JenningsBet owner hails retail growth as turnover hits £40m

Betting Shop Services, the company behind the UK-facing Betterbet and JenningsBet brands, has cited the performance of its retail business as the main driver of year-on-year growth in profit and turnover for its financial year ended April 29th, 2018.

Turnover for the 12 month period amounted to £40.1m (€45.1m/$51.6m), up 12% from the £35.7m generated in the previous year. The operator credited this growth to an increase in gross win from self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) across its retail estate, though it did not break out what had been generated from its online and retail operations. 

While this growth in turnover was accompanied by an increase in the cost of sales for the year, which rose to £11.2m, the company saw gross profit climb 12% to £28.9m. Administrative expenses rose 2.3% to £27.1m for the period, which helped the company recover from an operating loss of £319,600 in its 2016-17 financial year to post an operating profit of £2.1m for the 2017-18 period. 

Having seen interest payments fall sharply from £3.8m in 2016-17 to £1.8m, the company posted a post-tax profit of £266,000, up from a £4.2m loss in the prior year.

Greg Knight, managing director of Betting Shop Services, told Insider Media he was very pleased with the company’s performance in the past year.

“[The figures are] the result of a lot of hard work from a dedicated workforce as well as investment,” Knight said.

“The World Cup was good for us and we've seen strong growth in football. Horse racing is our core product and there were some great meetings last year. Our Grand National turnover was up year-on-year.”

However, Betting Shop Services also noted that it was closely watching developments relating to fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which will see maximum stakes cut from £100 to £2 from April 2019. 

“The directors are monitoring the situation closely and and whilst doing so, are assessing any potential impact that will result, to enable them to take all appropriate measures to protect the long-term future of the business,” the company said. “The assessment includes the consideration of the levels of both FOBT and over-the-counter income, together with overall profitabliity of individual shops.

“This will enable the directors to act swiftly to mitgate [any] reduction in gaming revenue.”

Image: Dietmar Rabich