News Order Online 12 August 2022
888 Holdings posts 13% H1 revenue decline
Peter Lynch
888 Holdings has reported revenue of £332.1m ($404.3m) for the six months ending 30 June 2022, a 13% decline from the prior-year period.
While the majority of the company posted stable revenues, 888 pointed out that there were declines in the UK as a result of tighter gambling regulations and the close of the Netherlands. These two areas were not included in the revenue growth of 2%.
Adjusted EBITDA for the period was £50m, a year-on-year decline of 29%, with the adjusted EBITDA margin lower due to “continued investment in the US to support SI Sportsbook state launches, together with additional compliance related costs.”
Profit before tax was also down year-on-year, declining 66% to £14.4m.
July 2022, as a month of strategic M&A was busy for 888. This included William Hill’s acquisition and the disposal of both B2C (and B2B) bingo operations. Both the former have helped the group position itself as one of the top three operators in Spain and the UK, and the latter allowed it to focus more on its gaming and betting platform.
“The combination with William Hill, which we completed soon after the period end, transformed the group and creates very strong foundations to support our ambitious growth plans,” said 888 CEO Itai Pazner.
“This combination of two exceptional and complementary businesses creates one of the world’s leading online betting and gaming groups with superior scale, leading front-end and back-end technology, increased diversification across products, markets and channels, and a world class team.
“The group’s financial performance in the period primarily reflects market conditions in the UK. However, we believe the proactive actions we have taken to increase player protections and drive higher standards of player safety have put the group in an even stronger position for the future.”
Earlier today, Flutter Entertainment posted revenue of £3.38bn for the six months ended 30 June 2022, a 9% increase from the prior-year period. It follows Entain’s H1 2022 results from earlier this week, with the group reporting revenue of £2.1bn, a 19% increase from the prior-year period.
Manila Prosecutors refuse to indict Kazuo OKada. The Philippine Public Prosecutors office has declined to indict Kazuo Okada for three allegations that he, along with four other Filipinos, falsified documents. This office…
Following the Macau casino industry’s worst month since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the team at Gambling Insider debates whether now is actually a good time to invest in the gambling…