22nd Mar 2016 08:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - 888 Holdings PLC on Tuesday reported a huge drop in profit in 2015 following the termination of its acquisition agreement with bwin.party digital entertainment PLC, although revenue rose driven by growth in active customers.
The gaming company said its pretax profit in 2015 more than halved to USD32.5 million from USD67.9 million, as it booked exceptional costs relating to its aborted acquisition of bwin and exceptional gaming duties.
888 had reached an agreement to buy bwin.party last year, but withdrew its offer in September when rival GVC Holdings PLC entered the race with consistently higher bids. The merger between bwin and GVC completed in February.
888's revenue, however, rose to USD462.1 million from USD454.7 million, driven by a 13% increase in active customers in its core B2C business. Within this, active Casino players grew by 37%, while Sport also delivered an "exceptionally strong performance", 888 said.
888 will pay a final dividend of 4.0 cents per share, down from 4.5 cents in 2014, but announced an additional one-off dividend of 8.0 cents, up from 7.0 cents in 2014, taking the total dividend for the year to 15.5 cents, a slight increase on the prior year's 15.0 cents.
"Trading during the financial year to date has been strong with average daily revenue 20% above the previous year. With strong operational momentum in the business our focus will continue to be on delivering a truly satisfying experience for our customers and delivering strong, sustainable long term earnings growth for our shareholders," Chairman Brian Mattingley said in a statement.
Shares in 888 were trading up 1.2% at 183.66 pence on Tuesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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