10th Sep 2019 10:33
(Alliance News) - 888 Holdings PLC on Tuesday said it recorded a "solid" first half performance despite drop in earnings and a dividend cut.
The London-listed gambling company also warned that Brexit could lead to a slowdown in its UK business.
For the six months to June 30, the company's revenue fell by 2.3% to USD277.3 million from USD283.9 million though the company said this was due to the non-repeat of a USD10.7 million tax relief in Germany.
Without last year's value added tax accrual, revenue rose by 1.5% from USD273.2 million.
Pretax profit fell by 63% to USD22.2 million from USD60.1 million. Though company noted that depreciation and amortisation costs more than doubled to USD15.3 million from USD10.1 million and exceptional costs climbed to USD1.6 million from an income of USD12.0 million last year.
The company lowered its interim dividend by 29% to 3.0 cents per share from 4.2 cents.
Turning to Brexit, the company, which is registered in Gibraltar, said it "may become ineligible to continue to hold regulatory licenses in certain European Union jurisdictions". The EU exit could also hurt economic and market conditions in the UK, 888 added.
During the interim, 888 expanded its European operations by launching in Portgual and Sweden.
The company said trading in the year-to-date has been in line with internal expectations, driven by a 24% year-on-year revenue increase in the UK.
The firm added: "The group is continuing to invest in developing 888's presence in the evolving US market and the board is pleased with the initial impact of the migration of 888casino in New Jersey on to the Orbit platform in July."
Shares in 888 were 6.8% lower at 157.35p each in London on Tuesday morning.
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