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Bally’s Corporation has announced Mira Mircheva is stepping down as the group’s executive vice president and CFO “for personal reasons”.

Mircheva’s resignation will be effective from Friday, although she will remain with the company until the end of September to “ensure a seamless leadership transition”, with the search for her replacement already under way.

George Papanier has taken on Mircheva’s role as CFO on an interim basis. Papanier will continue in his current roles as Bally’s president and a member of its board of directors.

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Many top gaming stocks have underperformed relative to the broader market in recent years, and most of the M&A activity has been facilitated by private equity and other institutions that can more readily capitalise on depressed valuations. There had been hope that rates would start to fall and help alleviate those pressures.

“Publicly traded valuations are a reflection of the current interest rate environment,” Chad Beynon, lead gaming analyst for Macquarie, told iGB. “Whether it’s a long-term financial model on a growth company, you’re going to discount that back at a higher rate, or if it’s just a standard four-wall business, the cash flows in a higher interest rate environment are worth less.”

According to data from Yahoo Finance, the resort and casino sector is -41% over the last five years, and the overall gambling sector, which includes major sportsbooks and online operators, is +7%; the benchmark S&P 500 index, by comparison, is +71% during that span.

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