SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Publishing its half year 2016 results (period ending 30 June), 888 Holdings governance has declared a record revenue performance driven by ‘outstanding casino and sports growth’.
The FTSE-250 operator would post group revenues of $262 million up 19% on corresponding H1 2015’s $220 million. The firms record-breaking revenue performance would translate to a period EBITDA of $38 million (H1 2015: $ 28.0 million) despite being affected by adverse currency movements of circa $3 million.
Strong top-line metric growth would see the firm report H1 2016 group profits of $27.8 million up 39% on H1 2015’s $20 million.
The company would record growth throughout all its core divisions, highlighting the strong performance of its casino product with active players in Q2 2016 up 35% year on year driven by innovative CRM and premium content.
888 governance were further pleased with the progress of its sports betting division which had hit period revenues of $25 million, boosted by successful Euro 2016 marketing campaigns.
Itai Frieberger, Chief Executive Officer of 888, commented on H1 2016 Performance
“888 has delivered a very encouraging performance in H1 2016, resulting in a 19% increase in Group revenue to a record $262.0 million. This strong outcome was driven by outstanding momentum at 888Casino and 888Sport where we achieved impressive revenue increases of 31% and 63% respectively.
“In line with our strategic focus we have made further excellent progress developing 888 in regulated markets and have grown regulated revenue by 29% against the prior year, reflecting strong performances in the UK, Spain and Italy as well as 888’s recent successful launch in Denmark.”
“888’s continued success is built on our first class technology and core expertise in CRM, marketing and analytics. These strengths, along with the fantastic efforts of our highly skilled and dynamic team, mean that the business is in excellent shape to deliver long term sustainable growth. Trading in Q3 has started well with average daily revenue until 27 August 2016 15 per cent. above strong previous year comparatives and 22 per cent. higher on a like for like basis. With this strong momentum the Board remains confident of delivering against expectations for the full year.”
