888 sees profit before tax tumble for 2015

Holdings saw its profit before tax fall by 52% to $32.5m for the full year 2015.

Chairman Brian Mattingley said the point of consumption tax in the UK, EU VAT charges and currency movement headwinds affected profitability.

Decreases were also apparent with adjusted profit before tax and adjusted EBITDA to $55.5m (-18%) and $80.6m (-20%) respectively.

Revenue went up 2% to $462.1m and 888 said a majority of revenue came from its casino offering, with that particular vertical contributing $238.7m of the overall total.

Poker accounted for $88.5m, bingo generated $44m and emerging offerings (mainly comprising 888’s sportsbook) made $41.3m.

888 provided some forecasts for the gaming industry as a whole, showing research from H2 Gambling Capital which professed that the size of the global online gaming industry, in terms of global gaming revenue, will grow from $34.8bn for 2014 to $48.6bn for 2018.

The forecast also showed that sport will be the dominant factor in that growth, which would increase from $16.7bn for 2014 to $22.2bn for 2018.

Last year was an eventful one for 888, as a deal for it to be acquired by William Hill fell through and 888 later missed out on purchasing BwinParty to GVC Holdings, having agreed a deal worth approximately £898.3m.

There were also changes in management last year, as Mattingley stepped down from the position of CEO to become chairman and former CEO John Anderson retired from the board.

Itai Frieberger, then COO, stepped up to lead operations on a day-to-day basis alongside CFO Aviad Kobrine, before being confirmed as the operator’s CEO on a permanent basis in March.