15th Apr 2020 10:11
(Alliance News) - 888 Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported record annual revenue and added that it is "confident" of weathering the Covid-19 crisis due to being an online-only betting firm.
Bookmakers like 888 have been hit as sporting events across the globe have come to a halt. In the UK alone, football competitions have been suspended and 2020's horse racing's flagship meet, the Aintree Festival, which features the famous Grand National race, was cancelled.
Lockdowns imposed by some countries to halt the spread of Covid-19, forced non-essential businesses to close, something which as a purely online gambling platform, will not affect 888.
In 2019, revenue climbed 3.6% to USD560.3 million from USD540.6 million. Subtracting the benefit of a USD10.7 million VAT accrual in 2018, revenue climbed 5.7% from USD529.9 million.
Pretax profit however, slumped 58% to USD45.3 million from USD108.7 million.
Gaming taxes and duties were 37% higher at USD95.5 million, research and development expenses climbed 8.5% to USD35.6 million, and there was a 4.4% rise in selling and marketing expenses to USD161.8 million.
By division, the Casino unit had a 13% revenue climb to USD359.3 million, and the sports betting arm saw a 12% rise to USD90.0 million. In Bingo, revenue rose 19% to USD38.5 million.
There was a 13% decline in Poker however to USD42.7 million.
888 cuts its dividend by 51% to 6.0 cents per share from 12.2 cents.
"This reflects the performance of the group, regulatory developments and the importance of retaining adequate cash to fund potential investment activities and as a prudent measure given the unprecedented uncertainty caused by Covid-19," 888 explained.
Chief Executive Itai Pazner said: "The board is closely monitoring the impact of Covid-19 on 888 and its customers. We continue to recognise that with people spending more time at home and with increased levels of stress and economic uncertainty, 888's unwavering commitment to preventing gambling related harm is even more important than ever. We are proactively communicating with our customers to provide information on safer gambling and, where necessary, offer support.
"In addition, in recent weeks we have introduced several new alerts to our proprietary safe gambling software, the Observer, which constantly scans all customer activity and flags any potential areas of concern to our highly trained customer care team to act upon in order to prevent harm."
So far in 2020, trading has been in line with expectations, though 888 noted the uncertainty that Covid-19 brings.
Shares in the company were 3.8% lower at 136.65 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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