitation, changes in tax laws or administrative policies relating to tax and the imposition of new or additional taxes, such as value-added and point of consumption taxes, and gaming duties; The Stars Group's substantial indebtedness requires that it use a significant portion of its cash flow to make debt service payments; impact of inability to complete future or announced acquisitions or to integrate businesses successfully, including, without limitation, Sky Betting & Gaming and BetEasy; contractual relationships of The Stars Group with FOX Corporation and Sky plc and/or their respective subsidiaries; an ability to realize all or any of The Stars Group's estimated synergies and cost savings in connection with acquisitions, including, without limitation, the acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming and the Australian acquisitions; ability to mitigate foreign exchange and currency risks; legal and regulatory requirements; potential changes to the gaming regulatory framework, including without limitation, those that may impact The Stars Group's ability to access and operate in certain jurisdictions, whether directly or through arrangements with locally based operators; the heavily regulated industry in which The Stars Group carries on its business; ability to obtain, maintain and comply with all applicable and required licenses, permits and certifications to offer, operate and market its product offerings, including difficulties or delays in the same; social responsibility concerns and public opinion; protection of proprietary technology and intellectual property rights; intellectual property infringement or invalidity claims; and systems, networks, telecommunications or service disruptions or failures or cyber-attacks and failure to protect customer data, including personal and financial information.  These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect The Stars Group; however, these factors as well as other applicable risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those identified in its most recently filed annual information form, including under the heading "Risk Factors and Uncertainties", and in its most recently filed management's discussion and analysis, including under the headings "Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements", "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" and "Non-IFRS Measures, Key Metrics and Other Data", each available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, EDGAR at www.sec.gov and The Stars Group's website at www.starsgroup.com, and in other filings that The Stars Group has made and may make in the future with applicable securities authorities in the future, should be considered carefully. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Any forward-looking statement or information in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking statement or information speaks only as of the date hereof, and The Stars Group undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Non-IFRS Measures This news release references non-IFRS financial measures. The Stars Group believes these non-IFRS financial measures will provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial and operational performance of its business, enable comparison of financial results between periods where certain items may vary independent of business performance, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in operating its business, identifying and evaluating trends, and making decisions. The Stars Group believes that such non-IFRS financial measures provide useful information about its underlying, core operating results and trends, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater transparency with respect to metrics and measures used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. Although management believes these non-IFRS financial measures are important in evaluating The Stars Group, they are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS. They are not recognized measures under IFRS and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. These measures may be different from non-IFRS financial measures used by other companies any may not be comparable to similar meanings prescribed by other companies, limiting its usefulness for comparison purposes. Moreover, presentation of certain of these measures is provided for period-over-period comparison purposes, and investors should be cautioned that the effect of the adjustments thereto provided herein have an actual effect on The Stars Group's operating results. In addition to QNY, which is defined below under "Key Metrics and Other Data", The Stars Group provides the following non-IFRS measures in this news release: Adjusted EBITDA means net earnings before financial expenses, income tax expense (recovery), depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring, net earnings (loss) on associate and certain other items as set out in the reconciliation tables under "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to Nearest IFRS Measures" above. Adjusted EBITDA Margin means Adjusted EBITDA as a proportion of total revenue. Adjusted Net Earnings means net earnings before interest accretion, amortization of intangible assets resulting from purchase price allocations following acquisitions, stock-based compensation, restructuring, net earnings (loss) on associate, and certain other items. In addition, as previously disclosed, The Stars Group makes adjustments for (i) the re-measurement of contingent consideration, which was previously included in, and adjusted for through, interest accretion, but starting with The Stars Group's interim condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 (the "Q3 2018 Financial Statements"), it is a separate line item, (ii) the re-measurement of embedded derivatives and ineffectiveness on cash flow hedges, each of which were new line items in the Q3 2018 Financial Statements, and (iii) certain non-recurring tax adjustments and settlements. Each adjustment to net earnings is then adjusted for the tax impact, where applicable, in the respective jurisdiction to which the adjustment relates. Adjusted Net Earnings and any other non-IFRS measures used by The Stars Group that relies on or otherwise incorporates Adjusted Net Earnings that was reported for previous periods have not been restated under the updated definition on the basis that The Stars Group believes that the impact of the change to those periods would not be material. Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share means Adjusted Net Earnings attributable to the Shareholders of The Stars Group Inc. divided by Diluted Shares. Diluted Shares means the weighted average number of Common Shares on a fully diluted basis, including options, other equity-based awards such as warrants and any convertible preferred shares of The Stars Group then outstanding. The effects of anti-dilutive potential Common Shares are ignored in calculating Diluted Shares. Diluted Shares used in the calculation of diluted earnings per share may differ from diluted shares used in the calculation of Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share where the dilutive effects of the potential Common Shares differ. See note 8 in the Q2 2019 Financial Statements. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, Diluted Shares used for the calculation of Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share equaled 282,399,213 and 278,181,337, respectively, compared with 215,380,175 and 212,449,078 for the prior year periods, respectively. Constant Currency Revenue means IFRS reported revenue for the relevant period calculated using the applicable prior year period's monthly average exchange rates for its local currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Currently, The Stars Group provides Constant Currency Revenue for the International segment and its applicable lines of operations. It does not currently provide Constant Currency Revenue for the United Kingdom and Australia segments because The Stars Group does not yet have full reported comparative periods for these segments as a result of the respective acquisition dates of Sky Betting & Gaming and BetEasy, and with respect to BetEasy, the Corporation had not yet completed the previously announced migration of the former William Hill Australia customers onto the BetEasy platform. The Corporation intends to provide information on the impact of foreign exchange rates for these segments either individually or on a consolidated basis when applicable reported comparative period information is available that the Corporation believes would be reasonably comparable to the current periods as noted above. Free Cash Flow means net cash flows from operating activities after adding back customer deposit liability movements and after capital expenditures and debt servicing cash flows (excluding voluntary prepayments). Net Debt means total long-term debt less operational cash. For additional information on certain of The Stars Group's non-IFRS measures and the reasons why it believes such measures are useful, see above and the Q2 2019 MD&A, including under the headings "Management's Discussion and Analysis", "Non-IFRS Measures, Key Metrics and Other Data", "Segment Results of Operations" and "Reconciliations". Key Metrics and Other Data  The Stars Group provides the following key metrics in this news release: QAUs for the International and Australia reporting segments means active unique customers (online, mobile and desktop client) who (i) made a deposit or transferred funds into their real-money account with The Stars Group at any time, and (ii) generated real-money online rake or placed a real-money online bet or wager during the applicable quarterly period. The Stars Group defines "active unique customer" as a customer who played or used one of its real-money offerings at least once during the period, and excludes duplicate counting, even if that customer is active across multiple lines of operation (Poker, Gaming and/or Betting, as applicable) within the applicable reporting segment. The definition of QAUs excludes customer activity from certain low-stakes, non-raked real-money poker games, but includes real-money activity by customers using funds (cash and cash equivalents) deposited by The Stars Group into such customers' previously funded accounts as promotions to increase their lifetime value. QAUs for the United Kingdom reporting segment (which currently includes the Sky Betting & Gaming business operations only) means active unique customers (online and mobile) who have settled a Stake (as defined below) or made a wager on any betting or gaming product within the applicable quarterly period. The Stars Group defines "active unique customer" for the United Kingdom reporting segment as a customer who played at least once on one of its real-money offerings during the period, and excludes duplicate counting, even if that customer is active across more than one line of operation. QNY means combined revenue for its lines of operation (i.e., Poker, Gaming and/or Betting, as applicable) for each reporting segment, excluding Other revenue, as reported during the applicable quarterly period (or as adjusted to the extent any accounting reallocations are made in later periods) divided by the total QAUs during the same period. Net Deposits for the International segment means the aggregate of gross deposits or transfer of funds made by customers into their real-money online accounts less withdrawals or transfer of funds by such customers from such accounts, in each case during the applicable quarterly period. Gross deposits exclude (i) any deposits, transfers or other payments made by such customers into The Stars Group's play-money and social gaming offerings, and (ii) any real-money funds (cash and cash equivalents) deposited by The Stars Group into such customers' previously funded accounts as promotions to increase their lifetime value. Stakes means betting amounts wagered on The Stars Group's applicable online betting product offerings, and is also an industry term that represents the aggregate amount of funds wagered by customers within the betting line of operation for the period specified. Betting Net Win Margin means Betting revenue as a proportion of Stakes. The Stars Group is also continuing the process of integrating its recent acquisitions, as applicable, and implementing its recently changed operating and reporting segments, and once complete, The Stars Group may revise or remove currently presented key metrics or report certain additional or other measures in the future. For additional information on The Stars Group's key metrics and other data, see the Q2 2019 MD&A, including under the headings "Non-IFRS Measures, Key Metrics and Other Data" and "Segment Results of Operations".               For investor relations and media inquiries, please contact: Vaughan Lewis, Senior Vice President, Communications, [email protected], [email protected]