888 Online’s revenue drops around 3% to £1.9bn
888 Online, which bought William Hill last year, has announced that its total revenue dropped around 3% to £1.9bn ($2.38bn) in the year to the end of December.
Last year, the corporation lost almost £1 out of every £6 it made, partly because of initiatives to combat problem gambling.
As a result, the 15% decline in online income “which was driven by proactive investment in enhanced player safety measures” in the UK and the closing of its operation in the Netherlands was largely mitigated.
It happened the same year that 888 successfully negotiated a deal to acquire William Hill’s non-US operations, including its roughly 1,400 betting shops in the UK.
Due to one-time expenses, including some associated with the acquisition, the business recorded a pre-tax loss of £115.7m.
However, after excluding one-time expenses, 888 reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £80.5m, a 10% decrease from the prior year due to higher interest expenses the company had incurred because of acquiring William Hill.
Lord Mendelsohn, Executive Chair of 888, 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.”
The company announced in January that it had investigated shortcomings in the way it handled Middle Eastern VIP clients. As a result, it anticipates suffering a revenue loss of between £25m and £30m this year.
Mendelsohn added: “The group’s financial performance in the period primarily reflected the extensive actions being taken to drive higher standards of player protection.
“While recent compliance issues in the Middle East were very disappointing, they have underlined the importance of our enhanced and proactive risk management framework.”
Recently, Mr. Green, an 888 Holdings brand for online gaming, announced to leverage its platform to enter the German market.
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