888 sees chunk of online sales disappear after problem gambling efforts
The business saw revenue drop 3% to around £1.9 billion last year
Around £1 in every £6 made by betting giant 888 online disappeared last year largely due to efforts to reduce problem gambling.
The company – which last year bought William Hill – said that its total revenue had dropped around 3% to £1.9 billion in the year to the end of December.
It came as a return to more normal revenues in its retail shops largely offset the 15% drop in online revenue “which was driven by proactive investment in enhanced player safety measures” in the UK and the closure of its business in the Netherlands.
It came in the year that 888 clubbed through a deal to buy William Hill’s non-US operations, which includes around 1,400 betting shops in the UK.
The business reported a £115.7 million pre-tax loss due to one-off costs, including some of those linked to the nearly £2 billion acquisition.
But when stripping out one-off charges, 888 said it had made an adjusted pre-tax profit of £80.5 million, down 10% compared to the year before thanks to increased interest costs that the business had taken on after buying William Hill.
Executive chair Lord Mendelsohn said: “The combination with William Hill transformed the group and brought together two exceptional and complementary businesses to create one of the world’s leading betting and gaming businesses.”
In January, the business said that it had investigated shortfalls in how it treated Middle Eastern VIP customers. It expects to take a hit of around £25 million to £30 million to revenue this year as a result.
“The group’s financial performance in the period primarily reflected the extensive actions being taken to drive higher standards of player protection,” Lord Mendelsohn said.
“While recent compliance issues in the Middle East were very disappointing, they have underlined the importance of our enhanced and proactive risk management framework.”