Gibraltar-based online gaming company 888 Holdings, has announced its semi-annual results, which reveal a year-on-year increase of 9%.
The company, which owns and operates a number of casino, poker, sport and bingo brands, recorded revenue of $270.1 million, $8.1 million more when compared to the first six months of the last year.
Strong Core Vertical
The biggest year-on-year growth of 11% and 45% was recorded in the company's casino and sports betting divisions, while the poker division's results were far lower, albeit still up. However, a year-on-year increase of only 1% wasn't as expected.
Holdings' consumer facing operations went up by 11%, while business to business offering recorded a drop of 6% to $27.5 million.
The company's adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the first half of this year was $47.6 million, which is 8% more than during the same period of 2016.
The adjusted profits before tax recorded an improvement of around 12%. $37.6 million in the first six months is just under $4 million more than 888 Holding recorded last year. On the other hand, loss before tax was $17.3 million, a significant drop from the 2016 results when the company recorded profits of $27.8 million. According to reports, the main reason behind such dismal performance during this period were exceptional charges of $50.8 million.
These results were published only a week after 888 Holdings was fined by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). After the investigation reveal significant oversight in the company's treatment of problem gambling, UKGC issued a £7.8 million fine.
Building on Momentum
Itai Frieberger, 888's Chief Executive Officer, said the company had delivered further revenue growth and operational progress in H1 2017, resulting in a 9% increase in revenue.
He added such a pleasing outcome had been driven by continued growth in 888's core Casino division, strong momentum in the fast-growing 888Sport and a good performance in Poker division.
Frieberger stated the company's Board remained confident that 888 would achieve further progress and deliver its expectations for the full year.
