888 hails ‘fantastic’ year as revenue and profit rise

888 has cited ongoing progress within its casino and sport businesses, as well as its performance in regulated markets, as the main reasons for year-on-year financial growth in 2016.

Revenue in the 12 months to December 31, 2016, amounted to a record $520.8 million (€482.5 million), up 13% on the $462.1 million posted in 2015.

B2C revenue climbed 15% year-on-year to $460.2 million, while casino revenue increased 21% to $279.3 million and sports revenue hiked 49% to $51.9 million.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was up by 12% to $90.2 million, with a stable margin of 17.3%.

As a result of the positive performance, the 888 board is recommending a final dividend of 5.1 cents per share, as well as an additional, one-off 10.5 cents per share, bringing the total for the year to 19.4 cents per share, up from 15.5 cents at the end of 2015.

Itai Frieberger, chief executive of 888, said: “2016 was another fantastic year for 888 during which we continued to deliver very strong organic revenue and profit growth.

“888’s further expansion in the UK, Spain and Italy is a strong demonstration of the group’s ability to drive excellent growth and build leading market positions across regulated markets as the industry continues to head in this direction.

“888 is a fast-growing operator with the majority of its revenue now generated from regulated markets.

“The group is truly diversified with successful operations under 10 licences, four established B2C product verticals and an outstanding B2B offer.

“The board continues to see a number of significant growth opportunities for 888 both in new and existing markets and we look forward to another exciting year of progress.”

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